Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams wasn’t shy in sharing a positive opinion on the Blue and Gold’s current goaltenders.
We know the Buffalo Sabres are going to make a move, and a big move, for one of two positions: Goaltender or defenseman, but not both. And per Adams’ recent comments, the honor will go to the blue line, which could be the missing piece for this Sabres team.
And while I wouldn’t expect him to say anything else, the following snippet from Adams nonetheless holds truth in it. Check it out below:
"“Absolutely, I personally believe we’re in a position of strength when it comes to this. “We feel that we have three NHL goaltenders, which is a great thing to have, so we’re open-minded whether we go into the season with three. It’s not an ideal situation, but we’ll let it play itself out.” – via WGRZ"
Given the play of the goaltenders last season sans Devon Levi and for the most part, that of the recently-retired Craig Anderson, you may be wondering why Adams believes in the goaltending unit so much. One reason is that the defensive rotation was terrible behind Rasmus Dahlin, Mattias Samuelsson, and Owen Power.
Dahlin, Samuelsson, and Power are proven assets whose value will increase moving forward, but neither Ilya Lyubushkin, Henri Jokiharju, Jacob Bryson, Kale Clague, nor Riley Stillman gave us a shred of hope. Far too often, opponents either got behind the defense on breakaways, or they set up odd-man-rushes, and it resulted in the Sabres allowing more goals than they scored.
Buffalo Sabres need defense, not goaltenders
Say what you will about Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Yeah, his numbers were bad last season, but let’s stop pretending he didn’t have a solid stretch of games between mid-December and throughout January. That showed all of us that he’s more than capable of being a serviceable NHL goaltender.
Sure, you may say that Levi was productive even behind that same rotation, but let’s consider the facts: Very few goaltenders have or will play to Levi’s caliber. He was one of the best goaltenders in the history of college hockey, and he, at least for the time being, bypassed playing in the AHL. Levi excelled at every level of hockey he’s ever played, and he will excel in the NHL.
Luukkonen isn’t Devon Levi and he never will be. But you can say the same for nearly the rest of the NHL’s goaltenders aged 24 and under. Or you will once Levi’s played in his first full season with a playoff-caliber top four in front of him.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is better than you think
As for Luukkonen, he too will benefit. No, he won’t put up the same numbers as Levi. But you can also expect Luukkonen to at least hover around the league average in quality starts percentage, GAA, and save percentage with better defense in front of him.
He showed that potential back in 2021-22 when he secured a 2.74 GAA and a 0.917 save percentage, plus a 0.556 quality starts percentage. And it’s safe to say the Buffalo Sabres were nowhere near as good of a hockey team as they are today.
He also showed it last season between December 15th and January 31st when he finished 10-2-1, recorded a 2.88 GAA, and logged a 0.917 save percentage, per Quant Hockey. Luukkonen’s efforts earned him Rookie of the Month honors, and although he backtracked from there, it showed us the Buffalo Sabres have a goaltender who could be the long-term answer as a 1B.
Again, Luukkonen will never be Devon Levi. Few young goaltenders in the league today will. But he’s done more than enough to warrant trust from Kevyn Adams.
Options at the blue line
Want another reason why Adams is right about the Buffalo Sabres goaltenders? He has far more options regarding what he can do at the blue line than in the crease. Suppose Adams shocked us all and traded for Connor Hellebuyck, which isn’t likely to happen.
Not only would he be giving up a lot of young talent for a 30-year-old goaltender; he would also be forced to fork out a lot of cash to extend him, which would come at the expense of extending his young players, deviating from his original plan. Yeah, that has disaster written all over it.
Even if he traded for or acquired a cheaper piece, it’s still not an ideal move. Luukkonen and Comrie are still under contract, and that would create nothing more than an unnecessary logjam at the position.
Instead, Adams can sign or even trade for an older defenseman without giving up too much in terms of current and future assets. Going this route would open things up for the Sabres fast-rising defensive prospects set to join the Rochester Americans either this year or in the near future.
Or, he could make that big trade for a blueliner and add them to the ever expansive young core he already has. And really, going this route wouldn’t negate Ryan Johnson, Nikita Novikov, or Vsevolod Komarov, since someone needs to fill the eventual bottom pairing.
Adams is correct about the Buffalo Sabres goalies
Overall, Levi and Luukkonen have both shown immense potential, and Adams knows this. So instead of trading for a big-name goaltender and signing them to a long-term deal that would relegate Levi to 1B and require Luukkonen to go elsewhere, even if it’s back to Rochester, makes zero sense.
The defensive play was terrible last season, and they often left Luukkonen on an island. Before writing him off as a lost cause, it makes more sense to see what he can do with an adequate defensive rotation in front of him. And if the production still isn’t there, then yeah, go ahead and look elsewhere, perhaps at the trade deadline.
So when you look at Adams’ recent comments and his claim that not just Levi and Luukkonen, but also Eric Comrie, are “NHL goaltenders,” it’s not farfetched, and it’s correct. Put a defenseman capable of playing on the top four in front of them, and expect vast improvements.
Source: Hamilton Take 2: Kevyn Adams’ outlook and the Sabres’ immediate needs by Paul Hamilton, WGRZ.com
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference unless noted)