What does the Buffalo Sabres’ signing of Alex Lyon mean for Devon Levi?
The Sabres' goaltending needs to be better if they have any hope of competing in 2025-26.
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The Buffalo Sabres didn’t get good enough goaltending last season.
There were plenty of other factors that contributed to Buffalo’s underwhelming, 79-point season in 2024-25, but it’s tough to avoid the fact that their goaltending needs to be better if they have any hope of competing in 2025-26. Last season, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen took a major step back after a breakout 2023-24 led to him signing a lucrative, five-year contract extension worth $4.75 million per year. Devon Levi once again started the season in the NHL but finished the year with only nine games played after getting sent down to the AHL early in the year. James Reimer, who the team put on waivers at the beginning of the season, ended up back on the roster and had the best season of any of the Sabres’ goalies. His late-season surge made Buffalo look like a respectable team down the stretch.
The Sabres need to play better team defense. They allowed the eighth-most high-danger chances in the NHL last season. They’ve made some improvements on the blue line and added two forwards who have a track record for being defensively responsible players. But they’ll need the goaltending to pick up some of the slack, too.
That starts with Luukkonen, who is being paid like a No. 1 goalie. But the Sabres also signed veteran goalie Alex Lyon on the first day of NHL free agency. The 32-year-old spent the last two seasons exclusively in the NHL after grinding his way through AHL seasons with the occasional call-up. He parlayed a strong finish to the 2022-23 season with the Florida Panthers into a two-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings. He started a total of 69 games in Detroit with a .901 save percentage and a 2.96 goals-against average. Those are solid numbers for a backup goalie. They’re also better numbers than the Sabres got from Luukkonen last season.
How Lindy Ruff will split the workload in Buffalo’s crease will likely depend on who earns the starts. At the end of last season, Ruff leaned on Reimer because he was the team’s more consistent goalie. If Lyon can provide similar stability, he could eat into Luukkonen’s workload. But signing Lyon also gives the Sabres the chance to keep Levi in the AHL for another season.
Levi, who turns 24 in December, started each of the last two seasons in the NHL only to end up in the AHL. Last season, he posted a 2.20 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in Rochester. He wasn’t his best in the Americans’ series against Laval and still only has a total of 81 AHL starts. By comparison, Dustin Wolf, who is the same age as Levi, had almost 170 AHL starts in Calgary’s organization before having a breakout rookie season last year. There is still a benefit to Levi playing in the AHL.
“I don’t think it hurts having more reps at the minor league level,” Sabres goalie development coach Seamus Kotyk said. “I think it benefits the long run of your career, and sometimes when you’re young, seeing that long end of things is not easy. I understand training camp can determine many things, but getting a little more reps under your belt can help your consistency down the road when that consistency is really needed in your game. The Sabres have to have goaltending that is there every night for us. So I’m good with it.”
Levi, who is a restricted free agent, has an apartment in Buffalo. He spent last season commuting to Rochester and staying in a hotel there during the week. This season, Kotyk noticed Levi being more present in Rochester than he was the year before.
“(In) years past, he was never settled,” Kotyk said. “He had every opportunity to come in with a chip on his shoulder, but that’s not him. He was just there, and the group, all the personalities meshed with that team, and he was every day in the moment. He was never thinking, ‘I should be in Buffalo’ or, ‘What’s happening?’ He was, ‘I’m here. Let’s make the most of it, and I’m going to get what I have.’ That’s a little bit of who he is, but also how he chose to handle the situation.”
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6253457/2025/04/04/sabres-prospects-devon-levi-ahl-stats/
Lyon’s presence means there’s a good chance Levi will spend the bulk of time in the AHL again. There’s also a chance the Sabres end up carrying three goalies at certain points during the season. One of the benefits of having Lyon as the veteran in the room is that he’s seen it all. He’s been that player shuffling back and forth between the AHL and NHL. He’s been a part of three-goalie depth charts before, too.
During an energetic half-hour video call with Buffalo reporters on Tuesday, Lyon displayed the type of attitude that should benefit Buffalo’s young goalies.
“I’m a big believer in goalies have to support goalies,” Lyon said. “There’s only two goalies, or however it shakes out … There was a time in my life where I didn’t treat the other goalies that well, and it was a mistake. The reality is in an 82-game season, you need both guys to be going, and you need both guys to win games.
“It’s such a delicate balance of being very competitive and pushing each other, but also being very supportive off the ice and having that good relationship.”
Someone with Lyon’s life experience will be an asset not only to the Sabres’ goalies but to the entire locker room. He was a lightly recruited, undrafted goalie who needed to shine at Yale to get a look from NHL teams. He didn’t start 15 NHL games in a season until he was 30. He spoke about wanting to be the most competitive player on the ice every time he practices. When playing for the Panthers, he learned the importance of separating yourself from the results and not getting bogged down in the emotional highs and lows that are inevitable in any season. Maybe it’s that blend of experiences and traits that makes Lyon the type of person who looks at Buffalo’s struggles and sees an opportunity to run toward, not away from.
“I think personally the best way is we have to start with game one, preseason game one,” Lyon said. “We have to start tomorrow. You have to be the most competitive guy on the ice tomorrow, and then we’ll go from there. Even if it’s your summer skate … The best guys I’ve been around are the ones who put their heart on their sleeve every single practice, every single game. There are special players, but that’s the number one quality for sure. I try to bring that personally on a day-to-day basis … If you bring competitive energy and passion every single day, good things are going to happen. If you can bring passion and energy through the bad times, it says a lot about character. The guys that struggle to fight through those situations are usually the ones who don’t make it … Scar tissue is hard to get around, but it’s also foolish to go into the season thinking, ‘This is the chance.’ You have to live in the moment.”
Now those July words just have to turn into action when the Sabres start training camp in September. But Lyon is another piece of the Sabres trying to change their culture with the personalities they’re bringing into the locker room. And Lyon, who had to scratch and claw for everything he’s gotten in his NHL career, will change that culture most tangibly if he can provide legitimate competition. If he can play well enough to push Luukkonen for starts and make Levi earn every game he gets, the Sabres’ goaltending won’t be a problem.
“My aspiration is always to play as many games as possible,” Lyon said.