Prospects Report | Levi embracing role with Amerks

Devon Levi was once a man confined to the walls of his hotel room in Edmonton, Alberta.

Leading up to the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship, Levi was quarantined twice: once during training camp after arriving from Northeastern University (NCAA), and again when the entire Team Canada group was quarantined due to Covid-19.

Levi spent a whole month in that room with his mind a persistent pinball machine of thoughts bouncing around. The mind can be a goalie’s worst enemy. It can be lonely standing on a blue island preceding a 6-by-4-foot net – but now, off the ice, Levi was fully alone.

Thus, Levi was presented with a choice: allow his mind to continue racing away as he prepared for the biggest opportunity of his career, or control it. He chose the latter and began a practice that’s become a catalyst of his career as he enters his third season with the Rochester Americans (AHL): meditation.

"It was a month there that I was just sitting in my room leading up to the tournament, so I was going a little crazy,” Levi said. “I would have lost my mind if I didn't start meditating. So, kind of fate [that] what happened just pushed me down that path. Thankful it did, because it's been a big part of my game.”

Levi’s “be where your feet are” mindset has him embracing his current job as starting goaltender of the Rochester Americans, a role in which he’s thrived since midway through the 2023-24 season.

The Sabres currently have three goalies at the NHL level: veteran Alex Lyon, Colten Ellis (recently claimed off waivers), and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who is nearing his return from a preseason injury.

Buffalo has remained steadfast in its belief in Levi even as the organization has shored up its depth at the position, with general manager Kevyn Adams and coach Lindy Ruff both having praised the goaltender’s approach during training camp.

“You’d never tell if he wasn’t handling it well,” Ruff said in September. “He’s just got that characteristic, and he’s got the attitude that he’s gonna be the hardest working guy, and he’s gonna go out and try to make every save. This game is all about competition. Whether it’s from one week to next, one year to next, you’re always competing. ... I think he relishes the competition. He believes in himself, and I think that’s one of the greatest gifts you can have.”

Levi signed a new two-year contract with the Sabres on July 31 and has thrived as one of the NHL’s premier goalie prospects since being acquired from Florida in 2021. He has a .922 save percentage and a 2.29 goals-against average through 69 career AHL games, earning a selection to the league’s All-Star Game last season.

He’s off to a strong start to 2025-26, having stopped 24 shots to win Rochester’s season opener against Toronto last Friday.

Rochester coach Michael Leone attributes Levi’s success to his mentality, adding that the goaltender made the most of his summer to improve small details in his game. Namely, he’s seen Levi become a more patient netminder.

“The more experience and the more games played you have, the more you're able to settle in mentally to games,” Levi said. “Trust that even if you don't get the outcome right now, right away, or you're not feeling your best, it'll come. You just keep doing the things that make you successful. Just having a poise like that, understanding that it takes trust, it takes time, I think is important for me. It helps me kind of just stay even keeled mentally.”

Levi directs a lot of credit toward his teammates and coaches in Rochester.

“An unbelievable group that I trust with my life,” he said. “Our D corps is awesome. I know that we could score. I know our coaching staff. Vinny [Prospal], [Nathan Paetsch], Leo [Leone], they're all giving their all and helping the boys as much as they can, leading the ship. It's easy to mentally be at peace when you know that the pieces around you are the right pieces, and you trust them and they trust you. I think that makes a team great.”

Levi can often be found between the circles or along the boards by the bench during media timeouts sitting with his pads pressed against the ice, his head slightly tilted downwards and oftentimes, his eyes closed.

It’s in these moments that his mediation takes form. A practice he started five years ago has allowed Levi to process the game quickly and play with full conviction, two key concepts as a goaltender.

“Just being able to settle in mentally, just understanding how you work, what you like, what makes you tick, understanding how to be aware of your mind and your thoughts and returning to the present moment (is) just an important skill to have.”

Player spotlight

Isak Rosen, F & Noah Ostlund, F (Rochester Americans, AHL)

The first-round pick tandem of Isak Rosen and Noah Ostlund shined for Rochester in its season-opening series, which ended in a split against the Toronto Marlies.

The Amerks opened the 2025-26 season with a 4-3 win, which featured two power-play goals from Rosen, both assisted by Ostlund.

Rosen and Ostlund each recorded an assist in the next game, a 4-1 loss.

Leone said the pair shined on the power play but noted that consistency is going to be a prevalent theme for each of their developments.

“Both of them have abilities to change the game with plays,” he said. “Not that they were bad or anything (in the second game), just we need them to be consistent night in and night out with the minutes that they're getting, regardless of who they're playing against, just a little bit more 5-on-5 ... just to take over the play and carry the game.”

Brodie Ziemer, F (Minnesota, NCAA)

Ziemer finished the 2024-25 season sixth among Big Ten freshmen after posting 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points.

The 2024 third-round selection is off to a fast start in 2025 with four points in four games, including three goals. Ziemer potted a pair in the season opener against Michigan Tech and scored against Boston College on Oct. 10.

Ziemer has the Golden Gophers ranked No. 13 in the USCHO poll and this weekend will face the eighth-ranked North Dakota Fighting Hawks in their storied rivalry. Minnesota and North Dakota will meet for the 300th time in a series that dates back to 1948.

Yevgeni Prokhorov, G (Dinamo-Shinnik Bobruysk, MHL)

Prokhorov was one of three Belarus products taken in the 2025 NHL Draft when he was selected in the seventh round by Buffalo.

Through Prokhorov’s first 10 games in the MHL, he is second in the league with a .947 save percentage and third amongst qualified goaltenders with a 1.50 goals-against average.

The 18-year-old Prokhorov has two shutouts and has allowed the third fewest total goals in the MHL. The 6-foot-3, 179-pound netminder has been consistent, with a save percentage over .900 in each of the last three seasons.