In today’s NHL rumour rundown, the Buffalo Sabres have lots of goalies, and there could be some trade interest in Devon Levi. Staying with the Sabres, the reported asking price for Alex Tuch and his contract extension could be a much bigger number than anticipated. Finally, Anthony Stolarz was very candid about criticizing the Toronto Maple Leafs for their play in overtime.
Devon Levi Could Be Traded From Sabres
The Sabres have had a large carousel of goaltenders since Levi joined the organization. Currently, the Sabres have Alex Lyon, Alexander Georgiev, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and Colton Ellis, who are all getting playing time over Levi.
Levi was once thought to be a future star goaltender. After two full seasons with the organization, Levi is now 23 and still behind a long list of goaltenders for an NHL job. While goalies take longer to develop, the Sabres could get impatient and opt to trade him.
On his podcast, The Sheet, Jeff Marek was talking about the Sabres and noted that there are a ton of questions about Levi, and stated that there is very much something there when it comes to trade interest.
When healthy, Luukkonen is the starting goaltender for the club, but with the amount of time that he misses, there is an opportunity for other goaltenders to flourish. Levi hasn’t been able to grab hold of one of those opportunities and doesn’t appear to be making any steps forward in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Rochester Americans, so the Sabres could look to get some value out of him on the trade market.
Senators Offer 8-Year Deal to Pinto
On Saturday Headlines, Elliotte Friedman reported that the Senators have offered Shane Pinto and his camp an eight-year deal within the past week. On Oct. 18, Pinto scored against the New York Islanders, picking up his league-leading seventh goal of the season.
This isn’t an ideal time to be negotiating as Pinto clearly isn’t going to score at the same rate, but their side of the deal would be saying that Pinto has been the best player on the team through the first two weeks of the season.
In yesterday’s column, we looked at the reported offer from the offseason, which landed somewhere between $5 million and $5.5 million per season. That number must have certainly gone up since the first day of the season, but the fact that the Senators tendered another long-term offer means they are very serious about getting this core piece locked down.
Tuch Looking for Massive Number on New Deal
There has been a lot of conversation about what the future holds for Tuch and the Sabres, but after joining The Sheet for an episode, David Pagnotta has thrown a big wrench into the conversations around Tuch.
Related: Sabres and Alex Tuch Put Extension Talks On “Back Burner”
Pagnotta stated that he has talked to a few teams about Tuch and what things may look like, and he came out of those conversations with the understanding that it is going to cost “not just a $10 million AAV for him to stay, you’re probably looking at north of $11, and maybe closer to $12 million”.
That is a huge asking price for a player who has only cracked the 70-point mark once, though Tuch plays a huge role on the team.
The interesting part about the statement from Pagnotta is the inclusion of the phrase “for him to stay”. While talks between the Sabres and Tuch could come close to the $12 million mark, that isn’t a guarantee that it will be the same number with a different organization.
Stolarz Frustrated With Maple Leafs Play
After the Maple Leafs’ overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken, Stolarz spoke with the media, and addressed the game-winning breakaway goal.
Stolarz stated, “You can’t let someone beat you up the ice there. It’s a clear-cut breakaway…a minute left, you want to be on the ice in that situation, you gotta work hard, you gotta work back. It cost us a point there.”.
Stolarz didn’t call any players out in particular, but after being frustrated throughout multiple points of the game, including when Mason Marchment ran him over in the crease, he made his stance very clear.
On the game-winning goal, Josh Mahura was able to blow past William Nylander and go hard to the net on his own. For a player like Nylander, he isn’t being asked to be a defensive-zone specialist, but more effort is needed on a play like that.