East Notes: Sabres, Romanov, Lundell, Laba

In Tuesday’s rendition of Oilers NOW with Bob Stauffer, his guest, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, spoke on the situation in the crease for the Buffalo Sabres. Friedman believes that the Sabres will need to recall Devon Levi sooner rather than later, which would confound an already complicated situation between the pipes.

Even without Levi, Buffalo already has three goaltenders on the roster when healthy: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Alex Lyon, and Colten Ellis. However, in his introductory press conference, new General Manager Jarmo Kekäläinen stated that he wasn’t comfortable having three on the roster and would address that as soon as possible. Since then, Ellis and Lyon have each spent time on the IR, effectively kicking the can down the road.

Despite Kekäläinen’s desire to move a goalie off the roster, Levi remains blocked. Nonetheless, the 24-year-old has made a name for himself, compiling a record of 53-25-15 in 91 games with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, achieving a .917 SV% and a 2.45 GAA over the past three years. It’s hard to see how Levi could make the NHL roster this season, so the Sabres have more work ahead regarding their goaltending situation.

Additional notes from the Eastern Conference:

• In late November, the New York Islanders shared that defenseman Alexander Romanov would miss five to six months after undergoing shoulder surgery. Giving a little bit more specificity to that timeline today, Andrew Gross of Newsday shared that Romanov is a possibility to return to the playoffs if the Islanders qualify. Given that there was no indication provided otherwise, that means that Romanov’s 2025-26 regular season has concluded. The 26-year-old will finish with one assist in 15 games with a -7 rating, averaging 19:27 of ice time per game.
• The NHL’s Department of Player Safety is involved in last night’s game between the Florida Panthers and the Montreal Canadiens. They have fined Panthers forward Anton Lundell $5,000, the maximum allowable under the current CBA, for high-sticking Canadiens forward Alexandre Texier. Lundell was originally given a double-minor on the play.
• If everything goes according to plan, the New York Rangers will return third-line center Noah Laba to the lineup tomorrow afternoon. According to Peter Baugh of The Athletic, Laba was a full participant at practice today. The 22-year-old forward has been dealing with an upper-body injury since December 31st, and was given a week-to-week recovery timeline.