Devon Levi Signed to 3 year deal

[Eleven]

Any updates?  Surely the team has acquired work permits in shorter time frames than this...

[inkman]

Just now, Eleven said:

Any updates?  Surely the team has acquired work permits in shorter time frames than this...

I don’t see it as a given that he gets in any games any time soon 

[Eleven]

4 minutes ago, inkman said:

I don’t see it as a given that he gets in any games any time soon 

I don't think he even can practice with the team until they get him a work permit...and I don't see why that wasn't done approximately 90 seconds after he signed.

[shrader]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

Yes, he may switch to #1 down the road, but I kinda like the symmetry of our kiddie core:

22 Quinn

23 Samuelsson

24 Cozens

25 Power

26 Dahlin

27 Levi

I just like that we now are carrying 4 goalies and they all have numbers in a different decade. 

[Eleven]

7 minutes ago, shrader said:

I just like that we now are carrying 4 goalies and they all have numbers in a different decade. 

And Comrie and Anderson are the ones in their primes.

[Taro T]

10 minutes ago, Eleven said:

I don't think he even can practice with the team until they get him a work permit...and I don't see why that wasn't done approximately 90 seconds after he signed.

Yeah, he can't work until his paperwork is completed.

Don't understand why he signed on Friday if they hadn't already had his visa/work permit applications underway.  There just seems to be no rhyme nor reason for this to happen on Friday rather than this past Monday or upcoming Sunday.

Hoping he gets the Nashville game but if it slides to the Devils game at least my kids can say they were there for his NHL debut.

[TheAud]

14 minutes ago, Eleven said:

I don't think he even can practice with the team until they get him a work permit...and I don't see why that wasn't done approximately 90 seconds after he signed.

Have you ever done anything with the federal government? Nothing is done in 90 seconds, or 90 minutes….

[Eleven]

Just now, TheAud said:

Have you ever done anything with the federal government? Nothing is done in 90 seconds, or 90 minutes….

Many things, and I've done some of them quickly.  On top of that, US-based NHL teams--especially among NA sports--are used to getting work permits for players on a minute's notice.

[TheAud]

1 minute ago, Eleven said:

Many things, and I've done some of them quickly.  On top of that, US-based NHL teams--especially among NA sports--are used to getting work permits for players on a minute's notice.

Ok

[Brawndo]

2 hours ago, dudacek said:

Yes, he may switch to #1 down the road, but I kinda like the symmetry of our kiddie core:

22 Quinn

23 Samuelsson

24 Cozens

25 Power

26 Dahlin

27 Levi

Would need Kulich to take 28 then 

[Taro T]

9 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Would need Kulich to take 28 then 

You don't expect him in Buffalo at all next year?  Because really expect Girgensons to be back.

[dudacek]

28 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Would need Kulich to take 28 then 

Didn’t Kulich have 29 in camp?

Maybe Savoie and Ostlubd take 28 and 21 from Kyle and Z?

[Brawndo]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

Didn’t Kulich have 29 in camp?

Maybe Savoie and Ostlubd take 28 and 21 from Kyle and Z?

Savoie will stick to 93 I imagine 

[LGR4GM]

2 hours ago, Taro T said:

You don't expect him in Buffalo at all next year?  Because really expect Girgensons to be back.

I don't expect there much. He's just turning 19 and needs more refinement in his game, no reason to rush him up to Buffalo. 

[Curt]

6 hours ago, dudacek said:

When Jake McCabe and Casey Mittlestadt were signed late in the season, people were excited to get them in and see what they could do.

Levi was a far more dominant college player than either of them.

Linus Ullmark played 20 games at 22 in first pro season. UPL played 4 when he was 22. Swayman played 10 games for the Bruins after 3 years college. Spencer Knight played 4 after 2.

Levi is 21 and just finished one of the top 3 careers in college history. He’s shown he’s reached a level where he’s worth a game and the Sabres goalies have shown they aren’t getting the job done.

Some people are acting like he is 16 and will be broken beyond repair and the Sabres season along with it.

Goalies are a bit different.  If a skater is really struggling, you can shift them to the bottom of the lineup, give them limited minutes, skip shifts, have them sit out a game.  Goalies, it’s kind all or nothing, they are just out there, and if you need to pull them for poor performance in the middle of a game, it’s kind of a big, blatantly obvious thing.  So, I do think it’s different putting out a green starting goalie versus a green bottom-6 forward or 3rd pair defenseman.

With that said, you may have a point.  Levi did just finish an all time great college career.  I could be selling him short a bit.

I’ll trust the Sabres judgement on whether or not he can is ready, both technically and mentally, to handle regular NHL starts.  Either way, he is going to need some onboarding time.  There is more to playing NHL goal than going out and stopping pucks.  He’ll need a bit of time to get familiar with the Sabres’ systems.

[dudacek]

22 minutes ago, Curt said:

Goalies are a bit different.  If a skater is really struggling, you can shift them to the bottom of the lineup, give them limited minutes, skip shifts, have them sit out a game.  Goalies, it’s kind all or nothing, they are just out there, and if you need to pull them for poor performance in the middle of a game, it’s kind of a big, blatantly obvious thing.  So, I do think it’s different putting out a green starting goalie versus a green bottom-6 forward or 3rd pair defenseman.

With that said, you may have a point.  Levi did just finish an all time great college career.  I could be selling him short a bit.

I’ll trust the Sabres judgement on whether or not he can is ready, both technically and mentally, to handle regular NHL starts.  Either way, he is going to need some onboarding time.  There is more to playing NHL goal than going out and stopping pucks.  He’ll need a bit of time to get familiar with the Sabres’ systems.

 

Don’t disagree with this.

Disagree with the idea it’s risky to give him a game.

You’re not going to crush his career or our playoff chances.

The latter might be a question if our current goalies were good.

[pi2000]

1 minute ago, dudacek said:

 

Don’t disagree with this.

Disagree with the idea it’s risky to give him a game.

You’re not going to crush his career or our playoff chances.

The latter might be a question if our current goalies were good.

 

I think we're underestimating how bad our goaltending actually is.

In the land of the blind one-eyed man is king.

[TampaSabresFan]

On 3/17/2023 at 2:16 PM, Weave said:

He sure can.  He’s never seen an NHL game shot.

and Comrie's never stopped one.

[Carmel Corn]

IMHO - let him play and do not worry about shielding him.  He's 21, not 18 or 19.  He seems fairly mature for his age and maybe, just maybe his presence might light a fire under the rest of the team (who is not playing motivated hockey right now).  He's already used to being "The Guy" at Northeastern, meaning he's used to pressure.  

[PromoTheRobot]

28 minutes ago, Carmel Corn said:

IMHO - let him play and do not worry about shielding him.  He's 21, not 18 or 19.  He seems fairly mature for his age and maybe, just maybe his presence might light a fire under the rest of the team (who is not playing motivated hockey right now).  He's already used to being "The Guy" at Northeastern, meaning he's used to pressure.  

It's not like if he gets lit up we're going to lose faith in Levi. It'll take at least two games.

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I don't expect there much. He's just turning 19 and needs more refinement in his game, no reason to rush him up to Buffalo. 

Don't expect him to get more than a handful of games in Buffalo, but would be mildly surprised if he doesn't get any games at all.  But do expect Girgensons back, so 28 will be unavailable.

Edited March 18, 2023 by Taro T
Fixed typo.

[Brawndo]

5 hours ago, Eleven said:

I don't think he even can practice with the team until they get him a work permit...and I don't see why that wasn't done approximately 90 seconds after he signed.

Riley Stillman’s Work Visa took approximately 72 hours to complete and that was during a work week. You are right though it should be done much quicker 

[Pimlach]

I don’t understand the need to rush him. 
 

I would hate to throw him into the lions den without some work with the team in practice.  

[Stoner]

7 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

I don’t understand the need to rush him. 
 

I would hate to throw him into the lions den without some work with the team in practice.  

Not to mention the optics of ostensibly giving up on the season.

Ostensibly... Just tryna hang with 11.

[pi2000]

10 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

I don’t understand the need to rush him. 
 

I would hate to throw him into the lions den without some work with the team in practice.  

It's not rushing him when there's reason to believe he's the best goalie on the roster and they're in a race for a wildcard spot.

That said, I agree, he should get atleast one practice under his belt before throwing him to the wolves.

Spencer Knight had a similar situation. Drafted, 2 years of college, pro debut at 21 years old, played 4 regular season games for FLA after his college season ended.

He put up a .919 sv% in those 4 games which was just below his final college season .932%.

That said, Levi had better college stats (in the same conference as Knight, arguably on a worse team), so there's some hope he can provide some immediate relief.