New Sabres signee Alex Lyon: ‘Goalies have to support goalies’
Alex Lyon signed last week as a free agent with the Buffalo Sabres and brings an established veteran presence and a realistic outlook to the position group.
Alex Lyon faced a decision about his future, and he took the advice of two veteran goalies with some inside knowledge when he considered the possibility of joining the Buffalo Sabres.
The Sabres announced the free-agent signing of Lyon on July 1, and Lyon said he ultimately opted to join the Sabres at the counsel of former Sabres goalies Dustin Tokarski and James Reimer.
“They both spoke very highly of it,” Lyon said on a video conference on Tuesday. “They said it’s a great spot to be for a goalie, and I’m pretty close with both of those guys, so I have a lot of trust in their opinion. They both really enjoyed their experience and their time there, and that was big for me.”
Goaltender Alex Lyon joined the Sabres after winning 35 games for the Red Wings over the last two seasons.
Associated Press
Lyon and Reimer were teammates with the Red Wings in 2023-24. Lyon, in fact, replaces Reimer in the Sabres’ goaltending ranks. Lyon, a 6-foot-1, 196-pound Minnesota native, was 14-9-1 with the Red Wings in 2024-25, with a save percentage of .896 and a goals-against average of 2.81 in 2025-26.
Lyon signed a two-year deal with an average annual value of $1.5 million, and he will provide the Sabres with a proven veteran presence behind Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, the incumbent in goal and the likely starter this season. Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said Lyon fit the necessary bill of being a veteran presence with character and experience.
“He’s going to challenge and push, but we think he helps us win hockey games,” Adams said.
Lyon brings a basic altruistic principle to the position.
“Goalies have to support goalies,” he said.
Lyon enters his 10th season of professional hockey, including the last two seasons with the Red Wings, and has been in plenty of situations, whether it is playing for a Stanley Cup, being a backup, being a starter, finding out he’s going to the minors, or finding out he’s being called up again to the NHL. Lyon also has worked with an array of goalies, including Reimer, Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky, and Brian Elliott and Cam Talbot with the Philadelphia Flyers.
“I’ve been in so many situations where you go in with a certain expectation, and then it doesn’t transpire that way, at all,” Lyon said. “At this point in my career, part of the value I bring is, 180 days, I’m going to be the best version of myself I possibly can be, the most competitive version of myself that I possibly can be, and see where the chips fall, after that.
“My aspiration is always to play as many games as possible, and win as many games as possible, and I think that’s a good mentality to have. You have to be ultra-competitive in the goalie room, but also extremely supportive at the same time. It’s a really fine balance to strike, but that’s a strength, for sure, that I have.”
He also brings a realistic perspective to the position, one that requires an even keel and plenty of resiliency, especially if you make a career out of being a goalie.
“You can’t go into a season expecting it to be sunshine and rainbows the whole time,” Lyon said. “That has been a big learning curve for me, just understanding you’re going to have to go into battle 82 times, and that’s an extremely difficult thing to do. There’s going to be times when you feel really bad, and times when you feel really confident and staying on that even level is, really, the key to life.”
Lyon is realistic about a lot of things – his path to the NHL and the detours to the American Hockey League – and the craft of goaltending.
“It’s an unmasterable position,” Lyon said of being a goalie.
He also said he never imagined himself to be in the spot he is, when he decided years ago that he was going to pursue college hockey. He played from 2013-16 at Yale before turning pro with the Flyers in April 2016 as an undrafted free agent.
Even then, Lyon bounced between the NHL and the AHL for the first six seasons of his career, but helped the Panthers reach the 2023 Stanley Cup Final.
Conversely, the Red Wings haven’t made the playoffs since 2016, and the Sabres haven’t made the playoffs since 2011. Lyon is acutely aware of the situation he enters with the Sabres but takes a pragmatic approach.
Be at your most competitive. Bring your personality to the locker room and to the team every day. Know there are no guarantees, but give your best, regardless of how good or how bad things get.
“I’m really excited about the challenge and the opportunity,” Lyon said. “Like I’ve said, I’ve been on the receiving end of some shellackings by the Sabres, here in the last few years, so I know how dangerous this team can be, and I love it. So, it’s an exciting time for me.”
