No goalie outside the NHL is worth a top 5 pick, Caufield or Hutson.

Good thing Levi is in the NHL then

Buffalo needs a goalie. Levi is supposed to be a really good young goalie. Buffalo has a ton of offensively gifted talent. They could obviously potentially make a deal for a goalie with their assets if they did this but I don't think it's a good move for them. Value is in their favour but then they have to try and acquire a talented young goalie elsewhere and there's no guarantee that can happen.

He still isn't worth any of that, if you want I can rephrase it.

No goalie outside Hellebuyck and Vasilevsky are worth any of those pieces.

Maybe, but you aren't starting a conversation off particularly well if you're getting huge facts like that wrong. Makes it seem like you don't know what you're talking about, and are thus unable to properly eval the players

Or perhaps I forgot he signed his ELC like a week ago, getting old sucks but it happens to us all.

Missing the fact that he has played games - and important ones relatively well at his age is a pretty huge deal in eval

Shesterkin? Sorokin? Saros? And Hutson is a great prospect but he’s not more valuable than any of those goalies, or any of Ullmark, Demko, Oettinger, or Swayman imo

Levi is exactly what the Sabres need, and there are very few players they would be willing to part with him for. Caulfield is great, but he doesn’t fit any of Buffalo’s needs. Even the pick for Connor Bedard doesn’t exactly fit Buffalo’s current roster, but you make room for a talent like that.

But goaltenders are uniquely placed to be valued higher than positional players. For example, the best goaltender will always be more valuable than even the best offensive player. Connor McDavid is the best player in the world right now. But the best goaltender is the one that positions you to win games you have no business winning. Obviously Devon Levi is not the best goaltender in the world right now. But who knows where he will be in three or four years?

Rather than comment on the trade itself....
I'm baffled as to why hab fans think we need a game changing goalie right now in year 1 of the rebuild?

During a rebuild you don't build from the net out.
This thinking is so out dated.
Look at teams like TB, COL, STL,
You build up your forward core and put an offense first team together. This way in year 3 or 4 of your rebuild you can capitalize on some of your forward assets and get maximum value in return where otherwise you wouldn't if they played a defensive structure.

Go to YouTube and look at Hughes phone call to Dach during the draft. He said
.."you're going to come here and play some offense"

Habs don't need a goalie right now
They need
1. To get rid of bad contracts in Armia,, Hoffman, Dvorak, Edmonson and Savard ( and to a lesser extent Evans, Pitlick, Allen)
2. Start bringing up the youth in Slavs, RHP, Yolen, Farrell and even Gurianov.
3. Capitalize on guys like this when they're reaching career highs in 1-2 years to obtain positions of need (ie. Goaltender)

If Hutson was right handed I'd probably do that. Goalies are so wildly unpredictable. Dahlin-Power-Hutson would absolutely rake lol

Discussion over.

He's ours.

Not yours.

Charlie Lindgren started his career off 3-0. Lets slow down the Levi hype train. He's a 7th round pick that came through the same heavily defensive minded hockey in North Eastern just as Cayden Primeau.
Levi and Primeau's numbers were both juiced in College.

Levi hasnt proven anything til he puts up these numbers on a consistent basis. Goalies like him arent worth close to a upper echelon player such as a Caufield.
Montreal already has Montembeault and another promising College goalie they just signed in Jakub Dobes. Then there are multiple goalies that are highly regarded in this 2023 draft around the 2nd round in Gajan, Fowler, Hrabal and Augustine. And goalies can always be found in free agency when the team is ready to contend. Levi is a dime a dozen netminder.

Let's be clear neither team would make any of those trades.
Levi has excelled at every level of competition.
He had one blow out game this year, and he has been able to keep Buffalo competetive in every game he has played.
Buffalo is not about to trade a GK who has his future.

Both teams keep their assets. period.

Buffalo says yes to the 1st trade because if I'm the Sabres, I take the top 5 pick in a deep draft and then trade my own (#15ish) for a more established, top-tier goalie (Hellebuyck maybe?)

Coin flip on the second trade. Buffalo has a great young forward core and while Caufield would make them better, he's also due a raise this summer that should get him near $7M per year. I think the Sabres pass because it's making a hole to do something that doesn't really fill a need.

Sabres likely pass on the second trade. The value is okay but Hutson can just as easily play out his NCAA eligibility and not sign and a pick in the 15-20 range is a bit more of a wild card than a top-5 guy. You can still get a solid player there, but usually not a franchise name.

On the other hand, every single one of these is an absurd overpay for Montreal. There's little reason for them to be making that kind of move, IMO, when they already have a young #1 goalie on the team making peanuts. Sam Montembault's back of the card numbers aren't super sexy but he's 13th in the league in Goals Saved Above Expected in only 38 GP. I think with a better D-corps in front of him he'll be a very solid asset going forward, and Montreal will be able to build a stronger team around him than they would around Devon Levi if they gave up these kind of assets to get him.

"defensive minded hockey at northeastern"

Bruh they literally bled shot attempts against wdym lmao

That means nothing. All their skaters numbers are skewed down. They play low scoring hockey. Im not going to pretend I watch all their games but everything i heard is that they keep things to the outside much like Bruce Cassidy hockey.
There is a difference between quality and quantity of shots

yes, they bled many quality chances. The team wasn't good lol. They play low scoring hockey because they cant generate offense worth a damn and some freak goalie kept the puck out of the net more often than not

Which is the same system Primeau went through. You are nitpicking something that isnt even relevant. The point was comparing Primeau to Levi not if North eastern was a good club

none happening levi has potential and others aree stars plus buffaLO NEEDS DEVI MORE THAN MONTREAL DOES.

You are the one that brought up the north eastern system? And they went through it at totally different times lol. its not a remotely good comparison. The argument against this deal has nothing to do with the comparison you brought up.

The argument against it is there is no such thing as a goalie prospect. This position up until the age of like 28 is wildly inconsistent for any goalie coming through any system (NCAA, CHL, Europe etc.).

Luukkonen's post draft year he basically Hasek'd his OHL team to competitive hockey and now he's probably gone? I mean thats why you don't do this kind of deal. Cause even with the best development coaches, they still go through an erratic development curve with a ton of ebb and flow.

Devon Levi has more nhl wins in in the last 12 days than primeau has in his entire career

Levi is a much better prospect than Hutson