No matter what happens, addressing the goaltending position is one of the top priorities of the Buffalo Sabres this offseason. As of now, Dustin Tokarski and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen are the only goaltenders under contract for next season.

Linus Ullmark is an unrestricted free agent, but even if he does return, the Sabres still need to address the position. They need to find a goaltender that can play alongside Ullmark moving forward or one that can replace him if he does depart in free agency.

The good news is that the trade market may offer up a few options for the Sabres to explore. One of the reasons that a few goaltenders could be available via trade is due to the NHL Expansion Draft. A couple of teams are in a position that they could lose one of their two goaltenders for nothing and may decide to explore the trade market.

Darcy Kuemper

The Arizona Coyotes are one such team that may have a decision to make with their goaltenders due to expansion. Both Darcy Kuemper and Adin Hill are eligible to be selected by the Seattle Kraken. The Coyotes will only be able to protect one of them. 

They rotated through three goaltenders in the desert this season. Kuemper was the starter, playing in 27 games. Hill played a career-high 19 games this past season and pending unrestricted free agent Antti Raanta appeared in 12. 

After putting together strong campaigns the past two years, Kuemper had an up and down year this season with the Coyotes. Hill actually put up better numbers than Kuemper when you look at shot-adjusted metrics. According to Evolving Hockey’s model, Hill had a -0.45 goals saved above expected rating, and Kuemper was at -1.21 in all situations. 

It feels as though the Coyotes have been grooming Hill to take over as their starter for a few years now. He’s 25-years-old and the expansion draft may force them to make a decision on him.

There were some trade rumors last offseason about Kuemper, but he stayed in Arizona. The 31-year-old has one more year remaining on his contract with a $4.5 million cap hit. If he’s made available in the trade market, the Coyotes are going to want a good return. 

They’ll probably be looking to accumulate draft picks this offseason to help them turn things around under new general manager Bill Armstrong. Don’t forget they had to forfeit their first-round pick this season for violating combine testing rules. 

While I think Kuemper would be a big improvement in goal for the Sabres, it may not make sense for the direction they’re heading. A lot of signs point to a reset for the organization, but if they push forward with their two top forwards then Kuemper could make sense.

John Gibson

I’ve written a few times about the Sabres’ interest in Gibson that dates back to the last offseason. The 27-year-old continues to be stuck on a poor Anaheim Ducks club. The American-born goalie has six more years remaining on his contract with a $6.4 million cap hit. He’s also still young when it comes to his position, which is why the Ducks haven’t been willing to move him to this point.

This offseason is going to be an interesting one for them. Are they going to embrace the rebuild with an aging roster or is Bob Murray feeling the pressure to get a winner on the ice? 

I imagine the Ducks will want to get in on the Jack Eichel sweeps and Gibson’s name will probably come up in those conversations. The issue with Gibson being one of the pieces in a return for the Sabres captain is that it’s counter-productive for the Ducks. They finally will have the potential to put a strong team on the ice and it wouldn’t make sense to ship out their goaltender at that point. 

However, if the Ducks decide to put Gibson out there I’d imagine the Sabres will be involved.

Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo

The two goaltenders of the Columbus Blue Jackets may be the odds on favorites as the trading target for the Sabres. They’ve been having discussions with the Jackets going back to the last offseason as well. It’s also worth noting, as I mentioned in my last article, Sabres director of pro scouting Jeremiah Crowe spent a lot of time taking in their games this season.

Korpisalo is 27-years-old and has one year remaining on his contract with a $2.8 million cap hit. I’ve always been skeptical of Korpisalo as anything more than a good backup goaltender. If Ullmark is back, he could fill that void. His shot-adjusted numbers have not been good the last two years in the twins’ model. He was -8.94 goals saved above expected in all situations during the 2019-20 season and he was -18.72 this past season. 

Merzlikins is also 27-years-old and has one year remaining on his deal. However, his cap hit is $4 million. He’s the one that has the bigger potential, in my opinion. He still probably is a goaltender that would work best in a tandem, but his numbers are much better than Korpisalo’s. 

During the 2019-20 season, he was at 0.41 GSAx in all situations in Evolving Hockey’s model and this season he was a little lower at -2.43. Regardless of the dip from year one to year two, Merzlikins was the superior goaltender. 

The Sabres would be wise to target the Latvian goaltender (Merzlikins), but under no circumstances can they use Sam Reinhart as a piece to acquire him, as rumors have suggested.

Kaapo Kahkonen

The Wild are another team that will have to make a decision in goal between Kaapo Kahkonen and Cam Talbot with the expansion draft. Talbot signed a three-year contract with the Wild in October of 2020 and Kahkonen has been the promising prospect coming through the system.

The Finnish goalie started started strong early in the season, but struggled as the year went along. We finished with a poor goals saved above expected number of -15.59 in all situations. This year was his first full NHL season and as we know goaltenders can be voodoo. Therefore, there’s no reason to believe he can’t bounce back moving forward.

Big save from Kahkonen early on. #mnwild pic.twitter.com/zEmdHFXi76

— Giles Ferrell (@gilesferrell) May 2, 2021

Kahkonen has had good numbers playing in a few different leagues over the last three years. Last season he put up a .908 save percentage with the Iowa Wild of the AHL. The two years before that he had a .922 and .921 save percentage playing for Lukko in the Finnish pro league Liiga.

The 24-year-old could also be a piece the Sabres could ask for if the Wild want to get involved in conversations to acquire Jack Eichel.

Honorable Mentions

There are two other goalies that the Sabres could explore on the trade market, but neither really interest me that much. The first is Edmonton Oilers goaltender Mikko Koskinen. The 32-year-old keeper has been one of the worst in the league the last two years and carries a big cap hit of $4.5 million for one more year. Unless the Sabres take him on as a cap dump to pick up another asset, they should stay clear of him.

The other is New York Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev. The Rangers seem content with their tandem in place Igor Shesterkin and Georgiev. However, with the Eichel trade talks you can’t overlook the Rangers goalie as a piece in a potential package.

At the end of the day I don’t think Georgiev is anything more than a good back up, but again if Ullmark is back in the mix that could be exactly what they need.

Data via: Evolving Hockey and Cap Friendly

Photo Credit: Steve Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images