The Buffalo Sabres have been considered to have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL, which is in part due to them selecting high in recent drafts because of their not qualifying for the playoffs. The Sabres have displayed an eye for talent, but the organization’s developmental model has not yielded enough results.
Leading up to the opening of training camp in mid-September, we will look at the club's top 40 prospects. All are 25 years old or younger, whose rights are currently held by the Sabres or are on AHL or NHL deals, and have played less than 40 NHL games.
Other Sabres Stories
Projecting Sabres Trade Cost – Lawson Crouse
Six Former Sabres Who Signed Elsewhere
#18 – Topias Leinonen – Goaltender (Mora IK – Allsvenskan-SWE)
The Sabres selected Leinonen in the second round after picking three centers (Matthew Savoie, Noah Ostlund, and Jiri Kulich) in the first round of the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal. Similar to his countryman and fellow second-rounder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, the 6’4″, 214 lb. Leinonen is the physical package that NHL clubs are looking for in a goaltender.
After putting up excellent numbers in Junior (2.28 GAA and .916 save percentage), he played internationally for Finland at the World Junior Under-18’s in 2022, but the next two seasons at the junior, second-level pro Mestis, and pro-level SM-Liiga, Leinonen was plagued by injury and the results have been mixed at best.
Leinonen shifted to Sweden to play for Mora IK last season, and the 21-year-old seemed to find his stride with a 2.31 GAA and .910 save percentage in 25 games. After being signed to an ELC in March, the Sabres will be looking for him to put together a consistent season in North America, but the question is whether it will be in Rochester or ECHL Cincinnati with Devon Levi, and 2023 draftee Scott Ratzlaff battling for playing time with the Amerks.
Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo
Read the full article here
