Feb 3: Friedman reports that Houser has cleared waivers. He can now be sent to the minor leagues.
Feb 2: The Buffalo Sabres, finally getting some goaltenders healthy again, have placed Michael Houser on waivers today according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The team had Craig Anderson and Dustin Tokarski dressed last night, meaning Houser can now return to the minor leagues and wait for his next NHL opportunity.
It’s been an interesting year for Houser, who was playing in the ECHL as recently as 2019-20. The undrafted netminder was on a minor league deal last season when the Sabres were forced to sign him to an NHL contract and put him in the net. The exact same situation happened again this season when he was signed in mid-January after more goaltending issues in Buffalo. Despite all that he has actually been excellent when called upon and now spots a career NHL save percentage of .917 through six appearances.
Still, the chance of him being claimed at this point is extremely low given his checkered history in the minor leagues, which only even includes 23 AHL appearances since the start of the 2015-16 season. Should he clear as expected, he’ll likely go back to Rochester where the Americans are scheduled to play 13 games in February.
It will be interesting to see who would be the first call-up should the Sabres run into any other goaltending trouble, after Aaron Dell was also sent to the AHL earlier this week. The veteran goaltender appears to have served his full suspension by staying on the active roster through the game against the Colorado Avalanche, meaning he could be recalled and play for the Sabres whenever necessary.
Ugh Dell