Buffalo Sabres prospect Devon Levi is undoubtedly one of the best goaltenders in college hockey, but there’s no reason to rush him.
You see it all the time in professional sports. Remarkable talents get rushed into action far too soon, and they wind up underperforming or they become all-out busts. With the Buffalo Sabres, I’m sure you can name a few times when this has happened over the past decade.
No, it doesn’t happen all the time. Suppose a player lands with an otherwise elite team. Rushing them into action might not be such a bad idea. Most of the time, however, this isn’t the case, and these players could end up scarred for their entire career, never performing anywhere near expectations.
In a best case scenario, they develop into a serviceable talent, and it’s something that the Sabres must avoid with goaltender Devon Levi, who has superstar potential. At this point, especially with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s emergence, it’s outright foolish to even suggest Levi could circumvent the traditional route most goaltenders take.
Buffalo Sabres goaltender Devon Levi would fare best in the AHL early
Levi is a rare talent who excelled wherever he went. He only had one season in the QMAAA where his save percentage dropped south of 0.925. The 21-year-old spent a season in the CCHL, where he had a save percentage of 0.941, and just a 1.47 GAA.
His first full season at Northeastern was legendary, allowing just a 1.54 GAA and 0.952 save percentage. This year, he hasn’t been as stellar, but he’s still putting up elite numbers, with a 0.927 save percentage and 2.32 GAA in 24 games.
This isn’t saying that Levi won’t play in the NHL earlier in than most goaltenders. I can definitely see him doing that. But under no means should the Sabres rush him into action even if they thought he was ready.
Luukkoen’s doing far too good of a job for the Sabres to push the panic button at the position. No, Eric Comrie doesn’t look like he’ll be sticking around long, but if he puts together a few more solid games like he did in last week’s win over the Winnipeg Jets, you can have a situation where he’s Luukkonen’s backup for a season.
Overall, the Sabres need to be smart with Levi. He is a rare talent who deserves the best possible chance to succeed in the NHL. Rushing him into action would be counterproductive.
(Statistics provided by Elite-Prospects)
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