Sabres starting goalie had a career-high 51 starts and a 27-22-4 record last season
On a busy Friday when the Buffalo Sabres acquired center Ryan McLeod from the Edmonton Oilers along with minor leaguer Tyler Tullio for prospect Matthew Savoie and announced the signing of defenseman Henri Jokiharju to a one-year, $3.1 million deal, goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and forward Beck Malenstyn filed for salary arbitration.
Luukkonen made a career-high 51 starts and posted a 27-22-4 record, 2.57 GAA, and .910 save % last season in the final year of a two-year, $1.675 million bridge deal. Sabres GM Kevyn Adams indicated prior to the draft that he was convinced that the 25-year-old is capable of handling the primary netminding duties and had been in contact with agent Markus Lehto to negotiate a new deal.
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"Those conversations started back during the season in March or so," Adams said. "(Ukko-Pekka) made it very clear he loves this team, loves the city, he wants to be here. We're excited about him, and we're going to work at it. We're continuing to have conversations…. (and) there'll be some more in Vegas."
Luukkonen is two years away from unrestricted free agency. The club could opt to re-sign him to a one-year deal to prove that his 2023 performance was not a fluke, but the Sabres then risk the price going up and negotiating under the gun with only one year remaining before the goaltender hits the open market.
Malenstyn was acquired from Washington for a 2024 second-round pick last week in Vegas after scoring 21 points (6 goals, 15 assists) in a career-high 81 games last season. The 26-year-old is likely looking for a one-way deal and a bump from the league-minimum $775,000 salary he earned last season.
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