The Buffalo Sabres’ early-season goaltending has become a problem fast, and the timing is ugly. Through seven games, Buffalo sits 29th in team save percentage at .850, while Devon Levi - the former Sabres prospect they moved on from in July - is suddenly looking like a real answer in Edmonton.
Levi has stopped 87 of the 91 shots he has seen over his last three outings, good for a .956 save percentage. That run came after he was lit up for seven goals in his Oilers debut, but the rebound has been loud enough to change the conversation quickly.
For Buffalo, that means an old question is back in the spotlight. Levi was once viewed as the organization’s goaltender of the future after making the jump to the NHL in 2023 following a decorated run at Northeastern University, where he won the Mike Richter Award twice as the NCAA’s top netminder. He opened his Sabres career well, posting a .905 save percentage in seven games while helping Buffalo stay in the playoff mix late in the 2022-23 season.
The shine didn’t last. Levi’s numbers dropped to .892 over his final 32 appearances for Buffalo, and he slipped to fourth on the team’s goaltending depth chart last season after Colten Ellis was claimed off waivers from the St.
Louis Blues. Levi then spent all of 2025-26 with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, and because he would have needed waivers to go back to Rochester this season, Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekalainen dealt him to Edmonton for a 2028 third-round pick.
Since then, Levi has taken advantage of steady NHL ice time with the Oilers. Buffalo, meanwhile, has seen Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Colten Ellis get off to rough starts, though UPL has been better over the team’s last two games. Alex Lyon has missed the beginning of the season with an upper-body injury, leaving the Sabres’ crease unsettled again.
Connor McDavid had plenty to say about Levi’s work for Edmonton: "He's such a calming presence, makes the big saves. Seems to make timely saves, which is half the battle in goaltending. He's been really solid for us."
It’s still a tiny sample, and goaltending can turn on a dime from one year to the next. The Sabres know that better than most. Their three-goalie setup of UPL, Ellis and Lyon actually worked well last season, and Lyon’s return could help settle things down.
But Levi’s surge is already putting fresh pressure on Buffalo’s front office, especially with the Sabres still searching for a goalie they can trust long term. The Connor Hellebuyck chatter hasn’t gone away, either. Buffalo made a run at the Winnipeg star ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft, but no deal got done, and the rumors picked back up when Hellebuyck was away from the Jets after not reporting to training camp.
Hellebuyck’s public trade request before the season only fueled that speculation, though Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has so far held firm on his steep asking price.
That leaves Kekalainen in a tricky spot. It makes sense not to overpay for a 33-year-old goalie coming off the worst season of his decorated career. Still, Buffalo is trying to hang in a loaded Eastern Conference where every point matters, and that gets a lot harder if the goaltending stays near the bottom of the league.
The Sabres have more issues than the crease, too. Their power play and penalty kill have both fallen short, and the finishing that usually helps them has been off as well. Even so, Buffalo is sitting at .500 at 3-3-1, backed by strong five-on-five underlying numbers.
The big question now is whether Kekalainen keeps waiting on internal improvement the way Kevyn Adams once did, or whether the Sabres eventually act if the goaltending doesn’t bounce back - even after Lyon returns. For a fan base that just came out of a miserable 14-year playoff drought, slipping back below the cut line in 2027 would sting badly.
Levi thriving in Edmonton, and Hellebuyck potentially ending up elsewhere, would only sharpen that frustration if Buffalo’s own crease problems don’t get fixed first.
In Other News...
Sabres Open Road Trip With A Dahlin Problem Ruff Must Solve
Buffalos road trip opens with a lineup wrinkle that lands squarely on the blue line. Rasmus Dahlin is day-to-day, and the Sabres are heading out without their top defenseman as the trip begins, leaving Lindy Ruff with an early personnel decision to sort through before the games start to stack up.
For a team already trying to settle into the rhythm of life away from home, Dahlins absence changes the look and feel of the defense group right away. Ruff has to manage the opening leg without one of his most important players traveling with the team, and the next update on Dahlin will shape how Buffalo handles the rest of the trip. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Nearly Stole A Point Despite A Growing Problem
Even with Rasmus Dahlin out injured and Matt Grzelcyk on injured reserve, the Sabres found a way to push Montreal all the way to a shootout. Olen Zellweger gave Buffalo a jolt with two goals, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen turned aside 35 shots, and a game that could have slipped away turned into a night where the Sabres were close enough to steal a point.
The bigger concern, though, is how often Buffalo is having to patch together its blue line just to stay afloat. The Canadiens took control in the second period before the Sabres battled back to force overtime, but the defensive absences have become hard to ignore, especially with another roster move needed to cover the gap and keep the group functional. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Injury Uncertainty Is Starting To Put Real Pressure On Buffalo
The Sabres early-season juggling act got a little more complicated this week, with head coach Lindy Ruff offering no significant update on Rasmus Dahlin after the defensemans upper-body injury. Buffalo has already had to lean on lineup changes throughout its 3-3-1 start, and the absence of one of its most important blue-line pieces only adds to the uncertainty around a team still trying to settle in.
The injury list is not easing up, either. Goalie Alex Lyon has hit a slight setback and will be off the ice for a few days, while Tyson Kozak has been sent back to Buffalo for further evaluation, leaving the Sabres to keep adjusting on the fly as the schedule moves on. For a club that has been trying to build some rhythm, the constant shuffling is starting to feel like more than just a short-term inconvenience. [Read more 🡒]