Who's better, Levi or UPL?

[LGR4GM]

Discuss, Levi was 16th and UPL 19th in Goals Saved Above Expected. 10.7 v 9.4

 

 

[mjd1001]

I think UPL now, he has done it for longer stretches in the NHL.  Longevity matters to me.  That doesn't mean he WILL be better than Levi in the future. Just right now, If I have to pick one of the to start 60 games in a season for me, I go with UPL.

[Stoner]

Good lord.

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, PASabreFan said:

Good lord.

Notice how I am not at all in the Sabres Sales mongering rumor thread, that's because I think the topic isn't worth discussing. You should follow my lead and stay out of threads you don't care about. 

[The Jokeman]

UPL all day and every day. I'm hoping Levi keeps showing good things in the AHL and would love if he earns them a Cup. As we've seen Shields,Biron, Miller develop in Rochester and then continue to good play here in Buffalo. 

[Flashsabre]

I believe in both of them.  UPL finally looks like the Sudbury Wolves star. If Levi takes the Amerks on a long playoff run then I fully expect him to be the 1B next season. 

[msw2112]

They are both young goalies with high end potential.  Right now, UPL is better.  He's older and has a lot more NHL experience.  He was also a starting goalie for 2/3 of a NHL season with excellent numbers.  UPL also has size that Levi, unfortunately, will never have.  One goal that Levi gave up occurred when the offensive player pushed his pad into the net and the puck along with it.  With UPL's greater size (and presumably strength), I don't think his leg would have been pushed in and the goal would not have been scored.

All this said, I think Levi is a very talented goalie with great quickness and reflexes and he seems to have the right mental makeup, which is critical for a goalie.  He was great in college, great in international tournaments, and has shown flashes in the NHL on multiple occasions.  He's played well in Rochester.  He will graduate to full-time in the NHL soon and will be a very good goaltender and will be part of one of the better tandems in the league.  While it's possible he becomes better than UPL, I think that his size may be a factor and as such, UPL may be the slightly more successful goalie in the long run.

As a Sabres fan, I'm very happy to have them both.  As I've stated elsewhere, I really believe that with the right coaching, this is a pretty good team and easily a playoff team.  If this season's team played to their potential in 3/4 of their games, they would be in the playoffs.  As I see it, they played to their potential in 50-60% of their games, tops, and that falls on coaching.  I've been a Granato fan the last few seasons, but I had to get off the train sometime in mid-March.  The two bad losses to Detroit when they were in striking distance of a playoff spot, plus an embarrassing loss to Ottawa on home ice during that stretch, did me in.

Edited April 19 by msw2112

[Sabre The Cup]

Levi in 2-3 years. 

[Archie Lee]

I don't know which site has the most accurate #'s.  Hockey Reference has UPL at +10.1 and Levi at -2.6 for what they call Goals Saved Above Average.  Natural Stat Trick is similar at +10.2 for UPL and -2.56 for Levi (so close I wonder if they use the same data).  These #'s more accurately reflect the 'eye-test' for me.  Levi had some good games to be sure, and a couple great ones, I just don't think he played enough good games to get to a +9.4 when you consider the games he struggled in.  

Regardless, the MoneyPuck #'s tell a cautionary take for goalies.  David Rittich +13.8.   

 

 

 

[Buffalonill]

Who honestly knows goaltenders are so weird

I wouldn't be surprised UPL went back to his old ways I'm not saying he's a bad player it's just a weird position to predict

Edited April 19 by Buffalonill

[Thorner]

UPL. 

Also call me crazy but I have a *sneaking* suspicion Laurent Brossoit isn’t the 10th best G in the league 

[Buffalo Super Fan]

I can tell you this Buffalo Sabres fans pick the wrong goalie every time. Tom Barrasso was better than Darren Puppa but Sabres fans were in love with Darren Puppa because he shutout Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers his first NHL game. Same with Mika Noronen another Sabres fans legend so knowing that. Sabres fan he loves UPL that couldn’t get it done in big games. I will take Devon Levi but I think Sabres fans will run him out of town just like Tom Barrasso.

Buffalo Sabres fan will over pay for UPL guaranteed and it’s a bad hockey decision when you can see Devon Levi is a better athlete than UPL. UPL has one other thing Sabres fans should think about he can run to Europe like Mika Noronen and never be heard of again. Devon Levi is Canadian he wants to be in the NHL and win a Stanley Cup. I am not so sure that all European hockey players have that same importance to play in the NHL for a Stanley Cup over for there country at World championships and Olympics?

So spend away on UPL but don’t cry to Buffalo Super Fan when things don’t work out. Again I don’t care about how well UPL played for a half a season he sucked the rest of his time with the Buffalo Sabres yet there are Sabres fans that want to open the bank vault giving him whatever he wants which is ridiculous for 6 months of good play crazy in my opinion. Go Sabres! Let’s Go Buffalo 

Edited April 19 by Buffalo Super Fan

[LGR4GM]

Just now, Buffalo Super Fan said:

I can tell you this Buffalo Sabres fans pick the wrong goalie every time. Tom Barrasso was better than Darren Puppa but Sabres fans were in love with Darren Puppa because he shutout Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers his first NHL game. Same with Mika Noronen another Sabres fans legend so knowing that. Sabres fan he loves UPL that couldn’t get it done in big games. I will take Devon Levi but I think Sabres fans will run him out of town just like Tom Barrasso. Buffalo Sabres fan will over pay for UPL guaranteed and it’s a bad hockey decision when you can see Devon Levi is a better athlete than UPL. UPL has one other thing Sabres fans should think about he can run to Europe like Mika Noronen and never be heard of again. Devon Levi is Canadian he wants to be in the NHL and win a Stanley Cup. I am not so sure that all European hockey players have that same importance to play in the NHL for a Stanley Cup over for there country at World championships and Olympics?

So spend away on UPL but don’t cry to Buffalo Super Fan when things don’t work out. Again I don’t care about how well UPL played for a half a season he sucked the rest of his time with the Buffalo Sabres yet there are Sabres fans that want to open the bank vault giving him whatever he wants which is ridiculous for 6 months of good play crazy in my opinion. Go Sabres! Let’s Go Buffalo 

You talking about the fans that picked Hasek over Puppa and Fuhr or the fans that picked Miller over Biron? Just asking so I know. 

[Night Train]

Both acceptable. Goalie is good going forward.

[#freejame]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Notice how I am not at all in the Sabres Sales mongering rumor thread, that's because I think the topic isn't worth discussing. You should follow my lead and stay out of threads you don't care about. 

I don’t know if you meant this to be funny but I laughed 

[pi2000]

Right now it's UPL by a significant margin, he was top 5 in the league in sv% and GAA since Jan 1st.

Levi is still developing.

[French Collection]

UPL has actually carried the team for a long stretch. I think he got a little worn down but he is the man right now.

Levi has benefited from his AHL work and is not done there yet.

Competition at camp is a good thing and I think KA will go with these two. I would like to see an experienced backup brought in to amp up the battle while Levi is still AHL eligible. 
 

Key point, do not carry 3 goalies to start the season.

[spndnchz]

48 minutes ago, French Collection said:

UPL has actually carried the team for a long stretch. I think he got a little worn down but he is the man right now.

Levi has benefited from his AHL work and is not done there yet.

Competition at camp is a good thing and I think KA will go with these two. I would like to see an experienced backup brought in to amp up the battle while Levi is still AHL eligible. 
 

Key point, do not carry 3 goalies to start the season.

UPL said one of the main reasons he started playing better was that he saw what he was up against. 

[Stoner]

The Concept of Levi.

[dudacek]

4 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

The Concept of Levi.

The thread concept is silly and you were absolutely correct that we put the cart before the horse last summer.

What do you think of Levi’s ability right now?

[inkman]

21 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Good lord.

Depends on the testament 

[French Collection]

8 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

The Concept of Levi.

I really like this kid and think he can be a part of the future. Tokarski cannot be #3 next year.

PS, I harbour no ill will for your comments towards Canadian grammar rules creating extra typing for us.

[Pimlach]

UPL is the better goalie today.   Fancy stats aside, talking about actual goals against and actual saves made, his GAA and SV % were in the top tier of the league since Jan.  

Levi might be his equal or even better some day, but right now UPL is the one that emerged from the pack. 

Someday we will have the combination of the 2.  

 

[Stoner]

Dmitri Lugubriev is better than all of them. He is The One.

[GoPuckYourself]

I never go by fancy charts, never will. My eyeballs tell me that UPL played excellent hockey for the last portion of the year but like this team when we needed him most (both Detroit games he was average at best) . I also think Levi will be the best goalie in the NHL in 2 years from now and you're already seeing glimpses on the AHL.

Edited April 20 by GoPuckYourself