The Buffalo Sabres have agreed to terms with goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen on a five-year contract worth an average annual value of $4.75 million, the team announced Wednesday.
Luukkonen, 25, set career highs in games played (54), wins (27), and shutouts (5) last season. His wins and shutouts were the most in a season by a Sabres goaltender since Ryan Miller.
Luukkonen ranked ninth among qualified NHL goaltenders with a 2.57 goals-against average. His .910 save percentage ranked ninth among goaltenders with at least 50 games played.
Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams expressed confidence earlier this offseason in the young goalie tandem of Luukkonen and 22-year-old Devon Levi, the latter of whom led qualified AHL goaltenders in save percentage last season. The team shored up its organizational depth with the signings of veteran James Reimer and Felix Sandstrom in free agency.
“We really like the position we’re in with having UPL and Devon Levi as still young, developing goaltenders, guys we think are going to continue to grow and get better, that are extremely talented, hard-working, and character people,” Adams said.
Years of patient development paid off last season for Luukkonen. The 2017 second-round pick had spent time in either the ECHL or AHL in each of his four previous professional seasons in North America. He entered 2023-24 as one of three goaltenders on the NHL roster and made his season debut in Buffalo’s seventh game.
Luukkonen took hold of the starting job beginning with a 40-save performance in Pittsburgh on Jan. 6. He started 36 of the Sabres’ final 43 games from that point on and posted a .919 save percentage, which tied for eighth in the NHL during that span.
“I think that was really good for me and it’s good learning for me,” he said after the season. “I want to be a starting goalie in this league. I feel like I can be a good starting goalie in this league. Kind of going through that this year, it helped me a lot. It helped my confidence.
“I feel like physically and mentally, I was really as fresh as I can be and kind of went through it without any difficulty, so I think that gives me confidence for next year too.”
