Buffalo Sabres to Part Ways with Goalie Robin Lehner

Robin Lehner
Robin Lehner. Photo by Daniel Lea/CSM/REX/Shutterstock

Buffalo Sabres have decided not to make a qualifying offer to goalie Robin Lehner, paving the way for the 26-year-old to become an unrestricted free agent. The qualifying offer for Lehner, who spent three years with the Sabres, was valued at $4 million.

Buffalo Sabres general manager Jason Botterill confirmed the news while speaking to reporters ahead of 2018 NHL Draft on Friday.

It was a difficult decision,” – said Botterill. “When you finish 31st, you have to make some difficult choices and we have informed Robin that he’s not coming back next year. Part of it that was so difficult about it was that I know Robin is passionate about the city of Buffalo and passionate about helping this organization but we felt we had to make some adjustments and that’s one of the areas we decided to make an adjustment in.”

Robin Lehner struggled to make his impact since joining the Sabres in 2015. The last season was particularly disappointing for him, being 14-26-9 with a 3.01 goals-against average and .908 save percentage, and trying to play through injuries.

Besides the fact that Lehner didn’t perform as well as expected, another reason for why Sabres decided to move on from him is to give goalie prospect Linus Ullmark an opportunity to get the starting job. But, it won’t be easy for the youngster, since he will have to compete with one of the established NHL veterans Botterill plans on signing.

There’s a growing process here with everything” – Botterill added. “We think Linus is ready for the next challenge here but to hand over the No. 1 role, I think that’s unfair to any young goalie.”

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