The Buffalo Sabres have avoided arbitration with goaltender Robin Lehner, signing him to a one-year contract worth $4MM. Lehner was due for a hearing on the 27th to determine his salary. The contract will keep Lehner under team control as a restricted free agent for one more year following its expiration. 
Lehner, 26, can be one of the most frustrating goalies in the league at times, and one of the most spectacular at others. While it’s clear that he has the talent to be one of the very top netminders in professional hockey, he does sometimes lose his concentration and can be prone to fiery outbursts. Even still, he recorded a .920 save percentage in his first year as a full-time starter, good for seventh in the league among goaltenders who started half their team’s games.
If it’s hard for Buffalo fans to fully get behind Lehner, its because of the high price they had to pay to get him. Two summers ago they sent a first-round pick to the Ottawa Senators for the goaltender and David Legwand, a selection that turned into blue-chip prospect Colin White. The Sabres expect quite a bit from their young goaltender, and with the struggles of the team it has been hard to justify that price. Lehner has a .921 save percentage since getting to Buffalo, and is clearly doing his part to help the Sabres out of the basement.
One of the more interesting notes about Lehner’s 2016-17 season was his struggles in the shootout. He allowed all eight attempts against him, making him 2/12 since joining the Sabres. Though the shootout is easily the least important part of a goaltender’s game, it is still frustrating for Sabres fans to watch them lose over and over in the skills competition.
Lehner will get a hefty raise to $4MM this season and could be in line for a substantial long-term contract even if he just repeats his performance from a year ago. Though new GM Jason Botterill would like to see what he has before giving out the keys to the net, allowing a talent like Lehner to walk in the summer of 2019 would be foolish.
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