Goalie will be in Buffalo for the rest of the season, could play
Devon Levi is officially a member of the Buffalo Sabres.
The 21-year-old goalie signed a three-year, entry-level contract Friday and, once the immigration process is finalized, will join the Sabres for the remainder of the regular season.
“We thought it was important to have Devon integrate right away into our team,” general manager Kevyn Adams told reporters in Philadelphia ahead of the game against the Flyers. “Obviously, he's going to go through the immigration and then once he gets [to Buffalo], get into practices, start to feel part of the team and with the guys. …
“I think it’s really important the mentorship that someone like Craig Anderson can have in a really short time. I thought that was really important just to start Devon off on the right foot, and then we’ll go from there. We’ll kind of take it day by day. We just thought for his development, where we are right now, this was a critical time for him to learn and grow with us, and that’s why he’s coming right in."
A seventh-round pick (No. 212) by the Florida Panthers in the 2020 NHL Draft, Buffalo acquired Levi on July 24, 2021 as part of the return (which also included a first-round pick that yielded Jiri Kulich) for Sam Reinhart.
The Sabres have Anderson, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Eric Comrie, who is week to week with a lower-body injury, on the roster. Whether Levi makes his NHL debut at some point before the end of the season has yet to be determined but it hasn’t been ruled out.
“It’s something [Don Granato] and I have talked about,” Adams said. “We’ve first got to get him up to speed and get him around the guys, get him comfortable. You always want to … set players up for success. You want to put them in a situation that you believe they can thrive. We’re open to it and we’ll go day by day and once we feel that he’s comfortable and where he needs to be, then we’ll see where we’re at.”
He completed his junior season at Northeastern University with a 17-12-5 record, a 2.24 goals-against average and an NCAA-best .933 save percentage. He was named Hockey East Goalie of the Year for the second straight year and Player of the Year.
He’s a top-10 finalist for this year’s Hobey Baker Award, presented to the NCAA’s top men’s hockey player, and is among the three finalists for the Mike Richter Award as the top collegiate goalie, an award he claimed last season.
Levi, who hails from the Montreal suburb of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec, returned to Northeastern last fall, ready to face the challenge of heightened expectations following his breakout season in 2021-22. He led the NCAA with a .952 save percentage to go with a 1.54 goals-against average and a school-record 10 shutouts, while going 21-10-1 in 32 games. He was also named the NCAA Rookie of the Year, one of several honors he earned.
“It’s easy to get caught up in thinking you're the best and you came off a really good season and trying to manage expectations,” he said at Sabres development camp last July. “I’m really looking forward to going into that challenge and managing it and learning how to do it.”