Sabres' Robin Lehner: Notches just five wins in first year as starter

Lehner, who battled an ankle injury two separate times this season, finished with five wins in 21 appearances with a 2.47 goals-against average and .924 save percentage.

Analysis:

After appearing in 36 and 25 games in each of his final two seasons with Ottawa, Lehner was supposed to break out with Buffalo after being anointed the team's starter. However, his season was derailed after he suffered a high-ankle sprain in the season opener, which kept him off the ice for weeks, and only to aggravate the ankle again upon his return. While his lack of wins is concerning, the Sabres weren't a playoff contender this season, and it's very encouraging that he sports very good peripheral numbers. Though backup Chad Johnson had a very good season filling in, Lehner is expected to be the team's No. 1 goalie next season, though he will face increasing competition over the next few years with young goalies Linus Ullmark, Jason Kasdorf and Cal Petersen in the pipeline.