Is Devon Levi too good to be true for the Buffalo Sabres?

Short answer - no. Do I think his 1.94 GAA and .939 SV % from his first two games is sustainable? Also no. Two games is far too small of a sample size to make any real determination on a goalie's success level. I do think however that Devon Levi has the fundamentals and the base to be a top goalie in the league. He has put up incredible numbers on each team he's been on for the past three seasons, and while the NHL is a massive step up from the NCAA and World Juniors I have no doubt that he will be able to adjust his game to play and success at this level.

Levi had a stellar two years of gameplay at Northeastern where he led the Huskies with 15 shutouts in 66 starts. He was injured and unfortunately didn't play during his freshman year there. If he had played maybe we would have seen him in the NHL a year sooner. That extra year probably helped him more than hurt him though. While recovering from an injury is never fun or easy, it does give you lots of time to train, both off and on the ice, and do more preparation than an offseason could ever provide.

The Sabres have struggled to find consistency in net this season between Craig Anderson, Eric Comrie, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. All three of them had games where they played outstanding and have stolen wins, but they have also all had games where they have cost their team two points. If there's one thing Devon Levi can do, it's be consistent. In his 34 games for Northeastern this season he had two games where he gave up 5 or more goals. For comparison, Anderson has done that 4 times in 23 starts, Comrie 4 times in just 19 starts, and Luukkonen 7 times in 32 starts.

Will there be bumps and learning curves along the way? Almost certainly, but give him time and he could be the franchise goalie that Buffalo has been waiting for.

At the time I'm writing this (11pm on April 4 2023) the Sabres are 6 points out of a playoff spot with 6 games remaining, 2 games in hand to the teams above them in the playoff race. I can't see why the Sabres would stop playing Levi when he's been this good through his first two starts. It will be very interesting to see if Levi can pull this Sabres team into a wildcard spot. When you add together the scoring ability this team has, some solid goaltending, plus nothing to lose, it makes them very dangerous. I guess we'll find out in the next 2 weeks...