How Good Will Devon Levi Become?
Do the Buffalo Sabres have their next franchise icon at the goalie position? We’re about to find out. Ryan Miller carried the torch for this franchise for such a long period of time. Can Devon Levi do the same and become a future Vezina winner? The only difference is the Sabres are loaded with young talent. If Levi turns into a stud, this Buffalo team could legitimately hoist the Cup in the near future.
Just how good is Devon Levi? I can’t wait to find out. The 2023-24 NHL Season opens up with Levi getting the starting nod against Igor Shesterkin. Of course, Levi got a small taste of the NHL a season ago. Levi thrived during that stink but now he enters the season as the guy. It’s time to prove the hype is real.
Levi, 21, posted a 5-2 record with a .905 SV% in seven outings as a rookie. That’s while playing for a Sabres team that’s still young and made a ton of mistakes in front of him. If we get an even better version of Levi over the course of this season, he could be a legit candidate to win the Calder.
The expectations are high as Levi is set to enter his first full season at the NHL level. The young Sabres netminder has a ton of hype after killing it at the collegiate level. Levi won the Mike Richter Award the last two seasons playing at Northeastern University. Some of the past winners to win the award include Connor Hellebuyck, Thatcher Demko, and Jeremy Swayman. A pretty good reason to be excited about what Levi could eventually become.
The only real concern here is his size. I’m not an expert on goalie technique but your eyes don’t lie. He moves very well and has that it factor. The only downside is that he’s just 6-foot tall. He’s just not able to get to certain pucks the way a 6-foot-7 Adin Hill would be, for example. With that said, shorter goalies have made it in the past. Juuse Saros is a perfect example of an undersized goalie that Levi can model his game after.
Levi was a main piece of the Sam Reinhart trade. That trade brought over a 2022 first round pick and Levi. Given the goalie struggles in Florida, maybe the Panthers would like a redo on that. Reinhart is a really good player, don’t get me wrong. It will now be up to Levi to prove the Panthers made a mistake letting him go. The pure ceiling of Levi is the part we haven’t quite figured out yet.
For the record, I’m very high on Levi in terms of fantasy hockey. He’s one of my favorite late round sleepers to target at the position. Grab him if he’s still available. There is little risk in picking Levi up because he’s basically free. If Levi pops, don’t be surprised.
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