For a long time, both the Buffalo Sabres as a franchise and their fans assumed that Devon Levi was their goaltender of the future.
Levi, 25, won the Mike Richter Award twice as college hockey’s top goaltender, looked solid in his first seven career games, and had the makings of a franchise goaltender. Levi is a goaltender who is quick, is great at moving side-to-side, and does a great job in battling to stop pucks.
With that said, Levi struggled out of the gate last season and did not appear to be ready to be a full-time NHL goaltender. As such, the team sent him down to the American Hockey League (AHL) to play with the Rochester Americans, where he performed admirably in going 16-6-0-4 with a 2.42 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage.
Levi being sent down opened the door for backup goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to take the reins and show the franchise that he could be the guy. Luukkonen, 25, did not disappoint as he finished the season with a record of 27-22-0-4 to go along with a 2.57 goals-against average, .910 save percentage, and five shutouts.
Thanks to his strong performance, the Sabres rewarded Luukkonen with a five-year, $23.75 million contract on Wednesday, July 24. Not only does this deal give Luukkonen stability, but it should also show him that the Sabres believe that he is going to be an integral part of their club moving forward.
The truth of the matter is that he has to be if the Sabres want to make the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in well over a decade. He certainly did everything he could last season, but the team missed the postseason by seven points.
There is a lot to like about having Luukkonen between the pipes. For starters, he does a great job of controlling his movements between the pipes.
He stays square to the shooter, swallows up a lot of pucks, controls his rebounds, and is rarely caught out of position. Considering how weak the Sabres are defensively, it is great to have someone like Luukkonen playing behind them.
Secondly, Luukkonen does not give up on pucks. If he does give up a juicy rebound, he battles to get back into position to make saves on second and third opportunities if they arise.
Lastly, going into this upcoming season with a new deal in place should give him a lot of confidence. He will not have to worry about his future for a while and instead, can focus on what he does best, which is stopping pucks and doing everything he can to help his team win hockey games.
With Luukkonen in tow, not only do the Sabres have their goalie of the present, but they might just have their goalie of the future as well.
ITR 45: Everything Is Happening – Inside The Rink
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