The Buffalo Sabres have a goaltender of the future in Devon Levi, and he is not going to be part of a trade package for even a star player.
They say that to become knowledgeable about sports, you need to read a lot. When you write about any sport, you need to read at least twice as often as you write. And every now and again, you will read something that makes you click away halfway down the article.
This is what happened when I read a piece regarding three potential trade targets for the Montreal Canadiens, one of which that involved Devon Levi. Now, before anything else, you have to ask: Why would the Buffalo Sabres trade one of their top prospects to a division rival?
And not only one of their top prospects, but a goaltender. A position the Sabres have struggled to find consistency at over the last nine seasons. That alone makes little sense.
Buffalo Sabres probably wouldn’t even package Devon Levi in a blockbuster
So what was the justification regarding a potential Levi trade to the Canadiens? Check out the quote from Trege Wilson of The Hockey Writers below, and we’ll break it down:
"“The Buffalo Sabres have a bevy of young goaltending talent in their system and signed Eric Comrie to a multi-year contract before the season started. The Sabres are also very high on rookie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen who they hope will become their future starter; however, in 21 games this season, he is 13-6-2 but with a subpar SV% of .889, all while getting more starts than Comrie and veteran Craig Anderson.” – via The Hockey Writers"
Okay, so first off, let’s address something. It’s true Luukkonen has a “subpar” save percentage. But that’s simply because he struggled during his first six starts. So badly, might I add, that he was hovering around an 0.845 save percentage before his next 15 starts have been rather consistent.
But even if Luukkonen consistently struggled to attain that 0.889 save percentage, why would the Sabres trade Devon Levi? How would trading Devon Levi make the situation any better?
Secondly, while the Sabres would love to see Luukkonen become the franchise goaltender, some of the best teams in the NHL often have a rotation of two solid netminders. Craig Anderson will be gone after this season, and Comrie, despite the multi-year deal, may be on his way out if his struggles continue. Comrie has been a distant third in the net if you were to rank the three goaltenders.
So again, Why would the Buffalo Sabres trade Devon Levi? And why would they trade Levi to someone in their own division and in the future, risk playing him up to four times per season? Unless you landed the first overall pick and wanted a goaltender so badly that you’d be willing to swap Levi for that pick, where the Sabres would, in turn, land Connor Bedard, there is no way this trade would ever occur.
Article Source: 3 Goalie Prospects Canadiens Should Target at Deadline by Trege Wilson
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