Sabres Sign Goalie Prospect Levi To Entry-Level Contract

The Buffalo Sabres goaltending could be the final piece to the puzzle to break the franchise’s long streak of missing the playoffs and the club believes they have addressed their future between the pipes with the signing of Northeastern University netminder Devon Levi to a three-year entry-level deal on Friday.

The 21-year-old native of Dolard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec has had a storied career, winning MVP at the 2019 World Junior A Challenge, MVP and Top Goaltender awards in Canadian Junior Hockey League and Central Canada Hockey League before being drafted by Florida in the 7th round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. After being acquired by Buffalo as part of the deal that sent Sam Reinhart to the Panthers in July 2021, Levi was named the top goaltender at the 2021 World Juniors and won a silver medal with Team Canada, which earned him a spot on Canada’s 2022 Winter Olympics roster.

With the Huskies, Levi won the Mike Richter Award for the NCAA’s top goaltender in 2021, is a finalist for the award this season, has twice been a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, and led all college goaltenders in save percentage in both seasons.

The Sabres had a pair of college goaltending prospects in Levi and the University of Michigan’s Erik Portillo. While the former was being heavily courted by the Sabres, Portillo saw his NHL opportunity blocked in Buffalo with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Levi potentially in the pipeline. Portillo remained in college for his senior season and may become an unrestricted free agent this summer, which is why his rights were dealt to the Los Angeles Kings at the trade deadline.

Buffalo looked to avoid a similar dilemma with Levi and offered the 21-year-old in his contract bonuses that were consistent with prospects drafted in the first round.

“It took a few days to go through the process, but obviously we got to where we got to today.” Sabres GM Kevyn Adams said after the signing. “You never feel overly comfortable until the contract is signed…..at the end of the day what you fall back on is the trust in the relationship and the honesty that we built.”

Adams indicated that the plan for Levi is to stay with the Sabres for the rest of the season rather than start with Rochester in the American Hockey League, and he did not rule out the youngster playing in one of the club’s 14 remaining games, which would burn the first year of the goaltender’s contract.

“We thought it was really important to have Devon integrate right away into our team. I want to make sure that we get him comfortable. Obviously, he’s going to go through immigration and once he gets there, then 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.” Adams said, “We thought for his development and where we are right now, this was a critical time to learn and grow with us.”