As UPL tightens grip on No. 1 job, what do the Sabres do with Devon Levi?

BUFFALO – After rotating games with Devon Levi for two weeks, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has grabbed the Sabres’ No. 1 goalie job again, starting four straight games and nine of the last 10 contests.

Luukkonen’s emergence is hardly surprising. The Finn, 25, established himself as the Sabres’ backbone and one of the NHL’s elite goalies down the stretch last season, playing 36 of the last 43 games. He thrives with the consistent action.

Entering this afternoon’s game against the hapless Montreal Canadiens at KeyBank Center, he has compiled a 1.30 goals-against average and a .956 save percentage during the Sabres’ three-game winning streak.

The Sabres will almost certainly keep riding Luukkonen. So, what can they do with Levi?

He has played just once, on Nov. 1, in the last 23 days after allowing six goals Oct. 17 in a road loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Levi, 22, is one of hockey’s most intriguing young goalies. The Sabres thought so highly of him when he left Northeastern late in 2022-23, he played their final six games as they fought for a playoff berth.

But just weeks into this season, he has been relegated to backup duty. It’s hardly ideal for him to sit for weeks at a time. He needs regular action.

Levi has played in just four of the Sabres’ first 15 games this season, compiling a 1-3-0 record with a 3.91 goals-against average and an .878 save percentage.

“I’d like that Columbus game back, obviously, but I learned a lot from it,” Levi told the Times Herald following Sunday’s practice. “I feel like my other starts I felt good, I felt solid. I feel like as good as I’ve felt.”

After Luukkonen grabbed the starting job almost one year ago, they assigned Levi to the Rochester Americans to be their No. 1 netminder. They periodically recalled him or sent him back to Rochester to play.

He played 54 total games as a rookie last season: 23 with the Sabres and 31 with the Amerks, including five appearances in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Right now, if the Sabres want to send Levi to the AHL, they don’t have an option to replace him. The only other goalie in the organization with an NHL contract, Felix Sandstrom, suffered an upper-body injury Friday when Hartford Wolf Pack defenseman Chris Harpur hit him in his crease.

Harpur received a five-minute charging penalty and a game misconduct. The AHL also suspended him four games for his cheap shot.

Sandstrom tripped Harpur last season – it appeared to be accidental – causing him to suffer a season-ending injury. Harpur’s run at him could’ve been retaliation.

he 100% intended to run him no matter what, its pathetic. pic.twitter.com/03YXiI8w6x

— hope (@nohopeleague) November 9, 2024

Goalie Michael Houser replaced Sandstrom on Friday and started Saturday’s 5-0 road loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The Amerks signed goalie Matt Vernon to a pro tryout to back up. Vernon plays for the Jacksonville Icemen, Buffalo’s ECHL affiliate.

Houser, who has played six games for the Sabres, has an AHL contract this season.

The Sabres, however, could have an intriguing option in the near future. Goalie James Reimer, a veteran the Anaheim Ducks snatched on waivers from the Sabres, might become expendable soon.

The Ducks recently activated goalie John Gibson from injured reserve. After he underwent an emergency appendectomy in late September, the Ducks claimed Reimer on Oct. 7.

Reimer, who signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Sabres as a free agent, could become expendable and placed back on waivers.

If the Sabres claim him, that might allow them to get Levi some work in the minors.

As he waits to play, the affable Levi, who always seems to be having a great day, said he has been “just focusing on staying ready.”

“Making sure my practice habits are good,” he said. “Trying to allocate a little bit of practice time into like a game mentality. When there’s drills, where there’s like game situational, reads to be made, just kind of getting into a game mode, game mentality, like getting hungry to stop the puck and just try not to think, just play.”

Levi, who could play when the Sabres play back-to-back game Nov. 22 and 23, has found some positives in his new role as a backup.

“If anything, I’m more fresh just having taken some time off,” he said. “So (I’m) mentally fresh, physically fresh. I think the biggest battle is just like being mentally to be able to come to the rink, get your work in and act like you’re playing the next game.

“Even though I know I’m not playing, it’s still important to plan as if I’m playing, because anything can happen. It’s really having that mentality that I’m in the net tomorrow and practicing like I’m playing, and then that kind of keeps me ready and in the swing of things.”