By Warren Kozireski —
It is getting more and more difficult to put the recent career of Northeastern freshman goaltender and Buffalo Sabres prospect Devon Levi into perspective. Among the many accomplishments for the just-turned 20-year-old:
- Had 29 stops in first collegiate game and shutout with a 4-0 win over Bentley Oct. 2
- First Northeastern goalie to have back-to-back shutouts to start a career
- Owns the Northeastern record for going 121:25 before giving up a goal to start a career
- Leads the nation with nine shutouts this season and is tied for the third most in one season in NCAA history
- Named to Team Canada for the 2020-21 U-20 World Juniors
- Named to Team Canada for the 2022 Olympics in China
- Named CJHL Player of the Year and CJHL MVP in leading Carleton Place to a title in 2019-20
- Named Hockey East Rookie of the Month in November and December
- Stands second nationally in save percentage (.951), third in goals against (1.54)
Many of the above accomplishments came after the Sabres traded for him from Florida along with a first-round selection in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft as part of the Sam Reinhardt deal. So, kudos are due to the Sabres scouting staff.
But sometimes the biggest accolades come from an opposing coaching staff as University of Connecticut head coach Mike Cavanaugh did following a late-February loss to Northeastern:
“Devon Levi stole the show,” Cavanaugh said. “I think that’s the most shots we’ve ever had since I’ve been here and a lot of them were quality shots. I liked the way our team played. Some nights you just gotta tip your cap to the goaltender on the other team.”
There has been a lot of cap-doffing in Levi’s direction over the past few months, but he brushes it off as business as usual.
“I’m just having fun; I wasn’t able to play last year in college so this year I’m taking every opportunity I get in the net to have fun and enjoy it and really not take it for granted,” Levi said in his first media interview since returning from the Olympics.
“I didn’t really have any expectations, I just try to come in and do as well as I can, however well that is, and just have fun doing it and whatever the result is the result is, but I am really focused on the process and improving every day. (I’ll) look back on it after the season and be able to connect the dots and see what worked and what didn’t and improve for next year.”
Watching Levi during a game is very much a Jekyll & Hyde experience. Fully focused and engaged from just before puck drop and at times stretching during media timeouts along with performing skating drills around his net between whistles. At other times he has one or both arms up on the crossbar as if he’s waiting for a buddy at a bus stop or skating to the corner and tapping the glass (always three times).
As for the trade… “I got four missed calls at like 1am from Bill Zito, the Florida Panthers General Manager. I was like ‘that’s weird, why is he calling me now.’ You can traded any time but you never really think it’s going to happen to you. So, it was a bit of a shock, but I’m super-happy with the place I landed and Buffalo has been unbelievable; I talked to their goalie development coach every week.”
Before heading to Northeastern, Levi had a lot of success with Carleton Place in the CCHL, a team that has had a track record of producing solid goaltenders such as Princeton senior Jeremy Forget, Union junior Connor Murphy, UMass-Lowell senior Sam Knoblauch and Levi.
“Our coach, Jason Clark (now head coach at Acadie-Bathurst Titan in the Quebec Major Junior League) was a great coach and it’s a good league so every night you’re going against good players. I learned a lot there and it was a year that I was able to focus on myself and my development, take the time to think about what I could improve on and what I’m doing well. That was a big development year for me.”
He was committed to the University of Vermont, but halfway through the season in Carleton Place, he switched to Northeastern.
And now Levi is among 77 players nominated for the 2022 Hobey Baker Award, given to college hockey’s top player. The top ten list will be released March 10, the Hobey Hat Trick final three announced March 31st and the award given at the Frozen Four in Boston April 8.
Not bad for a seventh-round selection in 2020 who, at 6’0” and 185 lb., doesn’t have the size many teams seek in goaltenders lately. But size and draft status don’t win hockey games—talent does.
(Northeastern Men’s Hockey Photo)
