Sabre Noise
Fansided

Checking in on the Buffalo Sabres’ prospects currently playing overseas

By Ryan Brennan

MONTREAL, QC - DECEMBER 27: Arttu Ruotsalainen #22 of Team Finland skates during the IIHF World Junior Championship preliminary round game against Team Denmark at the Bell Centre on December 27, 2016 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Team Denmark defeated Team Finland 3-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - DECEMBER 27: Arttu Ruotsalainen #22 of Team Finland skates during the IIHF World Junior Championship preliminary round game against Team Denmark at the Bell Centre on December 27, 2016 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Team Denmark defeated Team Finland 3-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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BUFFALO, NY – DECEMBER 30: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen #1 of Finland defends his net against Slovakia during the first period of play in the IIHF World Junior Championships at the KeyBank Center on December 30, 2017 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Nicholas T. LoVerde/Getty Images) /

The Buffalo Sabres loaned goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to the HC TPS of the Finnish Liiga. He joins both Ruotsalainen and Laaksonen in Finland.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was a second-round draft pick by the Buffalo Sabres back in 2017 and has become one of the most promising young goalie prospects in the NHL right now. He still has several years to go before he’s ready, but the development is coming together nicely.

The 6-foot-4, 21-year-old goalie is entering his first season with HC TPS, but it’s not his first time being in the Finnish Liiga. He spent one game with HPK in 2017-2018 and was later loaned to Mestis — the second-highest hockey league in Finland.

He has already accumulated a wide range of success overseas, including two Gold Medals (2016 IIHF World U18 Championships and 2019 World Junior Championships) and one Silver Medal (2017 IIHF World U18 Championships).

For the 2018-2019 season, he spent 53 games with the Sadbury Wolves in the Ontario Hockey League. He played so well that he was named the OHL’s Most Oustanding Player of the Year by winning the Red Tilson Trophy — the first European to accomplish that feat.

Last season, he played in 10 games for the Rochester Americans and 23 games for the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL). He played his best hockey in the ECHL, being named to the All-Star team and maintaining a .912 save percentage.

I can’t wait to see what this goalie has to show us this upcoming season, as he will likely be the starter in Rochester. With one more year since his major hip surgery, it should be a successful season for one of the league’s brightest young goalies.

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