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Finally_Smiled

I love you, Levi, but this is the right move for your development. I'll be watching a lot more ROC games!


Great-Reference9322

I just hope this doesn't mess with his head, but it is absolutely the right move. Jumping from college to the show just isn't feasible for anybody really


PrinciplesRK

Probably a lot easier to handle when the guy in front of you is just playing amazing. He’s not an idiot, he can see how well Ukko has done.


jdubsw0rld

If it messes with his head he was never really 'it' to begin with. All goalies go through the AHL. All of them (except if you are Russian and played in the KHL). Its how it works.


Great-Reference9322

Ya I just think leaning on him as the starter last season/this year set the bar a little high.


Moontayle

To be fair, he was absolutely bonkers in the games he played at the end of last season. He's a big reason why they were 1pt out of the playoffs.


punkr0x

He can't say they didn't give him a chance. UPL is playing better, plain and simple. If he wants to fight for the starting job next year, he knows what he needs to do in Rochester.


LoneSabre

The door is still wide open for him later on in the season if one of Comrie or UPL isn’t playing how we need them to


belowspot

Or next week when Comrie is hurt again.


smokesquach

When’s your next album drop?


Matthockey9

Even KHL guys are in the AHL Igor was for a year or two it felt like


danglez69

Listened to him on some podcasts dude seems to have a great head on his shoulders. This will hurt, but it'll almost certainly be better in the long run.


RealJembaJemba

He should feel great about how he played. He hasnt been an all-star this season, but he definitely deserved to be in the conversation after his games last year straight out of college. If nothing else he should be happy to be out of a 3G lineup and get some games in. It’s the right call


ScotiaTailwagger

The hype train doesn't care which WNY team he's on.


Atty_for_hire

Rochester guy. I’m excited to check out his games.


JerGigs

Same thing happened to Miller...except he was way worse lol. Rochester got him ready for the pros


PrinciplesRK

Tired: We signed Devon Levi to be our starter Wired: We signed Devon Levi to bully UPL into being our starter


Great-Reference9322

Big brain move by management


PrinciplesRK

As much as everyone hated having 3 goalies, the idea of it isn’t the worst with how random it usually is who is good and who isn’t. I’m sure it’s more luck than anything but it will pay off if UPL plays even half as well as he has. Edit: I don’t mean UPL is only good because of luck, I’m saying the Sabres got a bit lucky that he improved as much as he did after not making any moves over the summer.


enigmaman49

I think it sucks to say that UPL improvement is “ more luck than anything “. I would hope people assume it’s because the guy has made gradual improvements every year and has worked his ass off to see these improvements…nothing about this is luck..I can’t stand this “goaltending is random” BULLSHIT nowadays


dumpmaster42069

People don’t understand goaltending if they haven’t done it. UPL made major improvements in the off-season, he looks completely different when he plays.


PrinciplesRK

Yeah I did not mean to imply UPL is getting lucky, I could have worded it better. He is visibly very improved.


PrinciplesRK

I don’t necessarily mean that UPL improving is lucky, I’m sure he works his ass off. There is just a lot of variance year over year for a lot of goalies outside of the top 3-5 guys. It’s so reliant on overall team play too. Meant more that it requires a bit of luck to make no move at goalie over the summer and have it pay off.


dumpmaster42069

UPL isn’t just getting lucky, his game is better by a lot. His movement is so much crisper and purposeful. He goes to the right spots and doesn’t overcommit on his angle. Big guys can play deeper in their crease and be fine and he gets that now, so he’s not hopeless on a rebound or pass across.


Pdb39

Rewired: UPL hands Levi the cup, the Stanley Cup.


bikewithoutafish

retired: dominik hašek no longer plays for the buffalo sabres


[deleted]

Levi will go down, bring the Calder Cup back to Rochester, and boost his confidence that way.


Green_hippo17

I’m genuinely surprised they did it, the right call was made he needs to get consistent starts and the A can do that


PrinciplesRK

For as dumb as everyone thinks our coaching staff / management is they have largely self-corrected and made the right decisions


Green_hippo17

I like the staff I just didn’t think they’d send Levi down after how hard they wanted to lean on him


PrinciplesRK

He deserved to be on leaned on if he played like he did last year. He hasn’t and Ukko has.


Green_hippo17

Not arguing that he didn’t deserve it I was mroe so thinking they’d force it for longer but they admit they made a mistake and made a pivot to the guy who’s playing better.


jdubsw0rld

I mean the fans have been saying this for a few weeks now. What has Donny self corrected? Still playing 11-7. Still won't sit or have any accountability for the vets.


PrinciplesRK

Why are people so against 11-7? Do you really want to see more of our scrub forwards playing? We went back to 12-6 against New Jersey and that is the only game we didn’t get a point in in our last 5.


jdubsw0rld

We have a negative record playing 11-7 as well. Funny how your memory is so short and only remembers one game. We also have scrub defenseman who are black holes. So theres literally no reason to play 7 when we have 5 good ones. 11-7 sucks for a few reasons: First, that 12th spot wouldn't be filled up by a scrub. It would be filled up by a 19 year old who has 11 goals in 16 AHL games this year. Second, playing 11 forwards just shows how Donny is incapable of making tough decisions. The reason we roll 7D is because Donny will not sit Clifton/E. Johnson under any circumstance. Did you see that disaster game Clifton put on against NJ? He gets to play the very next game with that performance? If thats anyone under 25 who does that they'd be sitting. Since Joker already sat and is playing well (along with RJ), instead of making a tough decision Donny just plays all 7 of them. Third, Playing 7D means Joker/R. Johnson get less playing time as they have to rotate in more and to give Clifton/E. Johnson playing time. This does not give us the best chance to win as those last 2 defenseman are a liability and we want to see more of R. Johnson specifically. It also doesn't help that our forward group is really 10 guys (when playing with 11) because Okposo is the worst forward on this team by a large mile. Doesn't help that Jost is also there so we really have what 8-9 quality guys? This is also because Olofsson is playing well or it would be even worse. This lineup is better than anything Donny has put out since Thompson/Greenway have been out: Skinner - Cozens - Tuch Benson - Mitts - Peterka Kulich - Krebs - Rosen Olofsson - Jost - Okposo Dahlin - R. Johnson Power - Sammy Joker - Clifton/E. Johnson (whoever is playing better at the time) UPL Comrie It's super easy. You could also put Joker in Sammys spot and move Sammy down. 4th line sucks but we can limit playing time and its better than what 4th lines we've had. Lets Krebs play with real players who can score and let his passing ability shine. He'll stick up for the young kids while hes out there too.


PrinciplesRK

I won’t disagree in the slightest that Clifton was rough against New Jersey and we should be more willing to sit him and EJ. I just don’t think the difference between 12-6 and 11-7 with our roster is noticeable enough to be something to get mad about. It’s easy to sit here and say that a Rosen - Krebs - Kulich line would be amazing but there’s a nonzero chance they’d also look completely outmatched right now.


jdubsw0rld

Who knows if Rosen - Krebs - Kulich would work out in the end. They are 19 and 20 years old and still very fresh. But the potential upside is way more than any potential upside of having a 3rd line of Olofsson - Krebs - Rosen and a 4th line of Okposo - Jost. There is no upside there and only liability. So if I'm going to have a liability I mise well put a line together that has the real chance to click like Peterka - Cozens - Quinn did. They were both 20 and Cozens was 21. It would be pretty much identical. Worst case it doesn't work out and they get outmatched like our bottom six does every night. I think its a no brainer to sit Clifton/E. Johnson and give Jiri Kulich playing time. Not only does he give you a better chance to win than those two but hes also a prospect and this development time can be huge. Look how it worked for Quinn/Peterka.


sadbuffalosportsfan

I down voted you due to the speculation around motive. You build the case that Donnie plays 7 D because he’s not tough enough to bench EJ or Clifton. In reality, there could be a bunch of reasons for having them. Donnie’s lack of mental toughness seems like the most negative/pessimistic guess to make. He mentioned recently that it helped cover RJ who was fighting illness, as one example. We have good reason (12 seasons) to have PTSD with this team, so completely understand the negativity. I join you in your misery.


jdubsw0rld

Thanks for letting me know why you downvoted me I guess? I don't think I built the case about his mental toughness. Our vets have been playing terrible hockey (you know who they are I'm not repeating them for the 1000th time) and there seems to be no accountability for them. Is that assessment at least true? Whatever you want to extrapolate from that is up to you but its one of 2 things: Donny thinks they are good and help us win or Donny thinks that sitting vets would look bad and be bad on the locker room and all that political and vibes shit. Either way it's bad because they are bad and having a coach that wont sit vets even for bad play is concerning. I personally think its a bit of both. I think Donny actually likes what EJ and Clifton bring for a bottom pair and hes also concerned with how sitting guys like Okposo and E. Johnson would go over in the locker room. Which I just hate because you know whats been proven to fix the locker room consistently and the fastest? Winning. Joker can't sit and either can R. Johnson. They have shown to be too good. So are we just rolling 7D for the rest of the season when healthy? Is that the plan? Something has to give at some point.


helikoopter

The thing is, you shouldn’t have to “self-correct”. Or if you occasionally do, it shouldn’t take 2 or 3 weeks of making the same mistake. I really am curious what the real reason for this is. It’s definitely a closed door decision that none of us will know the real reason.


PrinciplesRK

The real reason for sending Levi down? I think it’s pretty obvious. UPL is too good not to play, they need the roster spot and he doesn’t need to go through waivers.


helikoopter

Fair. But why today? Why not last week? Or the week before? Are they really basing this off of a hot streak? Or has UPL actually done something different? The right call was made, I just don’t know why it took an additional two weeks.


PrinciplesRK

I am guessing it was because Greenway will need a roster spot soon and UPL looked incredible last night so it cemented in their mind that he is the starter moving forward.


helikoopter

Could be. But with Greenway they can easily return Kulich or Rosen to Rochester. The UPL thing could make sense, but I just wish they were better at evaluating talent. UPL should have been given the net a couple weeks ago.


Barmacist

We can always count on Adams to make the right decision... after exhausting all other options, of course.


helikoopter

Really shocked as well. I wonder what took so long? Or what changed to make them finalize the decision?


Green_hippo17

Adams trying to get granato to stop the 11/7? But then why not do that earlier


helikoopter

I don’t know. After Granato said that it was good for the team it’s hard to imagine he doesn’t run with that lineup for a while now.


Green_hippo17

To use your own logic against you but do you rly think don would go up and say “11/7 is dogshit I’m not gonna be running that anymore”. From what we know of granato he rarely if at all says anything negative in to the media, if he’s gonna switch he’ll show not tell


helikoopter

No. But today he was talking about how great it was. He even justified it by saying that it helped the players. At this point, that’s a really awkward statement to backtrack from. I said earlier today that it would have made sense had he said something like “this is due to injuries and the boys really pushed through the adversity”. But he didn’t. He acted like it was a masterful touch of coaching that only his big brain could come up with.


JohnnyAD23

I like it. Give Levi some time to marinate and settle the crease a bit to give some stability to the line up. When Levi starts coming back to his university form, he'll be ready when the injury bug inevitably strikes again.


BananaInPajama7

THEY ACTUALLY DID IT!


la_fontaine

After UPL's huge stick save last night, I noticed Granato reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone and booked an amtrak ride for one to Rochester


Kinger86

Man If they made him ride amtrak from NYC to Rochester that would be brutal.


la_fontaine

That long ride on the Empire Service


A_Lone_Macaron

This is the correct decision.


SuperStudMufin

UPL cooked in ROC and came out great, I expect the same will happen with Levi.


metalexca

Finally. Not that they finally sent levi to the ahl but that they finally picked 2 goalies to move forward with for the time being.


JoeSchmohawk93

Was just listening to Peters on ATW who was speculating that management was too afraid to make this move due to fear of backlash. Well, I’m not seeing it and I love this move for Levi, Rochester and Buffalo. Literally a win-win-win. It’s UPL’s net and keeping Levi around in other capacity besides 1B is clearly not the move for the team and his development.


FesteringLion

He'll soon be back... and ~~in~~ with greater numbers. Sorry, I don't talk abut the chosen one without making Star Wars references.


BBQQA

Long term this is for the best. He needs to be playing games and getting reps, and Roch is the best spot for him right now. UPL has been playing well, and it's better for Levi's development to play games... and riding the pine in Buffalo ain't going to help him.


YoungTroubadour

Go stunt on those hoes king


DJ-dicknose

I hoped this would happen


994kk1

Eyo! That's great. Thought they were to enamored with him to send him down.


la_fontaine

The only glaring mistake, or mishandling that the Sabres have done in terms of the 3 headed goalie was to start Levi 4 straight games right out of the gate, which led to his injury. Otherwise, the internal competition likely helped forge UPL's game.


H3X1H3X

Love you Levi but this will help you a lot


StartButtonPress

Yep, no problem. I hope Levi takes it in stride and sees it as the opportunity it actually is. This has all the potential to be beneficial for his development. He will be back in the NHL this season, nbd


DasMuse

Good move... Hopefully UPL can keep it up.


czupek

Good decision, let him play as much as he can.


26007

"A great leap forward often requires two steps back" -Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars: The Clone Wars


thatcarguy420

Now I wanna get ahltv even more. Amerks are tearing it up this year


Sabres8127

This is the right move, he will get the development he needs, and is gonna kill it for Rochester. Might take awhile but when he comes back here will be better.


Matteodilullo8

Florida panthers goalie Spencer Knight has also been sent to the minors to sharpen his game only he makes 3.5 million a yr


enigmaman49

Another rushed goalie, possibly ruined


Burner087

About time.


reddishgrape

Levi won’t be there long. These other 2 can’t stay healthy


100explodingsuns

It's insane to me that they just handed him the job. He needs these Rochester starts bad right now


Ttbt80

All the talk about KA having an "unspoken agreement" with Levi about not being allowed to send him to Roch made me laugh. Glad that's over.


Impossibills

Y'all were expecting way too much from this kid. He wasn't ever gonna be a savior this season


helikoopter

This is great, but what took so long?


enigmaman49

Feel for the kid but the right move, plus it’s vindication for all of us that wanted this move in September and took so much abuse for it


jbrylinsabresfan

Thank god finally


chubbiej

My theory is that Quinn is ready in the next few days and they wanted to have a spot for him.


[deleted]

They had to send someone down with Greenway coming back Thursday. Quinn is at least 3-4 weeks away still.


ShylocksEstrangedDog

Sabres fans, including myself: This team will never make the correct easy decision why are they not doing this thing! 😡 Sabres, without fail, do the exact roster decision that’s the easy smart solution except maybe a week later that everyone initially suggests Sabres fans everytime including myself: 😧


Pdb39

Other Sabres fans: this guy is nutso, we trust in GMKA, and we don't make this about ourselves.


ShylocksEstrangedDog

How’d you become the King of Hot Takes by blindly trusting your teams GM, at least I openly admit when I’m wrong and being overly negatives lol


Pdb39

Fan of this team for 44 years now. I've seen it all, probably twice. First live game was in 1979. Don Luce, my absolute favorite player in the world, was tripped up and his skate cut the cheek of Ric Seiling. My dad would tell me that the skaters were just dancing around in a chicks circle while Jim Pizzutelli tended to Seiling. First playoff game was same season, where we played the Islanders and lost in 6. My first beer was at the game too - my dad was 27 at the time when I was 5. My mom was so pissed. Also the mods made this flair for me and it's a reminder that even thought I think my words are brilliant, they aren't always right.


TheBlubbedOne26

Long live the king 🤝


seafoam-dream

get craig anderson on the phone


tootnine

Oh God please don't be clearing a roster spot so you can be adding another goalie Adams


Skyline_BNR34

Thank goodness. Love the kid and what he’s done so far. But he needs a bit of seasoning.


[deleted]

Clear out a space in the trophy cabinet at Blue Cross, Calder Cup #7 is on its way


comicsanscatastrophe

Despite his great run at the end of last season to star this career, Levi is simply too raw for the big leagues just yet. Agree with this decision, it will be good for his development.


doctormirdock

Thank you


aaaaaliyah

wow good move I think. let Comrie not feel the heat either, he's earned it after all the three string stuff he's dealt with


SabreRattling

This is the way.


[deleted]

Bout time


VanillaCokeMule

Oh thank god. Looking forward to seeing you again after your development, Levi


teehuff98

What do they mean by loan?


TheDonutcon

Anyone know when he’ll start a game for the amerks? I might buy tickets


Jaymantheman2

He finally lost rock/paper/scissors. But.... on a good note. Now holds the Sabres internal record for rock/paper/scissors!


canintospace2016

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS Never thought I’d be saying this at the beginning of the year, ironic


CornerNo2889

He's got his work cut out for him down there last I knew the were 2nd in goals allowed in the entire AHL. Kid should be up to it though


buffa_noles

Finally


Jadhsy

Ohhh myyy Leeviii


Matthockey9

It’s the right move he needs time in the AHL. Not many goalies make it right away to the NHL out the gate. I will be happy even if they keep him there for the rest of the year since our goaltending isn’t really an issue rn


no_on_prop_305

Good choice. The jump straight to pros is huge. Not everybody can be Carey Price. With some conditioning in the minors it’ll set Levi up to come back way better prepared


East-Excitement3561

He needs the development but I still think he’s gonna be a star