Sabres sign goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to five-year, $23.75 million deal
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen's performance in 54 games – including a .910 save percentage and five shutouts – earned the former top prospect a five-year contract worth $23.75 million from the club late Wednesday afternoon.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen wasn’t the Buffalo Sabres’ starting goalie when the 2023-24 season began in October.
Luukkonen wasn’t even the backup that night in KeyBank Center. He sat with the healthy scratches as Devon Levi faced the New York Rangers, a decision that caused Luukkonen to question whether he was in the Sabres’ plans for this season and beyond.
The 25-year-old eventually took hold of the Sabres’ crease and broke through to prove that he was a capable starter. His performance in 54 games – including a .910 save percentage and five shutouts – earned the former top prospect a five-year contract worth $23.75 million from the club late Wednesday afternoon.
Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen agreed to a five-year, $23.75 million deal on Wednesday after a breakout season. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
Luukkonen and the Sabres avoided an arbitration hearing that was scheduled for Monday with a deal that has a cap hit of $4.75 million per season. It leaves center Peyton Krebs as Buffalo’s only remaining unsigned restricted free agent.
Luukkonen, a second-round draft pick in 2017, achieved career-highs in games played (54), save percentage shutouts, wins (27) and goals-against average (2.57). Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy was the only goalie to appear in more games than Luukkonen (36) after Dec. 31. Among goalies to appear in at least 25 games during that span, Luukkonen ranked third in save percentage (.919), second in goals-against average (2.31) and tied for first with four shutouts.
Only five NHL goalies this past season posted a higher goals-saved above expected, a metric by Evolving-Hockey that measures performance based on quality of scoring chances faced, this season than Luukkonen: Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck, St. Louis’ Jordan Binnington, Calgary’s Jacob Markstrom (now with New Jersey), Vancouver’s Thatcher Demko and Boston’s Jeremy Swayman.
It was the best goaltending the Sabres had received since Ryan Miller was traded to St. Louis during the 2013-14 season and, along with Levi’s success in Rochester, provided hope for fans that the franchise may finally have a top performer at one of the NHL’s most important positions. The two are expected to work in tandem for Buffalo next season.
The contract is a reward for Luukkonen’s rise from uncertain prospect to respected No. 1. His challenging 2022-23 season raised questions about his ability to eventually develop into a reliable NHL goalie. He had an ugly .891 save percentage and 3.61 goals-against average in 33 games, and the Sabres sat Luukkonen for the final days of the season while Levi was having success in a starting role after arriving from Northeastern University in March.
It seemed possible that Luukkonen may not be back this season. Eric Comrie had one year left on his contract, and the Sabres seemed determined to have Levi as their starter despite his lack of professional experience. Adams acquired Levi in a trade with the Florida Panthers involving Sam Reinhart, and he was not general manager in 2017 when Luukkonen was drafted by the Sabres.
However, the team elected to carry three goalies on the opening-night roster – and Comrie played a regular-season game before Luukkonen. Though Levi had some encouraging moments, none more promising than his spectacular showing in December at Vegas to beat the defending Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights, he also dealt with some bouts of inconsistency before he was assigned to Rochester in January.
Signing Luukkonen gives the Sabres a clearer picture of their salary-cap space for next season and strengthens their depth chart at a position that’s critical to team success. Levi will be a restricted free agent next summer, but his next contract should not be remotely as expensive as the one that Buffalo had to give to Luukkonen.
It’s fair to question how the Sabres will deploy the two goalies next season to ensure both are playing enough, especially after Luukkonen showed that he can get into a rhythm while starting a bulk of games. The schedule will be condensed because of the team opening the season in Czechia and the NHL’s Four Nations Face-off in February, but what if one of the goalies performs so well that Lindy Ruff can’t sit him?
Levi needs pro experience in Buffalo or Rochester. He’s appeared in only 61 games for the two teams since signing his entry-level contract in March 2023. Sitting him for any extended stretch wouldn’t be wise, but they won’t be able to experiment with their goalies during a season in which they must snap a playoff drought that dates to 2011.
The Sabres may try to handle Luukkonen and Levi like the Boston Bruins did with Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman the past three seasons. Both appeared in 41 games in 2021-22, Ullmark had 47 games in 2022-23 on his way to winning the Vezina Trophy and Swayman appeared in 44 games this season compared to Ullmark’s 40.
James Reimer, a 14-year NHL veteran, joined the Sabres on a one-year contract on July 2, and he’s expected to be the organization’s No. 3. They also signed minor-league goalie Felix Sandstrom to play in Rochester.
Regardless, though, goaltending may finally be a strength of the Sabres after years of mediocrity at the position.
