22-year-old goaltender split time between ECHL Jacksonville and AHL Rochester last season
The Buffalo Sabres have been considered to have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL, which is in part due to them selecting high in recent drafts because of their not qualifying for the playoffs. The Sabres have displayed an eye for talent, and the organization’s developmental model has begun to yield results, with 2023 first rounder Zach Benson making an impact in the playoffs, and 2024 top pick Konsta Helenius appearing as one of the AHL’s top prospects the last two seasons.
Leading up to the opening of training camp in mid-September, we will look at the club's top 40 prospects. These players are all 25 years old or younger, whose rights are currently held by the Sabres or are on AHL or NHL deals, and have played less than 82 NHL games.
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17. Topias Leinonen – G (Rochester - AHL, Jacksonville - ECHL)
The Sabres selected Leinonen in the second round after picking three centers (Matthew Savoie, Noah Ostlund, and Jiri Kulich) in the first round of the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal. Similar to his countryman and fellow second-rounder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, the 6’4″, 214 lb. Leinonen is the physical package that NHL clubs usually look for in a goaltender.
After putting up excellent numbers in Junior (2.28 GAA and .916 save percentage), he played internationally for Finland at the World Junior Under-18’s in 2022, but the next two seasons at the junior, second-level pro Mestis, and pro-level SM-Liiga, Leinonen was plagued by injury and the results have been mixed at best.
Leinonen shifted to Sweden to play for Mora IK in 2024, and the 22-year-old seemed to find his stride with a 2.31 GAA and .910 save percentage in 25 games. After being signed to an ELC in March 2025, the Sabres looked for him to put together a consistent season in North America, but with Devon Levi making over 50 starts in Rochester, he and backup Scott Ratzlaff split the backup duties and also spent time with ECHL Jacksonville.
The Sabres added veteran AHLer Matt Villalta in free agency, but it is expected that Leinonen and Ratzlaff will get the lion’s share of the starts next season.
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