One of the more intriguing goaltending options in an offseason where it seems musical chairs was the name of the game was Eric Comrie. Originally drafted by Winnipeg, he spent parts of eight seasons in the AHL, seven of them posting a save percentage of at least .900. He wasn't going to get a real chance with the Jets because of Connor Hellebuyck and he decided to take his game to Buffalo instead:

Let's get to what this means for him, the Sabres, and fantasy owners.

What Buffalo gets

It really is tough to rely on numbers for an assessment here as Comrie's 19 appearances (16 starts) in 2021-22 were by far a career-best for him in the NHL. It was a really good season, though, as he posted a .920 save percentage, an .862 high-danger save percentage at 5-on-5 (top-10 in the league), and nearly 10 goals saved above expected in 1024 minutes (Hellebuyck had 13.6 GSAx in over 3900 minutes, for comparison). In his one NHL sample, he was near-elite.

Of course, it's not near enough to make a judgment on for an NHL goalie. It is why I brought up his AHL numbers earlier. He posted a .916 save percentage (or better) in three of his last four AHL campaigns, and performed similarly to full-time NHLers like Alex Nedeljkovic and Pavel Françouz back in 2018-19. He just turned 27 years old a week ago so he could be a late-blooming net-minder that never really got a chance to showcase his skills in the big leagues.

One goalie resource, for just talking goalie skills/approach, is Catherine Silverman. She had some very nice things to say about Comrie a few years ago about how much he studies his game, and that of others. A goalie that is constantly looking where he can to help improve is own game is one that is worth taking a risk on.

This is a flier for the Sabres, a team that is hoping to start climbing out of the basement and towards a playoff spot. They still need to fill out the roster and hopefully a guy like Ilya Lyubushkin can help clean up things on the defensive end. Buffalo still has Craig Anderson and just re-signed Malcolm Subban, so Comrie is no guarantee at taking a starting role. With that said, Anderson wasn't very good last year and is 41 years old while Subban has a career sub-.900 save percentage (86 appearances). Whoever plays well is going to get the run and Comrie has as good a chance than the rest. He may not be the starter out of the gate, but it wouldn't shock me if he was the number-1 by Christmas. This is a franchise that is fed up with losing and good play will keep him in goal.

Who This Helps

Eric Comrie

Whomever Winnipeg Brings In As A Backup

Who This Hurts

Craig Anderson

Malcolm Subban