The Sabres opted for a roster shakeup today as they waived goaltender Alexandar Georgiev and claimed goaltender Colten Ellis off waivers from the St. Louis Blues. Georgiev’s previous relationship with Lindy Ruff was apparently not enough to convince the team to stick with him after his dismal .824 save percentage outing against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday. With presumptive starter Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen week-to-week, it looks like the newly acquired goaltender could even see some action during the early going of the season.
Ellis is an intriguing player. A 2019 third-round pick, he has some quality goaltending stats going back to his QMJHL days with the Charlottetown Islanders as he led the league in save percentage (.924) during the 2020-2021 campaign, according to stats from Quanthockey. He was ninth in league save percentage the year before with Rimouski Oceanic.
Since then, the now 25-year-old has bounced between the ECHL and the AHL. It seems like he really found his footing last season with the Springfield Thunderbirds as he finished the season with a .922 save percentage through 42 games. While he’s definitely on the smaller side at 6’1”, he’s not so small that he would be a complete anomaly at the NHL level; Juuse Saros is 5’11” after all.
This is a smart and somewhat gutsy move for the Sabres who need to be proactive in their approach to improving the roster at every available opportunity due to their relative lack of high-end talent compared to the upper echelon teams in the NHL. Georgiev was clearly limited in the upside that he offered the Sabres while Ellis offers significantly more potential even though he has yet to play an NHL game. The Blues clearly took the opposite approach and decided that the veteran experience of Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer is worth more to them than the potential of Ellis. We’ll see if Ellis is able to pay off the Sabres for their gamble.
As for when the Sabres might use Ellis, that’s a trickier question to answer. There’s a potential that UPL could be back within a week or two of the home opener, but because they do have three games in five nights beginning Saturday, next Monday’s home matinee against the Avalanche a possibility for Ellis if UPL isn't ready to go.
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The Sabres will open their 2025-26 campaign this Thursday at home against the cross-state counterpart New York Rangers. Let’s dispense with the formalities and get to the point here: this game is a must-win for the Sabres.
Yes, that is a dramatic statement, and yes, they will have 81 more games to make up the standings points, but with a fan base that is ready to ignore this team the second they look like they’ve looked for the vast majority of the past 14 years, it is imperative that they not only look good, but that they win while looking good. Any talk of a moral victory or style points in defeat will likely fall on deaf ears from the fans.
Last year started with two brutal shellackings at the hands of the New Jersey Devils in Prague and the team and fans never recovered from it. Lindy Ruff, during his semi-weekly appearance on WGR550 this morning had a more medium-term approach to the season.
“If you go 3-and-2, and 3-and-2, and you get six points every five games, you’re going to be a playoff team,” Ruff said.
That is certainly true – it would be roughly a 98-point pace. What you don’t want to do is start a season 0-1 or 0-2 and then have to rattle off three wins just to get yourself back on track less than a week into the season. This first game is going to be enormous.
The Rangers are also not a powerhouse squad at this point in their timeline with some players like Mika Zibenejad starting to age out and younger players like former first overall pick Alexis Lafreniere failing to meet his lofty draft status. And while the Rangers have attempted to fortify their group with a player like JT Miller, he too is getting older and may not be a sufficient needle mover for them.
If the Sabres want to show they’re for real this time, the Rangers are a good place to find their first win of the season.