Sabres & Ducks are Perfect Match for Goaltender Swap

The Buffalo Sabres and Anaheim Ducks have the perfect situation to make an offseason trade that will benefit both sides equally for the stages they are at. The Sabres may still make the playoffs this season, but are only going to get better in the coming seasons. The Ducks are in the middle of a rebuild that 2022-23 proved will not be as quick of a turnaround as they had initially hoped. That being said, the teams are in the right place and in the right mindset to swap goaltenders in the offseason.

Goaltenders in Question

While there have been trade rumours surrounding John Gibson for a while now, his numbers and confidence have really taken a hit while the Ducks go through a rebuild. Regardless of the poor numbers that include a .903 save percentage (SV%) and -27.6 goals saved above average (GSAA) over the past four seasons, the team in front of him have done him absolutely no favours. Many teams will still believe he is an elite goaltender because of the way he can dominate certain games with no help in front of him. He is still in the prime of his career at age 29 and is still under contract for four more years at a decent price for an elite goaltender. The contract will depend on if he can return to the level he was at a number of years ago when the Ducks were a playoff team.

The other goalie in question that the Sabres would be sending back to the Ducks fits their timeline and works very well for them. Seeing as the Sabres have too many goalies to juggle and a number of young goalies to decide what to do with, the feeling is that they have already made up their mind about one of them, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Chad DeDominicis reported that the Sabres are not fans of Luukkonen’s game and could move him. He still has one year left on his contract at $837,500 and is only 24 years old. As the Ducks aren’t expected to compete next season, Luukkonen and Lukas Dostal can split the net evenly and the team can determine who they like as their starter.

Potential Trade Details

The Sabres just signed Devon Levi, have Eric Comrie, and veteran Craig Anderson on their roster. The expectation is that they will move on from the 41-year-old Anderson, Levi will spend a year at least in the AHL, and Comrie may stick around. This would allow Gibson to start for Buffalo, Comrie to backup, and Levi to be available as a third option and backup goalie for 2024-25 when Comrie’s contract ends. The Sabres have tons of cap space to bring in Gibson’s $6.4 million AAV deal.

Related: 3 Sabres Who Won’t Be Back Next Season

The Sabres should expect better results than the .903 SV% over the past four years, but it may be a stretch to expect Gibson to bounce back to the elite of the elite when he posted a .921 SV% and 57.7 GSAA over his first 236 career games. Anything in the mid-.910s would do just fine with the top of the league scoring the Sabres have proven they can provide.

As for the other end of the deal I would expect more than just Luukkonen to be heading to Anaheim. A first round pick could also be included, but Buffalo could leverage the poor SV% of Gibson to stop the price at that. As a fan of either team, what do you think of this potential trade?