The Toronto Maple Leafs got the early jump on trade season two days after the Stanley Cup was handed out, shipping goalie Joseph Woll and defenseman Simon Benoit to the Philadelphia Flyers for defenseman Emil Andrae, goaltender Samuel Ersson and a 2026 third-round pick. The Leafs faced the prospect of having to carry three goalies on their NHL roster, with Anthony Stolarz, Woll, and youngster Dennis Hildeby not waiver exempt.
That situation was better than that the Buffalo Sabres face going into next season, as they have four goalies who would have to clear waivers to be sent down to the American Hockey League. Buffalo Sabres GM Jarmo Kekalainen indicated in his end-of-season remarks last month that he was satisfied with how the trio of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Alex Lyon, and Colten Ellis played last season and that it is possible that the club will carry three goalies next season, but that leaves goalie Devon Levi on the outside looking in.
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The 24-year-old has played 120 games over the last three seasons in AHL Rochester and only nine games for the Sabres. After being demoted to the Amerks after training camp, any chance of seeing NHL action last season was eliminated when Buffalo claimed Ellis off of waivers from the St. Louis Blues in early October.
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“(Devon is) a talented goalie, he’s played some great hockey at the American League level, and he’s played some games in the NHL. Probably the toughest position of any positions on a hockey team is to get the responsibility to be a goalie that coaches rely upon on a regular basis,” Kekalainen said. “Next year he’ll need waivers, so it’s another part of that process, and we see how he keeps developing, and I think he’s an NHL caliber talent that has a potential to be a good goalie in this league for a long time.”
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Ideally, the Sabres would like to get an asset in the form of a prospect or a high draft pick, but the move that Toronto made on Tuesday may have set the market price for available goalies. Veterans with multiple years of term remaining, such as New Jersey’s Jacob Markstrom ($6 million AAV), Vegas’s Adin Hill ($6.25 million AAV) may require salary retention to be moved. Other goalies reportedly on the market like Columbus’s Elvis Merzlikins ($5.4 million AAV) and Montreal’s Samuel Montembeault ($3.15 million AAV) are not as desirable coming off bad seasons.
Woll has played well at times, but struggled with a defensively inept Toronto club last season, and the return for him was a bottom pairing blueliner who was not in Rick Tocchet’s system in Philadelphia and a low third round pick. Another disadvantage to the Sabres is that Levi is not the only young, inexpensive goalie looking for a new home potentially available. Detroit first rounder Sebastian Cossa is being shopped by the Red Wings.
Levi has another year remaining on a two-year bridge deal making $812,500, and their will likely be a number of clubs looking for a tandem or backup goalie this summer, but unless Kekalainen includes Levi as part of a package in a larger deal, it is likely thar the once prized prospect will bring back as good of a return as once expected.
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