BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Sabres were hoping that Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen would come to training camp and show that he was ready to be paired with Craig Anderson in goal this season.
Luukkonen wasn’t up to the challenge and showed he needed more development in Rochester.
The month of October in the AHL was miserable for Luukkonen, and some were questioning if he really is the future in Buffalo. Luukkonen is just 22 years old, and when November rolled around, he caught fire and even earned AHL Player of the Week honors.
For the second straight year, the Sabres have had numerous injuries in the crease, and Luukkonen got another chance.
Anderson is out month-to-month and hasn’t played in over a month. Dustin Tokarski has been out for over a week with COVID-19, and Malcolm Subban showed up after a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks and didn’t even get through a full game until he was injured.
Aaron Dell has shown he no longer is capable of playing in the NHL, so enter Luukkonen. With the Amerks this season the big goalie is 6-6-0 with a 3.42 goals against and .888 save percentage.
With that in mind, a call to Buffalo would be a disaster, right? Not so fast. In three games the youngster has been everything you would’ve hoped and more. It’s amazing that in the three games, the Sabres got no wins because they scored a total of three goals.
Luukkonen has been absolutely spectacular making the big save in all the big moments against very good offensive teams in the Anaheim Ducks, New York Rangers and Washington Capitals. His goals against is a stingy 1.98 and his save percentage is an amazing .938.
Now, before you think I’m anointing him the Sabres' next Ryan Miller, I’m not. What I am saying is he’s much better now than he was in training camp by a lot and has obviously been working on his game.
His reads on plays are hugely improved, and he’s sent players away shaking their heads. I know Don Granato wanted to get Subban in goal to give him a good look. Subban is healthy and is again an option, but it would be sending Luukkonen a horrible message that he’s worked on his game, played three great games here, but hey, enjoy going back to Rochester.
Buffalo doesn’t need the roster spot so carrying both Luukkonen, and Subban is no big deal. I just think Luukkonen absolutely has to be in goal Tuesday in Winnipeg against the Jets. I know Granato has called this a development year, but as long as Luukkonen is showing improvement, he has to be the guy.
I would send Dell down right now and when Tokarski is healthy, Sabban would be next to Rochester. If Luukkonen starts to struggle, you can always send him back to the Amerks and give Subban his chance.
Devon Levi has been one of the best goalies in college hockey, posting a 1.33 goals against and .955 save percentage in 18 games with Northeastern. Erik Portillo has had a few slips lately at Michigan. In 20 games his goals-against has ballooned to 2.50 and his save percentage is not very good at .913.
If I were Kevyn Adams, I’d sign Levi at the end of this season knowing he’d be Rochester’s goalie next year and give Portillo another year with the Wolverines. I wouldn’t want both goalies to come out of college at the same time.
The one good thing about Portillo is his Michigan team has so much talent, he very well could be competing for a national championship.