Confirmed with Link: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen Signed for 5 years 4.75 AAV

[Diaspora]

Not a huge sampling, but he he looks like a completely different goaltender last year compared to the year prior when you look at it side-by side like that. He used to overcommit way too early and seems to have mostly fixed it.

Don't forget that he had a huge rookie-of-the-month hot streak in 22-23 that got the team within spitting distance of the playoffs (after no-Sammy November) before cooling off in Feb/March. If he hadn't hit the wall, we wouldn't have seen Levi that April at all.

The year before that he was .917 in a nine-game look on a bad, bad team.

It's not like he came out of nowhere last year -- it's that he's becoming more consistently strong while the team is oh-so-slowly improving in front of him.

I'm glad about this contract.

 

[TheMistyStranger]

The other thing is that UPL is doing the video in a language that is not his native tongue. Tons of Europeans can sound stiff when doing all kinds of media just because of the language barrier.



Not every pro athlete is an aspiring Tik Tok star.

I'm not picking on UPL. It's practically any hockey player who does one of these regardless of where they're from. The NBA and NFL have personalities. NHLers just largely don't

 

[old kummelweck]

I've been talking a lot of shit about Bales the last few years, but he's done a decent job with UPL.

 

[brian_griffin]

If anyone has a problem with this deal, I am guessing you hate puppies and ice cream, as well.

I need to see the xGA on HDSC for various species of puppies and flavors of ice cream before checking the boxes on "love" vs. "hate".

Per PuckPedia, 5 team NTC in the last two years (26-27 and 27-28).

Adams must really like his 5-team NTCs because he's given it to Thompson, Cozens, and Power as well.

Those years are UPL ages, not the NHL seasons, correct?

It's nice to have that small of a concession on so many deals.

Agreed. I'd rather pay incremental contract percentage for a NMC/NTC concession than buy the incremental percentage for another year of FA.

When Levi signs for 1.25 x 2 next summer, we'll have potentially one of the best per $ tandems in the league at $6M.

Not disputing your dollar value point, but the only tandem total stat I want to see is >45 wins.

Personally I don't like the puppy hair in the ice cream. Not a great combination. Would not recommend.

Ehh, you really don't notice it if you put enough whip cream on top.

 

[Chainshot]

I've been talking a lot of shit about Bales the last few years, but he's done a decent job with UPL.

Same. He was the only member of staff that I thought they should retain and that was based on Luukkonen’s season.

 

[Mattilaus]

I support this message. I initially titled this thread 6K signed but thought I would get too much flack to stop trying to make "6K" happen.

I also will die on the hill that Samuelsson should only be referred to as Cobra.

Okay, I feel like I have been out of the loop for a long time on this one. It seemed to me like one day everyone just decided to call Sammy Cobra in a secret meeting that I wasn't invited to and when I found out that was a thing, it was too late to ask why. But screw it, I need to know, why is Sammy Cobra?

 

[NotABadPeriod]

Those years are UPL ages, not the NHL seasons, correct?

No, those are the seasons with the limited NTC active. Players can't have NTC until they are UFA age.

 

[michaelsaas]

Okay, I feel like I have been out of the loop for a long time on this one. It seemed to me like one day everyone just decided to call Sammy Cobra in a secret meeting that I wasn't invited to and when I found out that was a thing, it was too late to ask why. But screw it, I need to know, why is Sammy Cobra?

other board members can help me out but I believe Dahlin (jokingly?) referred to him as that a couple of years ago post game.

But for me personally any nickname that isn't [lastname]sie or a three letter abreviation I am all for. The latter extends to line nick names as well.


Here is the Dahlin Quote from a TBN article 3/24/22 talking about him -

“Have you seen his stick?” Dahlin said with a smile. “It’s like a cobra. No, he’s amazing, you know? He makes great plays out there. Even defensively, such a big, strong guy and like I said, great stick. He’s, whatever, 30 games in and he’s already playing like he does so it’s so exciting. He’s gonna be a huge part of this team for a really long time, I hope. He’s doing a great job, for sure.”

 

[rtfirefly]

I was curious about UPL's hyphenated first name. (Perhaps its origins are common knowledge, and I somehow failed to catch up). It seems that he was named in honor of Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, a statesman who was instrumental in championing Finland's independence. (Prior to 1917, It had been a Grand Duchy under the authority of the Russian Empire.) He was involved in the creation of a constitution, and served as head of state and prime minister. As an elder statesman he was known, affectionately, as "Ukko-Pekka", or Uncle Pekka. Rob Ray would have had a field day with his name.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

Okay, I feel like I have been out of the loop for a long time on this one. It seemed to me like one day everyone just decided to call Sammy Cobra in a secret meeting that I wasn't invited to and when I found out that was a thing, it was too late to ask why. But screw it, I need to know, why is Sammy Cobra?

I personally call him Kjell 2.0, as his dad is Kjell Samuelsson

 

[Chainshot]

Okay, I feel like I have been out of the loop for a long time on this one. It seemed to me like one day everyone just decided to call Sammy Cobra in a secret meeting that I wasn't invited to and when I found out that was a thing, it was too late to ask why. But screw it, I need to know, why is Sammy Cobra?

Dahlin two years ago after practice on Samuelsson’s stick killing plays - it’s like a cobra out there.

 

[munkyhead8]

Dahlin two years ago after practice on Samuelsson’s stick killing plays - it’s like a cobra out there.

About 4:40 in

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

The main negative is that the UPL nickname won out over 6K.

He’d be much more cool as 6K

I support this message. I initially titled this thread 6K signed but thought I would get too much flack to stop trying to make "6K" happen.

I will third the motion. I so prefer 6K.

We decide what his nickname is at HF Sabres. Others can do as they please, but it's 6K in here from now on afaic.

 

[brian_griffin]

No, those are the seasons with the limited NTC active. Players can't have NTC until they are UFA age.

I fully understand your second sentence. It's the OP I quoted which puzzles me.

paraphrasing: "last 2 years of 5-year contract with NTC, 26-27 and 27-28".
Doesn't jive by my math.

Year 1 24-25
Year 2 25-26
Year 3 26-27
Year 4 27-28
Year 5 28-29

Spotrac lists the deal as a M-NTC for the last 3 years of the deal.

 

[TageGod]

Same. He was the only member of staff that I thought they should retain and that was based on Luukkonen’s season.

Been going back and forth on Bales, goalies are SO inconsistent on this team. A lot of underperforming as well. Can we really credit Bales with one good season? UPL did not start off even playing hockey last year.

 

[Ehran]

Been going back and forth on Bales, goalies are SO inconsistent on this team. A lot of underperforming as well. Can we really credit Bales with one good season? UPL did not start off even playing hockey last year.

Goalies are voodoo and I don't think its limited to just this team.

Finding goalies that are consistently excellent over a long period of time is probably one of the hardest things for hockey teams to do.

 

[Jacob582]

Lance Lysowski stated that UPL was asking for 5 years x $5M (the Demko contract).

So he got pretty close.

 

[Jim Bob]

Lance Lysowski stated that UPL was asking for 5 years x $5M (the Demko contract).

So he got pretty close.

Demko's AAV of $5M was 6.13% of the cap at signing.

UPL's AAV of $4.75M is 5.4% of the cap at signing.

 

[Jim Bob]

What we got right and wrong in our NHL goalie outlook rankings

The Athletic's Sean McIndoe and Jesse Granger take a final look at their ranking of each NHL team’s current and future goaltending outlook.

www.nytimes.com

Granger: I went out on a bit of a limb putting Buffalo and Montreal as highly as I did for the current rankings, but I thought Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Sam Montembeault had two of the most underrated seasons in the NHL last year, largely overshadowed by the poor play in front of them. Luukkonen finished sixth with 22.46 goals saved above expected (right between Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark), but didn’t receive proper recognition. Montembeault was 10th in the league with 18.39 GSAx, and both are on the way up in their career arcs in my opinion. Betting on them to continue those trajectories is a risk, for sure, but I like where both are heading and am particularly bullish on Luukkonen’s immediate future.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

What we got right and wrong in our NHL goalie outlook rankings

The Athletic's Sean McIndoe and Jesse Granger take a final look at their ranking of each NHL team’s current and future goaltending outlook.

www.nytimes.com

Finally, let’s wrap up this project with the biggest question of them all. Having stuck our necks out, which single team are you the most worried will make us all look dumb over the next few years?

McIndoe: The obvious answers are the Predators and Columbus Blue Jackets, since the two teams at the extreme ends of the list are almost guaranteed to be “wrong.” But I’m more concerned about the Sabres, who don’t exactly have a strong track record of making positive takes about them look smart for the last, oh, decade or so. I get why we showered so much optimism on them, but it’s still the Sabres, and I think we can all imagine a world where it’s 2026, Luukkonen is an overpaid one-hit wonder, Devon Levi never quite reached expectations and 31 other fan bases are reposting our link with “this aged well” after a 10-2 Buffalo loss. And even the most loyal Sabres fan is fighting the urge to nod right now.

 

[HOOats]

Finally, let’s wrap up this project with the biggest question of them all. Having stuck our necks out, which single team are you the most worried will make us all look dumb over the next few years?

McIndoe: The obvious answers are the Predators and Columbus Blue Jackets, since the two teams at the extreme ends of the list are almost guaranteed to be “wrong.” But I’m more concerned about the Sabres, who don’t exactly have a strong track record of making positive takes about them look smart for the last, oh, decade or so. I get why we showered so much optimism on them, but it’s still the Sabres, and I think we can all imagine a world where it’s 2026, Luukkonen is an overpaid one-hit wonder, Devon Levi never quite reached expectations and 31 other fan bases are reposting our link with “this aged well” after a 10-2 Buffalo loss. And even the most loyal Sabres fan is fighting the urge to nod right now.

Lazy "imagination" take with no predictive value based on a decade of goalies, coaches, and GMs that are long gone. Unless you think we're literally cursed.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Lazy "imagination" take with no predictive value based on a decade of goalies, coaches, and GMs that are long gone. Unless you think we're literally cursed.

Well, he's right that Buffalo is probably ranked too high for only having a grand total of one good season from ANY goalie in the NHL. It's definitely a gamble to put them that high, but they believe in UPL's upside enough to put their name on it, which is good.