NHL teams chip away at their camp rosters as they try to form the 23-man rosters they’ll ice on opening night next week.
While most of the cuts so far have been AHL and ECHL regulars or unpolished prospects who had little chance of making teams in the first place, there have been a few players with pedigree who have surprisingly been demoted this early. Here are four such examples.
Devon Levi, G, Buffalo Sabres
At just 23, Devon Levi has had a whirlwind career thus far.
Since his unlikely seventh-round pick by the Florida Panthers from the Jr. A CCHL, he’s gone on to backstop Team Canada to world junior silver, become a two-time NCAA goaltender of the year and one-time Hobey Baker finalist. He’s even already been a member of Team Canada’s Olympic and World Championship teams.
However, he’s struggled to adapt to the NHL.
Across parts of three seasons, the Montreal native has picked up an .894 save percentage through 39 games, with performance declines in each NHL stint.
After an .872 save percentage over nine games last season, the Buffalo Sabres brought in recent Detroit Red Wings tandem goaltender Alex Lyon and ex-Avalanche and Sharks starting netminder Alexandar Georgiev to battle for the backup job behind Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. As such, there wasn’t really an opportunity for the still revered prospect.
Should Lyon get the axe, too, he could very well get claimed, opening up an opportunity for Levi as the team’s injury relief call-up. But as of right now, Levi is on the outside looking in.
The real question now is whether the Sabres will explore the trade market on Levi and instead put their trust in goaltending prospects Topias Leinonen, Ryerson Leenders, Samuel Meloche and Scott Ratzlaff, or if they’ll continue to try and make something of Levi.
Ivan Fedotov, G, Columbus Blue Jackets
Once heralded as a high-end goalie prospect with the Philadelphia Flyers, Ivan Fedotov has seen a fall from grace since his delayed arrival to the NHL.
The towering 6-foot-7 netminder has only amassed an .874 career save percentage over parts of two NHL seasons.
It’s not hard to see why the Gagarin Cup champion has struggled in North America. He missed the 2022-23 season participating in mandatory military service in Russia and then delayed his NHL debut by playing another campaign in the KHL with CSKA Moscow despite being contracted to the Flyers.
A move to the Columbus Blue Jackets could have been the opportunity for the now 28-year-old goaltender to start anew. But it looks like the Finland-born Russian goaltender will begin his 2025-26 campaign with the team’s AHL affiliate after clearing waivers.
The Jackets have instead opted for the younger and more red-hot Jet Greaves as the backup option to Elvis Merzlikins.
Fedotov is on the back-half of a two-year deal worth $3.275 million per season.
Joshua Roy, C, Montreal Canadiens
There was a point in time where the consensus was that Joshua Roy would be the future No. 3 center for the new-era Montreal Canadiens. The two-time world junior gold medallist has done well when called up, notching 11 points in 35 games over the last two NHL seasons.
However, the 22-year-old isn’t going to start the season on the Habs’ main roster, being among the recent wave of cuts.
With the Habs roster being young and in flux, there’s no doubt that with injuries, Roy will get more opportunities at the NHL level. In the meantime, he’ll have to continue working on his craft in the minors, where he had 35 points in 47 games last season.
NHL Waivers: Canucks, Rangers, Wild Among Seven Teams To Make Moves
Seven teams placed a combined 22 players on NHL waivers Monday.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel, RW, Minnesota Wild
While Aube-Kubel has never been an elite player, his pedigree speaks for itself.
He is a seven-year veteran, icing in 304 NHL games and amassing 80 points in the process, not to mention a Stanley Cup ring with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022.
Despite this, he’s always seemed to struggle with maintaining a full-time roster spot in the NHL, oftentimes having AHL stints, even during the best of his seasons.
After a 16-point campaign with the Washington Capitals in 2024, the Slave Lake, Alta., native secured a one-year $1.5-million deal with the Buffalo Sabres. Since then, things have somewhat derailed.
Aube-Kubel netted just two-points with the Sabres while flip-flopping between the AHL and NHL before landing on the New York Rangers. They buried him in the minors for all but a three-game stint in late March.
The 29-year-old grabbed a league-minimum deal this off-season with the Minnesota Wild, but he already has found his way on the chopping block. The Wild placed him on waivers for assignment to the AHL’s Iowa Wild.
Aube-Kubel remains a physically engaged depth player who has shown decent offensive upside. However, when he’s not in form, he’s frankly struggled to remain in teams’ good graces.
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