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Buffalo Sabres: Will Levi, Johnson, and Portillo sign with the franchise?

By Sion Fawkes

Apr 7, 2022; Boston, MA, USA; Denver Pioneers forward Carter Savoie (8) scores the game winning goal past Michigan Wolverines goaltender Erik Portillo (1) during an overtime period of the 2022 Frozen Four college ice hockey national semifinals at the TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 7, 2022; Boston, MA, USA; Denver Pioneers forward Carter Savoie (8) scores the game winning goal past Michigan Wolverines goaltender Erik Portillo (1) during an overtime period of the 2022 Frozen Four college ice hockey national semifinals at the TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Buffalo Sabres have three high-end prospects still unsigned as of August 2022. Will they eventually sign and find a role within the organization?

The Buffalo Sabres already have a deep prospect pool when you look at the players that have signed. Isak Rosen, Aleksandr Kisakov, Josh Bloom, Olivier Nadeau, and Filip Cederqvist are just a few of the new faces who decided to start their respective careers within the organization.

But there are three other prospects that the Sabres faithful are inquiring about, and rightfully so, as they are three high-end players who would add to the already-rich pool of signed prospects. Goaltenders Devon Levi and Erik Portillo, and defenseman Ryan Johnson all attended development camp, but they all left camp without a contract.

Will they end up signing? In all honesty, my belief is that one of the three players is likely to sign, another one probably won’t sign, and a third will sign if they believe they will walk into a favorable situation.

Buffalo Sabres
BOSTON, MA – MARCH 18: Devon Levi #1 of the Northeastern Huskies makes a save during the second period against the Connecticut Huskies during NCAA men’s hockey in the Hockey East Championship semifinal at TD Garden on March 18, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images) /

Will we see Devon Levi, Ryan Johnson, and Erik Portillo sign with the Buffalo Sabres? The player most likely to sign is Devon Levi.

I can see Devon Levi signing with the Buffalo Sabres the second his 2022-23 season ends at Northeastern, perhaps with a national championship. The reason Levi is the likeliest of the three to sign stems from his words at development camp, in which he wanted to return to Northeastern to not just repeat, but to improve upon last season.

It is a tall task for Levi, given his 0.952 save percentage and 1.54 GAA. But, it is a decision I respect 100% because all over the North American professional sports landscape, you see college kids jump to the professional level (the AHL in Levi’s case) after posting just one good season in college.

That said, Levi made the wise decision to return to school. I don’t know if he can repeat or even improve upon his success. But I do believe he will at least come close to what he accomplished last season.

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