Prospect Info: Devon Levi, G, Northeastern University (obtained in Reinhart deal) -Recalled from Roch Jan. 18th, 2025

[MarkusKetterer]

Hey, everyone says things from time to time that don't age well, right? I mean I once told my ex-wife that I loved her, of course before I realized what a skeeve she was.

Same

 

[Butt Ox]

Hey, everyone says things from time to time that don't age well, right? I mean I once told my ex-wife that I loved her, of course before I realized what a skeeve she was.

Same

Dang. It really is a small world, after all.

 

[TehDoak]

I'm over here still trying to get over his Dad liking the prequels.

I wasn't a fan of the prequels....but I think what most people fail to realize, those movies were written and intended for kids. Lucas had young kids at the time they were made. It was for their generation. And 20 years out....see how many people who were kids when those movies came out (and the multitude of animated shows) love them.

They are shamelessly bad movies with bad acting...but so are all kids movies.

 

[haseoke39]

I wasn't a fan of the prequels....but I think what most people fail to realize, those movies were written and intended for kids. Lucas had young kids at the time they were made. It was for their generation. And 20 years out....see how many people who were kids when those movies came out (and the multitude of animated shows) love them.

They are shamelessly bad movies with bad acting...but so are all kids movies.

I don't know. How young are kids?

I saw Episode I when I was 12 and cringed so hard I didn't bother with Episode II.

I'm not a big Star Wars fan in any era, though. I like Episode VIII more than most, and I know that draws a certain ire.

 

[Der Jaeger]

Knowing what we know now, would you trade Reinhart for Levi and Kulich?

 

[haseoke39]

Knowing what we know now, would you trade Reinhart for Levi and Kulich?

I think if you posted a poll on the main boards as to which package has more value, it would be pretty heavily on Reinhart's side. The Sabres got a not embarrassing package for a player who wanted to walk. The Sabres, FWIW, should have done everything differently with Reinhart's development and contract negotiations prior to that point to avoid that outcome.

 

[jmelm]

Knowing what we know now, would you trade Reinhart for Levi and Kulich?

I think it's still too early because even if we assume Levi will turn into a bonafide starting G, we don't know what Kulich will turn into yet.

Will Levi be a run of the mill/above average starting goalie (i.e. between 10-20 ranked G's in the league) or will he be an elite top 5-10 starter like a Jussi Saros? If it's the latter, it's probably considered a win irrespective of what happens with Kulich.

If Levi is an average starter, then Kulich would need to become a very solid, 2-way 3rd line W who can play on both special teams and score 20G/~45 points, which is probably his realistic ceiling anyway.

 

[Dingo44]

Knowing what we know now, would you trade Reinhart for Levi and Kulich?

Is Reinhart signing with us after he gets to UFA? That makes a huge difference.

That being said, even though right now it's just potential and Reinhart is proven, I think I'd take Levi and Kulich. Levi has a chance to be an elite # 1 goalie which is much more valuable than Reinhart and Kulich can bring a different needed element to the team from Reinhart. We have other potential replacements for Sam in our system, and they more fit our contending window.

I do love Sam though.

 

[Dirty Dog]

All we can say is we got a good fair futures package for reinhart. Arguably more then what some other forwards got during that same offseason.

But it’s still a futures package, could be nothing

 

[UnleashRasmus]

Knowing what we know now, would you trade Reinhart for Levi and Kulich?

Yes. I still very much love what Reinhart brings to a competitive team now. Where we were going, we needed to bottom out. I was very frustrated when he basically asked to be traded, but I still love him as a player. But he's a better fit in a team like Florida. I like the prospects of Kulich and Levi easily.

 

[joshjull]

I think it's still too early because even if we assume Levi will turn into a bonafide starting G, we don't know what Kulich will turn into yet.

Will Levi be a run of the mill/above average starting goalie (i.e. between 10-20 ranked G's in the league) or will he be an elite top 5-10 starter like a Jussi Saros? If it's the latter, it's probably considered a win irrespective of what happens with Kulich.

If Levi is an average starter, then Kulich would need to become a very solid, 2-way 3rd line W who can play on both special teams and score 20G/~45 points, which is probably his realistic ceiling anyway.

Why are you putting such a high level of expectation on these guys to justify the trade?

All we traded was one year of Sam. Thats it. He wanted out. You’re acting like this is the ROR trade where we traded a key cog signed for several more years.

If either turns into a NHL contributor the trade worked out.

 

[Der Jaeger]

I think if you posted a poll on the main boards as to which package has more value, it would be pretty heavily on Reinhart's side. The Sabres got a not embarrassing package for a player who wanted to walk. The Sabres, FWIW, should have done everything differently with Reinhart's development and contract negotiations prior to that point to avoid that outcome.

I think it's still too early because even if we assume Levi will turn into a bonafide starting G, we don't know what Kulich will turn into yet.

Will Levi be a run of the mill/above average starting goalie (i.e. between 10-20 ranked G's in the league) or will he be an elite top 5-10 starter like a Jussi Saros? If it's the latter, it's probably considered a win irrespective of what happens with Kulich.

If Levi is an average starter, then Kulich would need to become a very solid, 2-way 3rd line W who can play on both special teams and score 20G/~45 points, which is probably his realistic ceiling anyway.

I think there are two different thoughts here.

Thought 1: Botterill bridged Reinhart, which was probably a short-sighted move. Had he locked Reinhart in long-term, he's the Sabres 1C right now and the team's offensive centerpiece in a ROR mold.

Thought 2: Reinhart was only signed for a year more when the trade was made, and Adams knew he was leaving. I think Adams and the front office did their homework on Levi and knew what they were getting. There's bit of luck involved with getting Kulich out of the trade.

Overall, I give Botterill a solid D for not recognizing the need to lock up Reinhart. He traded O'Reilly a few months before, and had the opportunity to lock in Reinhart alongside Eichel for up to 8 years. I think Reinhart might have looked upon the possibility of playing with Eichel and signed long term.

I give Adams a B, mostly for doing his homework and recognizing that Levi was a big time talent behind Bobrovsky and Knight in Florida. Kulich was a gift, and I can't give him much credit for that pick.

 

[jmelm]

Why are you putting such a high level of expectation on these guys to justify the trade?

All we traded was one year of Sam. Thats it. He wanted out. You’re acting like this is the ROR trade where we traded a key cog signed for several more years.

If either turns into a NHL contributor the trade worked out.

I didn't pose the original question. I answered whether we could consider it a win, and I answered that I thought it was too early to tell (though I am very optimistic about both of these 2 guys).

If Kulich turns out to be an average 4th liner and Levi turns out to be an mediocre back up goalie, then no, I would not consider that a win. That's not my expectation though.

You could also make the counter argument that Adams shouldn't have waited until the summer and maybe would have got an even bigger return at the prior deadline.

The truth is we have no idea at all. We're all just spitballing here.

 

[Jim Bob]

This is something that Levi has been using heavily for a while. He made a quick mention of it during his dev camp interview.

 

[Zach716]

That's pretty cool. I could see VR making some absolute monster goalie prospects in the future when the tech gets good enough.

Imagine cutting out 90% of the garbage time between drills and shots and angles and collecting pucks etc while still being a tangible simulation.

 

[buffalowing88]

I wonder if the simulation for Buffalo goalies includes Lucic skating towards them from center ice?

But seriously, that's a potential gamechanger. Excited to see what it does for goalie development in the next few years.

 

[Zman5778]

Knowing what we know now, would you trade Reinhart for Levi and Kulich?

It seems like a mostly fair "Established player for futures" package now. But holy hell did Botterill absolutely murder the process with Sam.

 

[joshjull]

I didn't pose the original question. I answered whether we could consider it a win, and I answered that I thought it was too early to tell (though I am very optimistic about both of these 2 guys).

If Kulich turns out to be an average 4th liner and Levi turns out to be an mediocre back up goalie, then no, I would not consider that a win. That's not my expectation though.

You could also make the counter argument that Adams shouldn't have waited until the summer and maybe would have got an even bigger return at the prior deadline.

The truth is we have no idea at all. We're all just spitballing here.

I know you didn’t ask the question.

My point was about you adding such lofty expectations to Levi/Kulich in order to consider the trade a win. Why would you do that? We only traded one year of team control over Sam.

Think of it like this….. Three years of Levi as a solid backup goalie is more valuable than only one year of Sam. Kulich as an effective bottom 6 winger for years is more valuable than one year of Sam.

Its not just about the level of NHL player they may become. Its the fact they can contribute at whatever NHL level they achieve for much longer than the one year of team control we had over Sam.

 

[Zach716]

I know you didn’t ask the question.

My point was about you adding such lofty expectations to Levi/Kulich in order to consider the trade a win. Why would you do that? We only traded one year of team control over Sam.

Think of it like this….. Three years of Levi as a solid backup goalie is more valuable than only one year of Sam. Kulich as an effective bottom 6 winger for years is more valuable than one year of Sam.

Its not just about the level of NHL player they may become. Its the fact they can contribute at whatever NHL level they achieve for much longer than the one year of team control we had over Sam.

At the same time maybe having Reinhart around a year post-Eichel convinces him of the shift and he resigns.

I can see why the end product of Levi/Kulich are contingent on if it was a win.

I’m also setting myself up for disappointment and holding out slight hope he signs with us as a UFA, giving us a homerun potential

 

[joshjull]

At the same time maybe having Reinhart around a year post-Eichel convinces him of the shift and he resigns.

I can see why the end product of Levi/Kulich are contingent on if it was a win.

I’m also setting myself up for disappointment and holding out slight hope he signs with us as a UFA, giving us a homerun potential

Its an irrelevant fantasy that was never happening. The facts are Sam wanted out and asked for a trade. We only had one year of team control to trade. Thats the only parameters to evaluate the trade.

 

[Chainshot]

Knowing what we know now, would you trade Reinhart for Levi and Kulich?

Still not a fan of the deal or the circumstances that lead to it, but feeling hopeful about the future.

 

[drew5580]

This is something that Levi has been using heavily for a while. He made a quick mention of it during his dev camp interview.

Bought that for my son, he’s a RW not a goalie. I’ve used it and it’s pretty amazing. A lot of fun

 

[Diaspora]

This is something that Levi has been using heavily for a while. He made a quick mention of it during his dev camp interview.

The next weapon in the escalating arms race between shooters and goalies. In a few years, every G prospect is going to have consistently good positioning, and the game will change again. How will the skaters and coaches respond?

That'll be fun.

 

[Jim Bob]

The next weapon in the escalating arms race between shooters and goalies. In a few years, every G prospect is going to have consistently good positioning, and the game will change again. How will the skaters and coaches respond?

That'll be fun.

Sense Arena started with their app being goalie specific. But, they have added skater specific stuff, as well.

 

[buffalowing88]

Its an irrelevant fantasy that was never happening. The facts are Sam wanted out and asked for a trade. We only had one year of team control to trade. Thats the only parameters to evaluate the trade.

We could also point out that the money we save on Sam can go towards guys identified as part of the rebuild. I love Reinhart but the time was up for him and us. I'd rather that cap number go towards someone with a future here that we can envision, not just try and plug in.

Its an irrelevant fantasy that was never happening. The facts are Sam wanted out and asked for a trade. We only had one year of team control to trade. Thats the only parameters to evaluate the trade.

We could also point out that the money we save on Sam can go towards guys identified as part of the rebuild. I love Reinhart but the time was up for him and us. I'd rather that cap number go towards someone with a future here that we can envision, not just try and plug in.