The 22-year-old split time between the Sabres and AHL Rochester last season.
The Buffalo Sabres group of young prospects are considered to be among the best in the NHL. The Athletic in their recent rankings of the Top 100 Prospects, four Sabres former first-round picks (winger Zach Benson, and centers Konsta Helenius, Jiri Kulich, and Noah Ostlund) were on the list.
In their companion piece ranking the NHL’s Top 20 Goaltending Prospects, Sabres goalie Devon Levi was ranked fifth. The 22-year-old was ranked behind three goalies selected in the first round of previous drafts: Nashville’s Yaroslav Askarov, Minnesota’s Jesper Wallstedt, and Florida’s Spencer Knight, and Montreal's 2023 third-round pick Jacob Fowler.
Former Sabres draftee Erik Portillo, whose rights were traded to the Los Angeles Kings for a third-round pick in March 2023, was also on the list.
Levi was given the Sabres starting job out of training camp, but lost three of his first four starts and afterward was relegated to a goalie rotation with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen until early January when he was sent down to the American Hockey League.
The Montreal area native finished with a 10-8-2 record, 3.10 GAA and .899 save % in 23 games with Buffalo, but put up excellent numbers with the Rochester Americans (16-6-4, 2.42 GAA, .927 save %).
It is unclear how the Buffalo goaltending situation will play out next season under new head coach Lindy Ruff. Luukkonen established himself as a workhorse in the second half of the season, finishing the year with a 27-22-4 record in 51 starts. Levi will have to battle to share playing time, otherwise, it is possible that he could spend more time with the Amerks.
