Former Sabres prospect Devon Levi named top NHL breakout candidate

Devon Levi looked like the future of the Buffalo Sabres' crease in 2023 when he made an immediate jump from Northeastern University to the NHL, but his development eventually stalled, leading the team's front office to trade him to the Edmonton Oilers in July.

Levi, a two-time Mike Richter Award winner as college hockey's best goalie, succeeded during that initial foray into the NHL with a .905 save percentage in seven games during the stretch run of the 2022-23 campaign. He compiled an .892 SV% in 32 appearances over the next two years, however, and he didn't receive any playing time with Buffalo last season.

Now the 24-year-old Canadian goaltender is expected to compete with Tristan Jarry for playing time in Edmonton while fellow new arrival Frederik Andersen is sidelined by injury.

It's the opportunity Levi has been waiting for, and Jesse Granger of The Athletic is bullish about the netminder's chances of success, picking him as one of the league's breakout candidates between the pipes in 2026-27.

"His game was trending in the wrong direction in Buffalo, but a new team with championship aspirations could be just what this fiery young goalie needs to get back on track," Granger wrote Tuesday. "Levi is a strong skater who sometimes lacks consistency in his game, but if things go right for him, he could take the biggest leap of anyone on this list."

The undersized (6'0'', 192 pounds) goalie posted a .914 SV% in 120 games across three years with the AHL's Rochester Americans, but that number dipped from .927 during his first campaign with the Amerks to .904 last season.

His size has always been the biggest question mark, especially in an era where NHL teams generally prefer bigger goaltenders but, when it top form, he's been able to overcome those concerns with a combination of quickness and hockey IQ.

Given Jarry's struggles after his trade to the Oilers last season (.857 SV% in 19 games), the door is open for Levi to win the starting role with a standout training camp and preseason.

Although he'd fallen out of favor with the Sabres' front office, the 2020 seventh-round pick still has a clear path to carve out a long, successful NHL career.

Buffalo Sabres prospect pipeline in net is cloudy after Devon Levi's exit

Buffalo general manager Jarmo Kekalainen found himself in a difficult predicament at the beginning of the summer. Levi would have needed to pass through waivers to get sent back to Rochester this season, and it's unlikely he would have cleared given his prospect pedigree.

The Sabres already have three netminders on their active roster (Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis), and they've shown a lot of confidence in Ellis since claiming him from the St. Louis Blues before last season. That's why they opted for a three-goalie rotation last season.

So, it ultimately became a numbers game, and Kekalainen didn't want to lose Levi for nothing.

His departure from the organization does leave a lot of questions about what's left in the farm system when it comes to goaltenders.

Neither Scott Ratzlaff nor Topias Leinonen has been overly impressive since making the jump to North American pro hockey, though it's too early to make any definitive judgments. Samuel Meloche, a 2025 fourth-round pick, still has several years of development on the horizon.

Yevgeni Prokhorov may have the most upside after a dominant season (.925 SV% in 29 games) in Russia's MHL, but it'll be hard to judge his NHL potential until he makes the jump to the KHL.

The Sabres only had five picks in the 2026 draft, and didn't use any of them on goalies, so there are no new additions to the group, either.

It leaves some long-term uncertainty at the position, which is one of the reasons there was so much smoke around the idea of a blockbuster trade for Winnipeg Jets superstar Connor Hellebuyck over the past couple months. That hasn't come to fruition as camp gets prepared to open, though.

All told, Buffalo appears prepared to move forward with the trio of UPL, Lyon and Ellis in 2026-27. The triumvirate did find success during the regular season last year, but a lack of consistency from UPL and Lyon in the playoffs did the upstart club no favors.

The future of the position will remain a key part of the Sabres conversation until a solution is found.

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