The 21-year-old rookie went 3-4-1 in eight starts with the Sabres
The 21-year-old rookie went 3-4-1 in eight starts with the Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres made the decision to send goaltender Devon Levi to the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League on Tuesday primarily to get the 21-year-old netminder consistent work, rather than the three-goalie rotation that the club has been using the last two weeks.
"In a perfect world, you don't have a three-goalie system, but if you go back to training camp and the situation we were in and the situation around the league, we felt it was the right thing." GM Kevyn Adams said. And then obviously ran into some injuries. Devin was out for a little while. comps was out for a little while. So just kind of getting ourselves into a spot where this felt like the right time. You know, We also looked ahead at the schedule and it's in a situation for Devon where maybe he's gonna get in a game a week and we really aren't going to have much practice time in December, so this is all part of the process."
The club carried three goalies through the first quarter of the season, in part because Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Eric Comrie would have both required waivers to be sent down to the AHL. A team like the Tampa Bay Lightning may have claimed either of them with Andrei Vasilevskiy out recovering from back surgery, but the Vezina Trophy winner was activated off of injured reserve this week.
Levi went 3-4-1 in nine appearances this season, with a 3.73 GAA and .876 save %, statistically the worst of the three Sabres goalies, but his slow start does not mean that Buffalo has not lost any belief that he is their future between the pipes.
"We're super excited about Devin and believe in him and just feel like this is an opportunity for him to get in a rhythm, get sharpened up, even through some more structured practice reps and that's something that we have the luxury, and the ability to do right now and I think it's the right decision at this time," Adams said.
With the demotion, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is expected to get the bulk of the starts, as he improved his record to 6-3-1 after the 5-1 win over the Rangers in New York on Monday.
Adams did not set a timeframe on how long he expects Levi to be in Rochester but did indicate that he wants the youngster to gain some experience and get plenty of reps. The Amerks play in Belleville on Friday.
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