Buffalo Sabres: What we learned at development camp Day 4

The Buffalo Sabres completed their 2022 development camp with the French Connection Tournament. How did the prospects fare as camp wrapped up?

Another year of development camp has come and gone, even if it was the first camp in three seasons. Anyway, the point is, time flies when you are having fun in getting a taste of what the Buffalo Sabres have in the prospect pipeline.

And now, the countdown until October begins! We have had the NHL Draft, the first wave of NHL free agency, and development camp. Anticipation for the September 25th preseason matchup against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena has commenced and it cannot get here fast enough.

But before we leave development camp behind, let’s relive the final three things we learned from this season’s crop of prospects. Starting with our potential franchise goaltender.

What we learned at Buffalo Sabres development camp: Devon Levi continues to show off franchise goalie traits

While Eric Comrie will handle netminding duties along with Craig Anderson and possibly Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in Buffalo, perhaps no one was more exciting to watch on Saturday than Devon Levi. In Game One of the French Connection Tournament, Levi made a highlight-reel save on Jack Quinn during a shootout to secure the win for Team Hasek. If you didn’t see it, check out the snippet below:

Levi posted another shutout in regulation when he and Erik Portillo of Team Perreault squared off in the semi-final. This time, however, Portillo got the best of Levi. Yes, besides Levi, Portillo has also shown franchise goaltender characteristics. And odds are, he will become one to watch in the NHL, whether nor not he is with the Buffalo Sabres.

If Levi can build off of his development camp when he returns to school this fall at Northeastern, the Sabres may have one of the finest goaltenders in the pipeline. And if Portillo starts to signal he is interested in signing, then suddenly, depth at netminder just got healthier.