Sabres claim James Reimer off waivers from Ducks

The Buffalo Sabres may finally get a chance to see James Reimer play in net for their team, as they have claimed the goaltender off of waivers.

The Sabres bring in Reimer after signing him in the offseason with the expectation of acting as veteran depth in the crease behind Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Devon Levi. However, he was claimed on waivers by the Anaheim Ducks, who needed a replacement for John Gibson while he was out due to appendicitis.

Now that Gibson set to return to the lineup for the Ducks, they had placed Reimer on waivers, with the Sabres claiming him to be in that depth role that they originally signed him to be in.

With Luukkonen currently day-to-day, Reimer will likely stay on the Sabres’ NHL roster until he is healthy. Beyond that, there’s no word on whether Reimer will be placed on waivers again to go to the minors, or if he will stay in an NHL role, either as the third goalie or to take over the backup role amidst Levi’s struggles to start the year.

That said, Reimer hasn’t had the best start to the season either, as in 2 games played with the Ducks, he had an 0-2-0 record, an .864% save percentage, and a -0.49 goals saved above expected. Those numbers should be taken with a slight grain of salt though, as this comes behind the worst team in the league in 5v5 expected goals against per 60 minutes, while the Sabres are the 14th-best in this regard.

Reimer is currently signed to a one-year, $1 million contract, one he originally signed with the Sabres in the summer. He will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

The Sabres will look to bounce back from a 7-5 loss to the Montreal Canadiens when they host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. EST. Buffalo currently sits in sixth in the Atlantic Division with a 7-8-1 record.