The last image of the Buffalo Sabres’ season was one Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will spend his summer trying to forget. Alex Newhook’s shot dipped below Luukkonen’s glove and gave the Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 overtime win against the Sabres in Game 7. And that has made goaltending an early offseason talking point in Buffalo.The Sabres, like many teams in the NHL, could upgrade in net. It’s also a tricky position to upgrade, given how few workhorse No. 1 goalies exist in the league today. High-priced goalies like Andrei Vasilevskiy and Sergei Bobrovsky have Stanley Cup rings in recent years, but other teams have won with lesser talents. The last four goalies in the playoffs this season were hardly sure things going into the postseason.And Buffalo’s goalies weren’t bad this season. In fact, during the regular season, you could argue that Luukkonen and Alex Lyon were a big reason the Sabres were able to win the Atlantic Division. From Dec. 9 to the end of the season, the Sabres had the third-best save percentage in the NHL. Luukkonen had a .908 save percentage during that stretch, and Lyon had a .906 save percentage. Colten Ellis also chipped in 14 starts this season with a 2.90 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage. Both Lindy Ruff and Jarmo Kekäläinen hinted that they wouldn’t mind sticking with three goalies in 2026-27. They liked how the setup kept everyone fresh.But Buffalo’s rotation also became an issue in the playoffs. Lyon was a better matchup against the Bruins. The volume of shots and high-danger chances was lower in that series, and he handled the Bruins well when he jumped into that series. But the Canadiens were able to create different types of chances due to their ability to make cross-ice plays, and Lyon struggled. Luukkonen was the better goalie in that series.Ultimately, the Sabres ended up in a spot where they didn’t have a goalie they could count on at the end of the season. According to MoneyPuck, Lyon and Luukkonen were 14th and 15th in goals saved above expected among 24 qualifying goalies in the playoffs. The Canadiens won that series for a few different reasons, but goaltending was a big one. Jakub Dobeš was better than Luukkonen and Lyon were.Therein lies the risk in running it back in net. Luukkonen is 27. That was his first taste of the playoffs, so he could build on that experience. But the Sabres know what they have in him at this point. The same goes for Lyon, who will turn 34 next season. Both are solid tandem goalies, but neither was able to go through prolonged stretches as a consistent starter. That could be enough to help the Sabres repeat their regular-season success, especially if the defensive environment is as solid as it was this season. But the Sabres would be back in the same spot come playoff time, wondering what they’ll get between the pipes.The other thing to consider with the current goalie depth chart is Buffalo’s two young options. Ellis will be 26 in the fall and showed some promise in his first full NHL season. The sample was small, though. Did the Sabres see enough to think they could lean on him more next season? Maybe, but that doesn’t strike me as a foolproof plan for having better goaltending in April and May, either.