After what was an up-and-down 2023/2024 regular season, the Buffalo Sabres will not play hockey until the Fall. Even though it resulted in the club not making the playoffs for the 13th straight year, there were some promising spots on Buffalo.
While some players took a step back, some individuals had a good season and took a step forward. I understand fans don't care because the team failed to qualify for the postseason, but three players left a positive impact on this team. In this article, we take a look at two forwards and one goaltender who had a good 2023/2024 campaign.
1. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
The goaltender is Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. UPL had an awesome season for Buffalo after some fans didn't want him on the team or were losing faith in Ukko. Luukkonen had a record of 27-22-4 with a goals-against average of 2.57 and a save percentage of .910. After there were questions about him putting together a complete season, those were put to bed.
Luukkonen was impressive this year and was a huge reason why the Sabres were in the conversation for the postseason. It's been a long time since a goaltender on Buffalo has had the season like he had and it's great to see. As I mentioned, some fans had question marks about Ukko which is fair.
It felt like this was the year to determine if Luukkonen should be on the Sabres or not and he answered the bell. He is due for a new contract very soon and hopefully Buffalo can bring him back. Along with Devon Levi, UPL can give the Sabres a good 1-2 punch going forward as they look to end the playoff drought. I'm very happy for Ukko as he performed well this season.