To goaltender Eric Comrie, the Buffalo Sabres represent real opportunity. The kind he has waited to grab for nearly a decade.
Since he turned pro in 2014, the 27-year-old has played for six teams and totaled 207 games in the AHL and just 28 in the NHL. The Sabres are rolling the dice he’ll be good enough to surpass that latter number this season alone. Two years and $1.8 million per season was the risk they were willing to take.
“I feel like I can maybe earn some more starts and maybe work myself into a little bit more playing time. And that was a big decision why I chose the Sabres,” Comrie said Monday on his introductory video call with Buffalo reporters. “I loved my time in Winnipeg, I loved every single second being there. It was a great spot for me, but they have an NHL goalie there (Connor Hellebuyck) who’s really established.”
A defensive stalwart, Lyubushkin will clear the front of the net, kill plays with big hits and help prevent opportunities for the opponent’s power play.
The Sabres have a young, building team featuring the kind of burgeoning defense corps any goalie would want to play behind and a veteran mentor to work with in Craig Anderson.
People are also reading…
“I’ve heard such amazing things about him and how great a human being he is, how a great person he is,” Comrie said. “Just how much knowledge he brings to the game and how much he understands and helps different players to grow their game and get better was a huge turning point for myself. So many people speak so highly of him.”
From the time it was born in 1970 until the night Ryan Miller was traded in 2014, this was a franchise whose history has been filled with marquee goalies. The hole has been large in recent years.
You can almost go in order from Roger Crozier and Dave Dryden to Don Edwards and Bob Sauve, to Tom Barrasso and Daren Puppa, to Dominik Hasek and Martin Biron and finally to Miller.
Since the Miller trade, only Jhonas Enroth, Robin Lehner and Linus Ullmark have played even 100 games for the Sabres. Only Ullmark got to 50 wins. This franchise is looking for anyone to become The Man in net.
Comrie’s numbers from last season in Winnipeg are promising (10-5-1, 2.58/.920) but come with a massive Small Sample Size Alert.
Still, among NHL goalies who played at least 19 games last year, Comrie’s .920 save percentage was sixth. The five names above him read like a who’s who of 2021-22 netminders: Igor Shesterkin, Ilya Sorokin, Frederik Andersehn, Jacob Markstrom and Darcy Kuemper.
Among goalies who played at least 19 games last season, Comrie led the league in even-strength save percentage at .938. General Manager Kevyn Adams said last week the Sabres had their eyes on Comrie for months, and next-level numbers like that are one reason why.
Hellebuyck started 66 games. You wonder, based on Comrie’s play, if the Jets were guilty of overusing their starter and underusing their backup. There was a reason.
Dawe Lowry was an interim coach in place of Paul Maurice hoping to push his team into the…
Read More: Mike Harrington: To Eric Comrie, the Sabres’ net is the opportunity he’s waited