For the last little while, there has been growing speculation that the Buffalo Sabres will move on from netminder Devon Levi relatively soon. Those rumors aren’t going away anytime soon. Speaking on Coming In Hot, Jeff Marek of the Daily Faceoff shared that the relationship between the Sabres and Levi is “over”.
Specifically, Marek mentioned that the Ottawa Senators had recently reached out to the Sabres regarding Levi in the hopes that he could play in the backup role behind Linus Ullmark. Marek opined that the Senators could reach out to Buffalo again this summer about the netminder’s availability.
While it’s rare for intradivisional rivals to engage in trading, the Senators and Sabres collaborated on a deal that sent Joshua Norris to Buffalo and Dylan Cozens to Ottawa last year. However, that trade was made when Kevyn Adams was the General Manager of the Sabres, and it’s unknown if Jarmo Kekäläinen will have the same appetite to make intradivisional swaps.
Regardless, it would make sense for Buffalo to make Levi available in trade talks this summer. The Sabres already have the tandem of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Alex Lyon signed through next season, and will presumably retain Colten Ellis as the third-string option unless they decide to expose him to the waiver wire in September.
For the past two years, Levi has almost exclusively played for the AHL’s Rochester Americans. Overall, he has maintained solid production, but can be relatively streaky at times. Throughout the past three years, he has managed a 64-39-22 record in 120 AHL contests with a .914 SV% and 2.52 GAA, including 10 shutouts. Additionally, he has a 17-17-2 record in 39 NHL games with a .894 SV% and 3.29 GAA.
In the podcast, Marek suggested that the relationship between Buffalo and Levi has declined, given the initial excitement the team expressed when signing him and the lack of extended NHL opportunities since then. Since he’s signed through next season at an $813K salary, Levi doesn’t have much say in the matter, but would likely welcome any change of scenery that comes with more NHL playing time.
Obviously, the Edmonton Oilers immediately come to mind as a team that should inquire about Levi should the Sabres make him available. Although the Oilers are desperate, it’s unlikely that Buffalo will force them to part with significant capital, given that not many teams are looking for goaltending improvements this summer. Yes, the Oilers desperately need goaltending help, but the Sabres don’t have much flexibility to start a bidding war with other teams.
Oilers should be ALL over this. Not saying an unproven rookie solves their problems but this is the cheapest and best shot for bowman to undo his stupidity with Jarry. If they can dump Jarry even better and get a proven starter great but the gorgeous walman signing and swapping Skinny for Jarry is going to haunt these last two years of McDavid
Sabres should move on from Lyon, see if he has trade value. Luukkonen is the better goalie. Ellis should be his backup. As for Levi… I live in Rochester and see him a lot. He’s been a good but not great AHL goalie. If you can get something of value for him, trade him. Otherwise, make him the third goalie, give him some starts. Give him a chance to earn more playing time.
Kekäläinen didn’t hesitate to make intradivisional trades in Columbus – most notably the Voracek/Atkinson and Hartnell/Umberger swaps with the Flyers. The Steve Mason trade was also a notable one.
If the Sens offer the best deal for Levi, take it.
Sabres need to move on from Lyon. He is not a heavy workload goalie. Levi should stick around as the 3rd goalie at least until the trade deadline next season.