Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen may still be Buffalo’s best bet in goal when training camp opens, even with Connor Hellebuyck’s name hanging over the Sabres all summer.
The Winnipeg star’s trade request has pushed the rumors back into overdrive, and Luukkonen has been pulled into the speculation again as Buffalo continues to be linked to a possible blockbuster. The Sabres and Jets have been tied to talks since before the 2026 NHL Draft in June, but no deal has come together.
Luukkonen said the chatter reached him in the usual roundabout way.
"My dad told me about it," Luukkonen told Gulitti. "I don't follow it too much.
Of course, no hockey player is completely out of it, so I knew that it was going on, but in the end, I didn't hear anything from my agent or anybody else either. So, I don't know to what extent those (talks) went."
That silence matters. If Luukkonen hasn’t heard from his agent or the Sabres, it suggests the two sides either haven’t gotten especially close since July 1, when his five-team no-trade clause kicked in, or his name never truly came up in a direct way.
Buffalo would likely need to send a goalie back if a Hellebuyck deal ever materializes, and the 6-foot-5 Luukkonen is the cleanest fit because he can help balance out Hellebuyck’s $8.5 million salary. Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis are also in the mix as possible pieces.
For now, though, Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekalainen does not sound eager to pay a premium just to upgrade in net. The longer Buffalo gets without a trade as training camp approaches, the more the odds tilt toward Luukkonen being the starter in the Oct. 1 season opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets. That could still shift quickly if Winnipeg lowers its asking price.
Luukkonen’s own season gave him plenty to think about, too. Since Buffalo drafted him in the second round in 2017, he had never gotten a taste of the Stanley Cup Playoffs while the franchise sat through a 14-year drought.
That changed in the spring, but the first playoff run of his career was a rough one. He finished with a .876 save percentage in six games, including five starts.
The experience left him with a blunt lesson about how thin the margin gets in the postseason.
"I just learned that during the (regular) season, you can get away with a B game or if this and that happen, but in the playoffs there really isn't any room for mistakes," Luukkonen told Gulitti. "I think everything kind of (multiplies) when it comes to playoffs. A lot of times it's kind of chess match between the teams and you just wait for the other guy to make a mistake."
Buffalo’s three-goalie setup worked for most of the 2025-26 season, but it unraveled in the playoffs when neither Luukkonen nor Lyon was able to lock down the crease for long. That’s a big reason the Sabres keep being connected to more established goaltending help.
The postseason ended in painful fashion, too. Buffalo was one win away from the Eastern Conference Final before Montreal Canadiens center Alex Newhook buried an overtime winner in Game 7 of the second-round series. On the surface, it looked like a goal Luukkonen probably should have stopped, though replays showed a possible screen and maybe even a slight deflection, without anything fully conclusive.
Luukkonen isn’t certain what he saw, either.
"There's a moving screen," Luukkonen told Gulitti. "You're kind of too high on your stance, and then you have to react down on the puck.
And you think that it's coming up when it's not. So, it's really hard for a goalie to read a shot when the puck is not flat on the ice.
I don't know if it hit something or not. In the end, it's just not the way you want the season to end."
How the puck got through may never be clear, and Buffalo’s 4.4-3.4 edge in expected goals in Game 7, per MoneyPuck, won’t soften the sting much. The Sabres had a chance to turn a breakthrough year into something bigger and couldn’t finish the job.
Still, the roster remains young and talented, and the prospect pool has improved dramatically. But there are no promises in this league, and anything short of a championship ends the same way: empty-handed.
When camp arrives, the chase starts over. And unless the trade market suddenly changes, Luukkonen looks set to remain a central part of Buffalo’s plans.
In Other News...
Sabres Could Face A Massive Crease Decision For One Proven Goalie
If Winnipeg ever decided to move Connor Hellebuyck, the ripple effects would reach plenty of teams that have spent years trying to stabilize the most important spot on the ice. Among the clubs mentioned in the speculation is Buffalo, a reminder that the Sabres are always one more proven crease answer away from changing the tone of their roster discussions. The idea makes sense on paper because Buffalo has been searching for lasting certainty in net, and Hellebuyck would instantly become the biggest name in any goaltending market.
The difficult part for Buffalo is what a deal of that magnitude would ask in return. Any serious pursuit would almost certainly start with major assets, and the Sabres would have to decide how far they are willing to go to chase a goalie who could reshape the entire depth chart. For a team still trying to balance present improvement with future value, that kind of decision would not just be about whether Hellebuyck is available. It would be about how much of the organization Buffalo is ready to put on the table to get him. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Cant Afford To Let Columbus Cost Them Again
The Sabres are heading into the 2026-27 season with a familiar kind of test on their schedule, one that can look routine on paper and still matter a great deal in the standings. Columbus is not viewed as one of the Eastern Conferences heavierweights, even with a few promising young pieces, which is exactly why these meetings stand out for Buffalo after a successful 2025-26 campaign.
For a team trying to stay in playoff position, games like this cannot turn into wasted points. Buffalo needs to treat the Blue Jackets as a must-handle opponent and avoid giving away ground in a season where every small slip can reshape the race, especially when the schedule brings these two teams together more than once. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Search For Offense Could Put This Veteran Winger In Play
With the Sabres still looking to replace the offense they lost after the departures of Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram, the market for a veteran winger has become part of the conversation around Buffalo. Mats Zuccarello has surfaced as one possible fit, and it is easy to see why his name would come up for a team trying to steady its scoring touch with a player who has been productive for years and should be available to monitor as the season unfolds.
The wrinkle is that any pursuit would depend on how the Kings handle their season and whether they decide to move rental pieces before the trade deadline if things go sideways. Zuccarello also brings a level of familiarity with Lindy Ruff that could make him more than just another name on a list, which is why this is one of those situations worth watching even if Buffalo is not yet anywhere near a formal move. [Read more 🡒]