There isn’t one cause for the Sabres’ failure to break their playoff drought this year. Buffalo’s special teams weren’t nearly good enough, the team failed to spend to the cap once again and goaltending didn’t hold up its end of the bargain. 

You can find several more areas that fell short for the Sabres this year, but the problems between the pipes are going to get plenty of attention this coming offseason. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s play regressed significantly this season, his goals saved above expected at 5-on-5 dropped from 10.8 last season to -3 this year per MoneyPuck. Hockey Reference clocks his GSAA at 10.1 last season and -17.6 this year. His counting stats also took a noticeable dive, going from a .910 SV% in 2023-24 to .888 this season. Luukkonen has been more erratic and leaky this year, showing many of the struggles which defined his early NHL play as opposed to the more controlled, commanding performance he enjoyed last season. 

James Reimer’s opportunities have been fairly limited until a recent string of starts. While his play has been steady in a backup role, his long-term outlook is limited at 37 years old. Whether Lindy Ruff lacked trust in Reimer, had too much faith in Luukkonen or he simply didn’t operate with a good rotation, it’s telling that Reimer has played as many games this month (five) as he did between December 21 and the end of February. Reimer was a far better insurance policy for the Sabres than they’ve had in recent years and he’s been a steady option (despite his lack of playing time) after Devon Levi proved he needed more AHL seasoning. However, Reimer’s has only played 17 games this year and would need to play the majority of this stretch run to get to 25. At his age, he’s not the sort of backup who could be relied on for over 30 starts, which is what the Sabres will need for 2025-26.