Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - In the 2025 NHL Draft, the Buffalo Sabres added two more young goalies to the group of prospects they had already drafted over the last few years.
Buffalo drafted goalie Samuel Meloche in the fourth round, and then added Evgeny Prokhorov later in the seventh round. Back in 2024, the Sabres took Ryerson Leenders in the seventh round, and in 2023, they grabbed Scott Ratzlaff in the fifth round.
In 2022, Buffalo also drafted the highest-ranked goalie in that draft class, Topias Leinonen, in the second round.
If you add in Alex Lyon, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Devon Levi into the mix, the Sabres have eight goalies in the pipeline, with five already having NHL contracts.
Buffalo signed Lyon in free agency, acquired Levi as part of the package that sent Sam Reinhart to the Florida Panthers, and they drafted Luukkonen in the second round of the 2017 NHL Draft.
It looks like Luukkonen and Lyon will be in Buffalo this upcoming season, while Levi will be the starter for the Rochester Americans.
Meanwhile, Ratzlaff and Leinonen are set to play out the first season of their entry-level contracts, with one likely to earn the backup role for Levi in Rochester, and the other likely starting in the ECHL with the Jacksonville Icemen. To get playing time, they could be interchangeable throughout the 2025-26 season.
Leinonen attended his fourth Sabres Development Camp in early July, and feels ready after battling through a number of injuries after being drafted.
Last season, Leinonen left Finland to play professional hockey in the HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden's second-tier professional league with Mora IK. His numbers were good, going 13-10-0 with a 2.31 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage.
Just getting to play in 31 games, including the playoffs, was an accomplishment for Leinonen.
"I’m pretty happy with that last season," Leinonen said while meeting with the media following Thursday's 3-on-3 tournament to close out development camp. "I got a lot of games, and I’ve been healthy, which is the biggest thing. I’m happy with that."
Leinonen had played his whole life in Finland, but had his reasons to leave and head for Sweden.
"It was a couple of tough seasons in Finland, so it was a pretty good chance for me to go to play in Sweden. It was pretty good for me," Leinonen said.
With playing more, Leinonen felt more fit, which was a big improvement for him. He felt his conditioning and confidence got back in order during this past season in Sweden.
Due to injuries, Leinonen only played six games during his 2021-22 season, 10 games in his 2022-23 campaign, and eight games over the course of the 2034-24 season. He says he’s learned how to train better to try to help with that.
"I have to put in every day a lot of work, because it’s a heavy job," Leinonen said. "I have to be in good shape, so I have to put in a lot more work. But I’m happy now."
Leinonen admitted the injuries were pretty tough for his mental health. One of the things that has helped him is talking with the Sabres' development goalie coach Seamus Kotyk.
"We talk almost once a week. He watches my games, and he told me what he thinks, what I can do better and that stuff," he noted.
Leinonen is another big goalie at 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds. He says he has a good, healthy competition with all the young goalies, and they were all at Sabres Development Camp this year.
One opportunity Leinonen has had this offseason is speaking with his fellow countryman in Luukkonen, and was able to learn more about his long journey to the NHL.
As far as the ages of all these goalies, Lyon is the oldest at 32. The others are:
- Luukkonen: 26
- Levi: 23
- Leinonen: 21
- Ratzlaff: 20
- Leenders: 19
- Prokhorov: 18
- Meloche: 17