Update: This signing has now been announced by the team. It’s a two-year deal with a $1.5 million AAV.
Per Elliotte Friedman, the Buffalo Sabres are expected to sign goaltender Alex Lyon when the NHL’s free agency period opens later today. Friedman dropped the news in a 2 a.m. article.
Lyon, 32, has spent the last two seasons with the Detroit Red Wings. This past season, he went 14-9-1 with a 2.81 GAA and .896 save percentage. In the 2023-24 season, Lyon appeared in 44 games with a 21-18-5 record, 3.05 GAA and .904 save percentage.
These past two seasons have been the most consistent NHL action of his career to date. He previously played in the NHL briefly for Philadelphia Carolina and Florida but has also played extensively in the AHL. To date, he’s appeared in 113 NHL games with a 2.98 GAA and .902 save percentage.
Lyon was a former Yale netminder who went undrafted, signing with Lehigh Valley in the AHL after three seasons of collegiate hockey. In 202 AHL games, he went 106-70-27 with a 2.62 GAA and .912 save percentage.
Lyon’s most recent contract was a two-year deal with the Red Wings that carried a cap hit of $900,000.