The World Hockey Association's Cincinnati Stingers also selected Sauvé in round 2 (16th overall) in the 1975 WHA Amateur Draft, but his ambition was to play in the NHL.
Sauvé played four games for the Sabres during the 1976–77 season but spent the majority of the year with the AHL's Rhode Island Reds.
[2] Sauvé was joined in net by a young phenom just out of high school named Tom Barrasso for the 1983–84 season, and the duo went on to share the William M. Jennings Trophy for fewest goals allowed in 1984–85.
Sauvé was dealt by Buffalo to the Chicago Black Hawks in exchange for a third-round pick in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft.
Sauvé remained active in hockey after retirement, first as the president of the New Jersey Devils' alumni association, then as a goalie coach and later as a player agent.