Devon Levi and the goaltending next year (or Should I Say - Devon Levi - The Goaltender Next Year!)

[Mango]

On 4/5/2023 at 2:43 PM, MBD said:

You get better by playing against the best.  He stays in Buffalo.

I am open to him staying up. But if they go that route they need to at least find a vet capable of playing the 1a/1b role with him, if not be a clear cut 1G. I worry about getting 40-50 games out of him next year. He might be totally capable, but I would much prefer somebody to spell him for serious stretches. 

I think finding a vet at that level who is willing to take a short term deal knowing they aren't in any long or mid-term plans is easier said than done.

Ideally Craig Anderson circa ~2015/16-ish would be a good get.

Edited April 6, 2023 by Mango

[Zamboni]

You could do much much worse than Levi / UPL or Levi / Comrie.

 

Hutton / Tokarski

Lehner / Johnson

 

That said, it would be nice to see a solid well liked vet who is willing to come in and teach/mentor/help for two years and split the net knowing they may get paid well, but the team may or may not be a serious contender to do damage in the post season. But who knows what could happen.

 

[kas23]

My only concern with Levi is whether we’re playing “off our game” with him in net. I haven’t watched these 2 games, so am unsure if we’re intentionally using a more defensive game plan while he’s in net. Have we been playing our usual opened up style of play with him in net? I do see we’re having some issues putting the puck in the net while Levi has been playing.

[Zamboni]

12 minutes ago, kas23 said:

My only concern with Levi is whether we’re playing “off our game” with him in net. I haven’t watched these 2 games, so am unsure if we’re intentionally using a more defensive game plan while he’s in net. Have we been playing our usual opened up style of play with him in net? I do see we’re having some issues putting the puck in the net while Levi has been playing.

No, it’s definitely throttled back a little. It’s not egregious or completely different, just throttled back.

[Mango]

18 minutes ago, kas23 said:

My only concern with Levi is whether we’re playing “off our game” with him in net. I haven’t watched these 2 games, so am unsure if we’re intentionally using a more defensive game plan while he’s in net. Have we been playing our usual opened up style of play with him in net? I do see we’re having some issues putting the puck in the net while Levi has been playing.

I don't think we have done a good job of playing "our style" of hockey since the All Star break. 

The Sabres are playing better in their own end than they have been. But generally in the defensive zone they have a tendency to collapse when the game gets stuck there. They have not been doing that, so in a sense they are playing better without playing different. 

We struggled to get through the neutral zone at times vs. Florida. An issue that seems to plague this team for stretches when teams forecheck hard or play the trap game. So in that sense, they are sticking to "Sabre hockey" 2022-23 edition. 

The kid has been lights out. 

[kas23]

23 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

No, it’s definitely throttled back a little. It’s not egregious or completely different, just throttled back.

So, it seems like the kid gloves will have to come off before we coronate Levi. I think he may get to the point where we can hang him out to dry most nights, but I’m not sure how soon. Maybe it doesn’t matter to some, but I’m not sure of the entertainment value of winning a bunch of games 2-1 or becoming the Islanders. 
 

I think we know how this is going to play out. Levi is gonna start in Rochester. We’ll have Comrie and UPL in Buffalo. We have them under contract. They’ll be no Anderson distraction and they’ll fight to the death. If they stink it up, Levi will be installed at a moment’s notice. 

[matter2003]

1 hour ago, Zamboni said:

You could do much much worse than Levi / UPL or Levi / Comrie.

 

Hutton / Tokarski

Lehner / Johnson

 

That said, it would be nice to see a solid well liked vet who is willing to come in and teach/mentor/help for two years and split the net knowing they may get paid well, but the team may or may not be a serious contender to do damage in the post season. But who knows what could happen.

 

Outside of shootouts, Lehner put up some good numbers

[GASabresIUFAN]

I’m going to add another goalie to the list.  What about Adin Hill?  He’ll be 27 next season, has 101 NHL games under his belt, and his stats are 2.66 and .910 for his career.

[nfreeman]

1 hour ago, Zamboni said:

No, it’s definitely throttled back a little. It’s not egregious or completely different, just throttled back.

 

1 hour ago, Mango said:

I don't think we have done a good job of playing "our style" of hockey since the All Star break. 

The Sabres are playing better in their own end than they have been. But generally in the defensive zone they have a tendency to collapse when the game gets stuck there. They have not been doing that, so in a sense they are playing better without playing different. 

We struggled to get through the neutral zone at times vs. Florida. An issue that seems to plague this team for stretches when teams forecheck hard or play the trap game. So in that sense, they are sticking to "Sabre hockey" 2022-23 edition. 

The kid has been lights out. 

 

I agree with both of these but would also point out that TT has been operating at significantly reduced effectiveness for the last month-plus, which IMHO has taken a big bite out of the Sabres' offense.

[dudacek]

4 hours ago, nfreeman said:

 

 

I agree with both of these but would also point out that TT has been operating at significantly reduced effectiveness for the last month-plus, which IMHO has taken a big bite out of the Sabres' offense.

 

And Dahlin for most of the same period, and for a shorter period, Tuch

[Sabres73]

Here's how I see the goaltending going for the rest of this season:

Carolina - UPL

Rangers - Levi

Devils - Comrie

Then depending on if we're eliminated or not

Sens - Anderson if we're out, Levi if we're alive

BJs - Levi if he didn't play the Sens, or UPL

 

Edited April 7, 2023 by Sabres73

[Pimlach]

Levi got the win, his first OT and first shoot out and he came up big.  Overall tonight was a combination of bad luck, sloppy defense, and he missed a few. 
 

Levi will play a few more games.  We shall see how he responds.  

[dudacek]

LOL, he finally got a taste of what the Sabres defence is capable of.

First was the kinda goal we’ve seen beat UPL and Comrie many times this year and the 2nd he was screened, but he also completely misread (guessed?).

The other 4 I doubt Dom could have stopped.

Be interesting to see how he responds.

[mjd1001]

I'm not upset if in training camp next year you bring UPL, Comrie, Levi, and a low-priced free agent.  

Sure, find a vet guy who is 28-32 years old who is content with only 30 starts per year but is a good locker room guy and plays those 30 starts really well and I'll sign up for that...but good luck finding it!

If you have UPL, Comrie, Levi and one other low priced guy fine, have them fight it out in training camp and preseason.  If UPL gets better, if Comrie IS better because he was playing hurt this year....then whoever the best 2 guys are go with it. BUT, the only way that works is IF you find that 1-2 other guys for your D-unit.

I really think this team can be good and a playoff team with what they have now in goal, as long as they upgrade the back end.

[Buffalonill]

All I know is buffalo has to play him Saturday to even have a chance to go undefeated

Edited April 7, 2023 by Buffalonill

[nfreeman]

7 hours ago, dudacek said:

LOL, he finally got a taste of what the Sabres defence is capable of.

First was the kinda goal we’ve seen beat UPL and Comrie many times this year and the 2nd he was screened, but he also completely misread (guessed?).

The other 4 I doubt Dom could have stopped.

Be interesting to see how he responds.

My shorthand summary of Levi’s goals allowed last night:

- 3 deflections, of which only the first was maybe stoppable 

- 2 unstoppable bang-bang offensive plays by Detroit 

- 1 really bad goal allowed to tie the game with a minute left that harkened back to Lehner, Hutton, UPL and the ghosts of goalies past

I completely agree that he got vintage 2022-23 poor Sabres D play in front of him.  

[PASabreFan]

1 hour ago, nfreeman said:

My shorthand summary of Levi’s goals allowed last night:

- 3 deflections, of which only the first was maybe stoppable 

- 2 unstoppable bang-bang offensive plays by Detroit 

- 1 really bad goal allowed to tie the game with a minute left that harkened back to Lehner, Hutton, UPL and the ghosts of goalies past

I completely agree that he got vintage 2022-23 poor Sabres D play in front of him.  

Agree on the tying goal. Maybe I'm misreading Dudacek, but I think Dom would have snared that (unless Dougie Gilmour was dogging it).

[dudacek]

21 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Agree on the tying goal. Maybe I'm misreading Dudacek, but I think Dom would have snared that (unless Dougie Gilmour was dogging it).

I’m probably selling Dom short.

But I am surprised you guys think that was a bad goal: right-handed shot, one-timer from the left dot, uncovered, off a no-look pass? That’s the 2nd-toughest save in the game IMO.

I just watched it again. Perron put it right under the bar. And it’s not like he doesn’t have a history of scoring goals like that.

[SwampD]

1 hour ago, nfreeman said:

My shorthand summary of Levi’s goals allowed last night:

- 3 deflections, of which only the first was maybe stoppable 

- 2 unstoppable bang-bang offensive plays by Detroit 

- 1 really bad goal allowed to tie the game with a minute left that harkened back to Lehner, Hutton, UPL and the ghosts of goalies past

I completely agree that he got vintage 2022-23 poor Sabres D play in front of him.  

Just, no. The shot was a perfectly placed far top corner laser after he had to come across from the other side. It didn’t harken anything like that. 

5 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I’m probably selling Dom short.

But I am surprised you guys think that was a bad goal: right-handed shot, one-timer from the left dot, uncovered, off a no-look pass? That’s the 2nd-toughest save in the game IMO.

I just watched it again. Perron put it right under the bar. And it’s not like he doesn’t have a history of scoring goals like that.

Guess I should have read this first. I agree, totally.

[Turbo44]

11 hours ago, Sabres73 said:

Here's how I see the goaltending going for the rest of this season:

Carolina - UPL

Rangers - Levi

Devils - Comrie

Then depending on if we're eliminated or not

Sens - Anderson if we're out, Levi if we're alive

BJs - Levi if he didn't play the Sens, or UPL

 

I think Levi has to start tomorrow but probably won’t go both games of the b2bs next week. Give UPL one of those games and Anderson the OTT game when we’re eliminated.

 

hopefully Johnson is signed on Sunday and plays 3 games next week too

[Mango]

3 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

I'm not upset if in training camp next year you bring UPL, Comrie, Levi, and a low-priced free agent.  

Sure, find a vet guy who is 28-32 years old who is content with only 30 starts per year but is a good locker room guy and plays those 30 starts really well and I'll sign up for that...but good luck finding it!

If you have UPL, Comrie, Levi and one other low priced guy fine, have them fight it out in training camp and preseason.  If UPL gets better, if Comrie IS better because he was playing hurt this year....then whoever the best 2 guys are go with it. BUT, the only way that works is IF you find that 1-2 other guys for your D-unit.

I really think this team can be good and a playoff team with what they have now in goal, as long as they upgrade the back end.

I was just thinking that today actually. 

2 2nd line defensemen would go along way. I can see a world were we go 1a/1b between Levi/Comrie for a year until UPL progresses in Rochester (if he clears waivers), then Devon takes on the full starting role and UPL is 2G a year or two later. In a perfect world I would still try and get a vet plus 2 defensemen just to hedge your bets. 

I also liked the forward lines last night. It does us some good to have a physical presence on each line rather than, a scoring line, a fast line, and a grinder line. The Pens were successful for years with a similar model. 

2 hours ago, nfreeman said:

My shorthand summary of Levi’s goals allowed last night:

- 3 deflections, of which only the first was maybe stoppable 

- 2 unstoppable bang-bang offensive plays by Detroit 

- 1 really bad goal allowed to tie the game with a minute left that harkened back to Lehner, Hutton, UPL and the ghosts of goalies past

I completely agree that he got vintage 2022-23 poor Sabres D play in front of him.  

I would have to go back and look, but I think all 3 deflections were off of Sabres players. At one point I think the Sabres scores all 6 goals on the scoreboard. 

[GoPuckYourself]

On 4/5/2023 at 12:30 PM, GASabresIUFAN said:

Devon Levi has played two excellent games in his 1st two starts against very talented offensive teams in Florida and the NYR.  He has faced 69 shots in those two games and allowed only 4 goals.  The shots against were typical for the Sabres this season.  His .942 save % is incredible.

It’s likely that Devon starts at least 3 of the team’s final 6 games. Why not.  He is giving us the best chance to win right now and we need wins.

For the sake of this discussion, I’m going to assume Devon plays at a similarly high level in his remaining starts.  When that happens, how does KA view his goaltending going into next season?  Does he anoint Devon as the starter and keep one of Comrie or UPL as the backup.  Does he move on from both UPL and Comrie and bring in a seasoned NHL goalie, like Talbot, as 1B to Levi? Does he bring in a high end veteran like Boston did to pair with Devon? Does he send Devon to start the year in Rochester to take some pressure off the kid, keep one of UPL or Comrie and bring in a more seasoned vet as the starter?

With 3 goalies under contract, but 2 are unreliable and one is a rookie, KA has some hard choices to make.

My gut tells me to follow Dallas’ approach with Oettinger and let Devon start next season in Rochester.  Bring in a good vet on two year deal and move on from one of Comrie or UPL.

 

 

Comrie should not be on this team next season, he's not even a reliable backup. I would assume they get a legit veteran goalie (Jonathan Quick, James Reimer, Semyon Varmalov, Cam Talbot or Frederick Anderson) and keep UPL in Rochester, he has moments where you think he'll be great but then goes back to being JAG in net. I don't think he gets sent down unless he has a whole bunch of games like the Detroit game but many of those goals weren't his fault but those are just my 2 pennies.

[Night Train]

 Goalies look a lot better when the players in front of them play better in their own end. See Ullmark. 

[Zamboni]

7 minutes ago, Night Train said:

 Goalies look a lot better when the players in front of them play better in their own end. See Ullmark. 

See all and every goalie 😬

[nfreeman]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

I’m probably selling Dom short.

But I am surprised you guys think that was a bad goal: right-handed shot, one-timer from the left dot, uncovered, off a no-look pass? That’s the 2nd-toughest save in the game IMO.

I just watched it again. Perron put it right under the bar. And it’s not like he doesn’t have a history of scoring goals like that.

 

54 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Just, no. The shot was a perfectly placed far top corner laser after he had to come across from the other side. It didn’t harken anything like that. 

Guess I should have read this first. I agree, totally.

OK, I went back and watched Detroit's sixth (!) goal again.  You guys are kinda right, although Perron wasn't at the dot -- he was much closer to the top of the circle.  In any case, I had thought he was further out and that there wasn't as much side-to-side.  It was a great shot, too.  So I'll withdraw my criticism on that one.

However...

23 minutes ago, Mango said:

I would have to go back and look, but I think all 3 deflections were off of Sabres players. At one point I think the Sabres scores all 6 goals on the scoreboard. 

I also went back and watched the first Detroit goal, which was the one where it wasn't clear whether it was deflected.  Having watched it a few times, I don't think it was -- so maybe not a great goal to have given up by Levi, although TBF Czarnik was allowed to stroll freely to the dot and unload a wrister, which also found the top corner.

https://www.nhl.com/redwings/video/czarnik-ties-it-up/t-277443710/c-16439901