New Edmonton Oilers goalie Devon Levi has special connection to Roberto Luongo
It seems like one of the greatest goalies in NHL history thinks pretty highly of Devon Levi.
The 24-year-old Levi was traded to the Edmonton Oilers earlier this summer after spending the past six seasons in the Buffalo Sabres organization. Before that, however, he was a seventh-round draft selection of the Florida Panthers all the way back during the 2020 NHL draft.
He was actually the sixth-last player selected in his draft class, and it sounds like he was handpicked by Robert Luongo, who was coming off his first season working as a special assistant to the GM with the Panthers.
Levi revealed this connection during a 2023 episode on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast.
“Roberto was given the pick,” Levi said. “[Panthers GM] Bill Zito gave it to him and his brother, and he said, ‘Hey, do what you want with it,’ and so he chose me. I was his first pick.”
The Québécois goaltender didn’t spend a lot of time with Florida before being shipped off to the Sabres in a 2021 trade for Sam Reinhart. Levi told Spittin’ Chiclets that he was shocked to hear about the trade, but it was a phone call with Luongo after the deal was completed that really surprised him.
Luongo apparently felt so strongly about Levi that he was moved to tears when telling the young goaltender that he had been traded.
“Roberto Luongo gave me a call a little bit after, and, you know, he was a guy that I looked up to when I was a kid. He was the first NHL goalie that I met, and he was one of the reasons why I became a goalie,” Levi said.
“When he gave me the call, he was in tears, and it was just heartbreaking. He was heartbroken.”
There is something to be said about Levi’s game that it caused one of the NHL’s best to break down in tears after seeing him get traded. He has yet to make his mark in the major leagues, having toiled between the Sabres and the AHL’s Rochester Americans over recent years.
It does appear, however, that the Oilers will be giving him ample opportunity to snag a full-time NHL job this upcoming season. Levi will be part of a three-goalie rotation in Edmonton, sharing the crease with veteran netminders Frederik Andersen and Tristan Jarry.
If he can put together a good season, Levi could set himself up as Edmonton’s goalie of the future as soon as next season.