BUFFALO, N.Y. — Devon Levi sat on the bench watching his new Sabres teammates practice at KeyBank Center on Monday morning after the organization's top goalie prospect arrived in Buffalo.
"I knew in my heart I wanted to be a Buffalo Sabre. I'm so happy to be here," Levi said in his opening press conference after practice.
Levi signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Sabres on Friday and the Quebec-native needed to get immigration squared away before he could join the team.
General manager Kevyn Adams said Levi will stay with the NHL club throughout the rest of the season. The 21-year-old, whose college career just came to an end with Northeastern in the Hockey East tournament, said he'd feel ready to go right away if the Sabres were going to put him into a game up in Buffalo.
Head coach Don Granato said the team is just waiting to see when there could be an appropriate time to play.
Levi is a finalist to win a second-straight Mike Richter Award as the top college goalie. In his two seasons at Northeastern, Levi went 21-10-1 with a 1.54 goals against and a .952 save percentage. This season, he was 17-12-5 with a 2.24 goals against and .933 save percentage. His save percentage leads the country for the second-straight year.
The Sabres acquired Levi, a Florida Panther's seventh-round draft pick, along with a 2022 first-round pick - which led to forward Jiri Kulich, who is having an excellent season with the Rochester Americans - for forward Sam Reinhart following the NHL 2021-22 season.