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Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Sabres Reassign Isak Rosen

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High-end Sabres prospect Isak Rosen is headed back to the minors, the team announced. They’re back to having an open roster spot after loaning him to AHL Rochester.

Rosen, 22 in March, is in the second season of his entry-level contract. Drafted 14th overall in 2021, he’s now in his third campaign with Rochester and has seen steady offensive development. The Swedish winger led Rochester in scoring when Buffalo recalled him on Monday in the wake of an upper-body injury to Tage Thompson,  posting 23-16–39 in 40 games.

Buffalo had just one game this week, a 3-2 win over the Blue Jackets on Tuesday. Rosen skated 11:46 in that appearance, his second of the season after a brief recall in November, but only mustered a shot on goal with a minus-one rating.

In nine NHL appearances across the past two seasons, the No. 4 prospect in Buffalo’s pool (per Scott Wheeler of The Athletic) has struggled to make an impact despite his continued development in the AHL. He’s still looking for his first NHL point with a minus-four rating, a deserved one as his 41.1 career CF% at even strength indicates. He hasn’t seen much usage high in the lineup, averaging 8:42 per game, but he still hasn’t quite seemed able to keep pace in sheltered usage.

He’ll go back to the minors now with Thompson expected to return to action tomorrow against the Predators, head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters, including Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550. It’ll only be a one-game absence for him after he was hit hard in the third period of last Sunday’s win over the Devils by Stefan Noesen. 

The Sabres are also tracking to activate Tyson Kozak from injured reserve after missing two games with an illness, and starter Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is expected back between the pipes after sitting out the Columbus game for undisclosed reasons, Ruff said. Activating Kozak will require another roster move, presumably reassigning recent goalie call-up Felix Sandström to Rochester if Luukkonen is back.

Buffalo Sabres Recall Felix Sandstrom, Place Mattias Samuelsson On IR

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Just ahead of tonight’s matchup with the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Buffalo Sabres announced a roster move. Buffalo shared that they’ve recalled goaltender Felix Sandstrom from their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, and have placed defenseman Mattias Samuelsson on injured reserve in a corresponding transaction.

The reasoning behind Sandstrom’s recall is entirely without controversy. Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reported earlier that Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is out with a minor injury and that although the team would have called up Devon Levi, there wasn’t enough notice given he’s still in California for the AHL All-Star Challenge.

It’ll be the first time this season that Sandstrom will participate in a backup role for the Sabres. After clearing waivers at the beginning of the season, Sandstrom has spent the entire season with AHL Rochester posting a 9-4-1 record in 14 games with a .900 save percentage and 2.89 goals-against average.

If Buffalo didn’t have Levi waiting in the wings, this would be respectable enough production to warrant an unexpected call-up to the NHL level. Still, the Sabres brought Sandstrom in on a one-year, $775K contract this past summer in case Levi needed to be recalled, not the other way around.

Sadly, Sandstrom’s recall adds further complications for an organization that can barely endure more challenges. Samuelsson will again be placed on injured reserve this season after missing 17 games due to injury.

The Philadelphia, PA, native hasn’t skated in more than 55 contests in a single season since joining Buffalo as a full-time defenseman for the 2021-22 NHL season. The Sabres still owe Samuelsson $21.429MM over the next five years after the 2024-25 campaign — a heavy price for a blue liner that has only maxed out at two-thirds of a full season.

Atlantic Notes: Thompson, Luukkonen, Bennett, Point

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Neither Sabres starter Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen nor star center Tage Thompson will play versus the Blues on Thursday, head coach Lindy Ruff told Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. They remain day-to-day with undisclosed and lower-body injuries, respectively.

Both players left Buffalo’s last game, a 7-5 loss to the Canadiens on Monday, and did not return. Ruff said that Luukkonen wasn’t completely healthy going into the game after being banged up in practice over the weekend, and he was pulled after allowing four goals on 18 shots. Thompson left after scoring a goal and logging eight shifts, although it’s unclear on what play he sustained the injury.

Devon Levi will make his fifth start of the season tonight with Luukkonen on the shelf, Lysowski reports. James Reimer will back him up after being re-claimed off waivers from the Ducks yesterday.

Luukkonen, 25, has largely kept up the momentum from last season’s breakout campaign. He’s been quite solid with a 6-4-1 record, .903 SV%, 2.83 GAA, and 1.0 GSAA in 12 appearances.

Thompson, 27, is back in full force after a disappointing showing in 2023-24. The 6’6″ center is tied for the league lead in even-strength goals with 10 and has 11 goals and 18 points in 16 games overall, currently on pace to eclipse the point-per-game mark for the second time in his career.

More from the Atlantic Division:

  • Panthers center Sam Bennett has improved enough to be a game-time decision for tonight’s clash with the Devils, Colby Guy of The Palm Beach Post reports. The 28-year-old missed Tuesday’s 4-1 home loss to New Jersey with an upper-body injury. The pending unrestricted free agent has nine goals and 15 points in 15 games this season and is on pace for career-highs offensively across the board.
  • Lightning star Brayden Point will not play tonight at home versus the Jets, Gabby Shirley of FanDuel Sports Network Florida & Sun reports. It’ll be his third straight game missed with the lower-body injury he sustained back on Nov. 3 in Tampa’s other appearance of the season against Winnipeg. His 38.1% shooting rate still leads the league and gives him eight goals through 12 games. Anthony Cirelli will continue serving as the Bolts’ top-line center in Point’s absence between Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov.

Sabres Place Mattias Samuelsson On IR With Lower-Body Injury

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1:07 p.m.: The Sabres have placed Samuelsson on injured reserve to create a roster spot for Reimer, who they reclaimed off waivers from the Ducks, Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reports.

10:55 a.m.: Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson will miss multiple weeks with a lower-body injury, the team announced Wednesday. Head coach Lindy Ruff said Samuelsson’s absence could stretch past the one-month mark but is unlikely to be season-ending and won’t require surgery, per Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio 550.

It’s much better news for star center Tage Thompson and starting netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who, like Samuelsson, left Monday’s loss to the Canadiens with injuries. Ruff said they’re both day-to-day and haven’t been ruled out for Thursday’s game against the Blues.

It’s unclear when exactly Samuelsson sustained the injury, but it took him out of action about midway through the game. The 24-year-old was making his first appearance since Nov. 2 after being a healthy scratch in three straight Sabres wins.

Very quickly, the seven-year, $30MM extension Samuelsson signed at the beginning of the 2022-23 campaign looks like an incredibly premature decision from general manager Kevyn Adams. Injuries have significantly hampered the 2018 second-round pick at every turn during his five-year NHL career, and he’s never played more than 55 games in a single season. Last year, shoulder surgery ended his season in January after 41 games. Knee and upper-body issues also kept him out for lengthy stretches of 2022-23.

In years past, Samuelsson was still an effective stay-at-home defender when healthy, often having a tangible impact on the Sabres’ record when in the lineup. It’s been almost the opposite this year, though. Samuelsson has one assist and a -2 rating while averaging a career-low 16:05 per game, and Buffalo is 4-8-1 with him in the lineup compared to 3-0-0 without him.

The Sabres still have Dennis Gilbert and Henri Jokiharju on hand as extra defenders to re-enter the lineup against the Blues tomorrow in place of Samuelsson. Still, expect the defenseman to land on IR at some point in the next 24 hours to give Buffalo roster flexibility to summon potential injury replacements from AHL Rochester for Thompson and Luukkonen.

Samuelsson still has five seasons left on his contract after this one at a $4.286MM cap hit. He doesn’t carry any trade protection.

Meanwhile, losing Thompson for any length of time, even for just a game, is tough news for the Sabres to swallow as they try to climb over .500 and put themselves back in the conversation for a wild-card spot in the East. His 18 points in 16 games lead the team, and his 10 even-strength goals are tied with Leon Draisaitl and Nikita Kucherov for the league lead.

Luukkonen has also been quite solid for the Sabres this season, taking over in the early going as their true starter instead of splitting duties with 23-year-old Devon Levi, as most expected. After signing a five-year, $23.75MM deal over the summer, he has a 6-4-1 record, .903 SV%, 2.83 GAA, and 1.2 GSAA in 12 starts. If he can’t go, perhaps James Reimer could back up Levi tomorrow if Buffalo re-claims him off waivers from the Ducks.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Atlantic Notes: Sabres, Maple Leafs, Senators

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The Buffalo Sabres used both rostered goaltenders in a tough loss to the Montreal Canadiens earlier today. After the game, Bill Hoppe of the Buffalo Times-Herald passed a note from head coach Lindy Ruff indicating Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen suffered an ’ailment’ in yesterday’s practice before Luukkonen’s game descended further.

The injury concern didn’t end there for Buffalo as the team announced Tage Thompson and Mattias Samuelsson had left the game due to upper-body injuries. Samuelsson, whom the team had made a healthy scratch for the last three games, only managed 6:49 of today’s contest.

No further updates were made regarding the status of the injured players but the Sabres are again heading in a negative direction. Despite making a head coaching change and overhauling the bottom-six forward group this past offseason, Buffalo has a 7-8-1 record through 16 games and has given up the second-most goals of any team in the Atlantic Division.

Other Atlantic Notes:

  • According to David Alter of The Hockey News, it’s trending toward a fourth-straight missed game for Auston Matthews. The franchise icon hasn’t missed this many games in a row since the 2022-23 NHL season and the Toronto Maple Leafs hope it doesn’t extend further. To add insult to injury, Alter further added that forward Calle Jarnkrok experienced a setback in his recovery from a sports hernia and he’s now headed to New York to see a specialist. Jarnkrok hasn’t skated put together a full season since the 2022-23 campaign and it appears this year may be more of the same.
  • Nearly 250 miles northeast in Ottawa, the Senators are experiencing better luck on the injury front of late. Shane Pinto, who hasn’t played since October 22nd after scoring three points in his first six contests, could be an option for the team tomorrow night (X Link). If Pinto can’t go, the team announced the call-up of Zack Ostapchuk from their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators, to fill out the rest of their forward core.

2024 Salary Arbitration Tracker

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It has been a quieter year on the salary arbitration front across the NHL.  After 23 players filed last summer, just 14 did this time around.  As expected, most have settled so far with a few hearings still pending.  Here’s a rundown of who has settled and who still needs to sign.

Updated 7/30/24, 1:07 p.m.

Contracts Settled

D Jake Christiansen (Blue Jackets) – one year, $775K (two-way agreement)
F Connor Dewar (Maple Leafs) – one year, $1.18MM
F Jack Drury (Hurricanes) – two years, $3.45MM
D Ty Emberson (Sharks) – one year, $950K
G Jet Greaves (Blue Jackets) – two years, $1.625MM (two-way in 2024-25, one-way in 2025-26)
F Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Sabres) – five years, $23.75MM
F Beck Malenstyn (Sabres) – two years, $2.7MM
D J.J. Moser (Lightning) – two years, $6.75MM
F Joe Veleno (Red Wings) – two years, $4.55MM
F Oliver Wahlstrom (Islanders) – one year, $1MM
F Kirill Marchenko (Blue Jackets) – three years, $11.55MM
F Martin Necas (Hurricanes) – two years, $13MM
D Ryan Lindgren (Rangers) – one year, $4.5MM

Contracts Awarded

D Spencer Stastney (Predators) – two years, $1.675MM (two-way in 2024-25, one-way in 2025-26)

Scheduled Hearings

none

A reminder of some of the arbitration rules for the upcoming potential hearings:

  • A player and team can settle on a deal at any point before the hearing starts.
  • Once the hearing has taken place, the arbitration decision must be issued by email within 48 hours.
  • Arbitration awards can only be one or two years in length. (Players who are in their final year of restricted free agency are only entitled to a one-year agreement from an arbitrator.)
  • The team decides on the awarded term as these were all player-elected filings.
  • The team can walk away from the arbitration decision if a contract with an average annual value of more than $4.74MM is awarded.

Worth noting is that teams who have someone file for arbitration will receive a second buyout window three days after their final contract is settled or awarded.  The window lasts for 48 hours and the only eligible players to be bought out in this timeframe are those who have an AAV of $4MM or more and were on that team’s reserve list at the trade deadline back in March.

Sabres Sign Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen To Five-Year Contract

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The Buffalo Sabres have solidified their goaltending situation for the next half decade as the team announced they signed Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to a five-year, $23.75MM contract. The deal will pay Luukkonen an AAV of $4.75MM each year of the contract and keep the young netminder in Buffalo until the 2028-29 NHL season.

The deal comes just under the current contract of Vancouver Canucks’ netminder Thatcher Demko who secured a five-year, $25MM contract back in 2021. Luukkonen is arguably coming off a better season than when Demko signed his extension in 2021 which may indicate this deal is somewhat of a bargain for the Sabres.

If any positives came from Buffalo during the 2023-24 season, they largely centered around Luukkonen. The start of the year was disappointing as he produced a 6-8-2 record in his first 17 games with a .893 save percentage. At the turn of the calendar, however, Luukkonen went on an impressive stretch to end the season.

Since his first game at the start of the calendar year, Luukkonen concluded the season with a 20-14-2 record in 36 games while maintaining a .919 SV%. Luukkonen finished the season with a 27-22-4 record in 51 starts while earning a .910 SV% and 2.57 goals against average.

Aside from becoming the undisputed starter for the Sabres, the young Finnish netminder recorded five shutouts, 10.1 goals saved above average, and 2.65 adjusted goals against average according to HockeyReference. All of these served as career highs for Luukkonen after coming off a disappointing season the year prior.

This will be the major question surrounding this contract in Buffalo as Luukkonen has only produced one good season in the NHL. This is not to take away from his dominance last year but he has failed to produce back-to-back quality seasons in the best league in the sport.

Luckily, the Sabres do have a fallback option if this contract doesn’t pan out as expected with Devon Levi ready for full-time NHL responsibilities. The young netminder split time between Buffalo and the team’s AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans and he produced a 16-6-4 record in the AHL with a .927 SV% and 2.42 GAA.

General manager of the Sabres, Kevyn Adams, acknowledged this in the announcement when he said, “We really like the position we’re in with having UPL and Devon Levi as still young, developing goaltenders, guys we think are going to continue to grow and get better, that are extremely talented, hard-working, and character people“.

Sabres’ Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen An Emerging Starter Amid Competition

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The Buffalo Sabres faced an exciting question entering the 2023-24 season – “how high will Devon Levi climb?” It seemed like Levi was set for certain stardom coming off a historically good collegiate career, with some even claiming him as a pre-season favorite for the Calder Trophy opposite Connor Bedard. But Levi’s first full year of pro hockey proved to be much more human than anticipated, and it was Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen who stole Buffalo’s starting role while Levi split time between the NHL backup and AHL starter roles. Luukkonen performed well in the spotlight, managing 27 wins, a .910 save percentage, and five shutouts while handling a commendable 54 games. Now, nearly a month into the off-season, Luukkonen sits as an unsigned restricted free agent and Buffalo faces a new, much bleaker question: “who is our starter?”

The clearest answer seems to be Luukkonen, who’s still just 25 years old and coming off a year that would make any starter proud. It’s been a long march for the Finnish netminder, who struggled to find his footing through his first three years in North American pros. He kicked off his career by earning an AHL promotion on the back of 23 strong ECHL games, though he’d stall out with the Rochester Americans, ultimately recording a bleak .894 save percentage in 60 AHL games between the start of the 2018-19 and the end of the 2021-22 seasons.

But injuries forced Buffalo to recall Luukkonen twice in 2021, ultimately awarding him the first 13 NHL games of his career. He performed well in the spot starts, managing a .913 save percentage despite winning just three games. That was a bright enough flash to earn him a share of backup minutes in the 2022-23 campaign – an opportunity that he took in stride. In a reverse of his early stat line, Luukkonen found strong success in the win column despite a sub-.900 save percentage, posting a team-leading 17 wins and standing as the only Sabres goaltender with a winning record that year. His winning tendencies and strong stat lines merged in the starting role this year, ultimately leading to a season that was hard to ignore. Luukkonen’s 27 wins stand as the most of any Sabres goaltender since Ryan Miller in 2012, and his .910 save percentage is the team’s highest since Robin Lehner in 2017.

Simply put, it’s been a while since Buffalo has seen a goalie season as capable as Luukkonen’s 2023-24 campaign. The team now faces the dreaded task of putting a price to the starring performance, without much supplementary info to go on. Levi’s presence only makes Buffalo’s decision harder. The 22-year-old top prospect managed a .899 save percentage in 23 games as an NHL rookie this season – certainly nothing to bluff at – and a .927 in 26 AHL games – the second-highest save percentage in the minors. Levi still carries a blue chip, even if his highly-anticipated rookie year fell short of the history books. Any long-term extension for Luukkonen would have to consider Levi’s rightful shot at opportunity. And while Buffalo can dream of a perfectly balanced duo akin to Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman, it seems more likely that each of Luukonen and Levi’s success comes on the back of a consistent role.

So what could a new deal look like for Luukkonen – and what kind of time share is awaiting him? Thatcher Demko is currently riding a five-year, $25MM extension earned after a pair of limited but promising seasons with the Vancouver Canucks where he managed 29 wins and a .910 save percentage across 62 games. That falls closely in line with Luukkonen’s strong 2023-24, though Demko carried the prestige of a higher draft pick and stronger track record. The Sabres could instead vie for a deal more comparable to Alexandar Georgiev – who joined the Colorado Avalanche on a three-year, $10.2MM deal in 2022 after holding well in the New York Rangers backup role. Like Demko and Luukkonen, Georgiev’s deal came with little to go on, save for a strong stat line in limited minutes.

Unfortunately for the Sabres, both Demko and Georgiev followed their signings with 60-game seasons – and both performed well with the opportunity. That precedent, and Buffalo’s plea for strong consistency in net after so long without it, could force the Sabres to commit to a full year of Luukkonen. That would set them up for a situation more closely related to Nashville’s than Boston’s, with a top-end, young goaltender burgeoning out of the AHL starter role, but an all-too-capable starter hogging the limelight. Or the Sabres may bridge the gap between the two teams – a benefit of a nearby AHL team – finding ways to incorporate Levi into the lineup whenever available, while still honoring Luukkonen’s deserved chance at a full-time role. Either way, the team’s vision for their goaltending will be spelled out by the contract they sign Luukkonen to – and it will be a decision with major ramifications.

14 Players Elect For Salary Arbitration

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Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and originally produced by the National Hockey Leaguer Players’ Association, 14 players have elected for salary arbitration this summer. The deadline for team-elected arbitration is tomorrow. Friedman also notes the arbitration hearings will happen between July 20th and August 4th. To add context, not every one of these players will appear for a hearing with their respective teams as they may continue to negotiate on a new contract. However, each player who elects for salary arbitration is now prohibited from negotiating with other teams or signing an offer sheet. Here is a list of the players that have elected for arbitration:

F Beck Malenstyn (Buffalo Sabres)
G Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Buffalo Sabres)
F Martin Necas (Carolina Hurricanes)
F Jack Drury (Carolina Hurricanes)
D Jake Christiansen (Columbus Blue Jackets)
G Jet Greaves (Columbus Blue Jackets)
F Kirill Marchenko (Columbus Blue Jackets)
F Joe Veleno (Detroit Red Wings)
D Spencer Stastney (Nashville Predators)
F Oliver Wahlstrom (New York Islanders)
D Ryan Lindgren (New York Rangers)
D Ty Emberson (San Jose Sharks)
D J.J. Moser (Tampa Bay Lightning)
F Connor Dewar (Toronto Maple Leafs)

Sabres Unlikely To Move Goalie, Won’t Extend Young Players This Summer

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The Buffalo Sabres used a trio of netminders last season as they searched for stability in the crease. Now, it appears that two-thirds of that group will be back next season as the Sabres are planning to roll into the 2024-25 season with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Devon Levi as their netminders (as per Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News). The news isn’t all that surprising given where the Sabres are at, however, they were recently linked to a pair of netminders in Linus Ullmark and Filip Gustavsson(as per The Fourth Period).

The Sabres have good reason to be optimistic about Luukkonen’s development as the 25-year-old took a massive step forward last season, dressing in a career-high 54 games and posting a 27-22-4 record. The Espoo, Finland registered an above-average .910 save percentage and a 2.57 goals-against average to go along with 9.4 goals saved above expected (per Money Puck). Levi also had good underlying numbers with 10.7 goals saved above expected in just 23 games. He did spend significant time in the AHL but appears poised to spend all of next season in the NHL. Luukkonen is an RFA, while Levi has one more year left on his entry-level contract.

Lysowski also tweeted that Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams has talked with the agents for Bowen Byram, JJ Peterka, and Jack Quinn to discuss getting new contracts done as they are eligible for extensions on July 1st. However, Adams doesn’t believe that those contract extensions will get done this summer, and there isn’t a lot of urgency as all three players will be restricted free agents on July 1st, 2025.

Peterka is the likeliest of the three to get a long-term extension done as the 22-year-old posted 28 goals and 22 assists in 82 games last season. The Sabres might look at a bridge deal for Quinn as he has dealt with injury issues and hasn’t been able to establish himself as a regular NHLer.

Byram could get a longer-term deal depending on how this upcoming season goes. The 23-year-old struggled before his trade to Buffalo but was very good offensively for the Sabres after his trade from Colorado. The Cranbrook, British Columbia native posted three goals and six assists in 18 games with Buffalo while he averaged almost 22 minutes of ice time per game.

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