The Buffalo Sabres and other NHL clubs will be getting some of their draftees signed to contracts as their clubs in the NCAA and Europe reach the end of their seasons. On Friday, the club signed goalie Topias Leinonen to a three-year entry-level contract that begins in 2025-26.
The Sabres selected Leinonen in the second round (41st overall) at the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal after choosing three centers in Matthew Savoie, Noah Ostlund and Jiri Kulich in the first round.
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Similar to fellow Finn Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, the 6’5″, 225 lb. netminder is the physical package that NHL clubs are looking for, but after putting up excellent numbers in Junior (2.28 GAA and .916 save percentage) and playing internationally for Finland at the Under-18’s in 2022, he struggled the next two seasons at the junior, second-level pro Mestis, and pro-level SM-Liiga with injuries and inconsistency.
The big 21-year-old played just eight games between his Liiga club (JyP) and KeuPa in the second-level Mestis league last season and opted to play in Sweden this year. That decision paid off for Leinonen, as he thrived with Mora IK as their primary starter in the second-level HockeyAllsvenskan, with a 13-10-0 record, 2.31 GAA, .910 save %, and four shutouts during the regular season, and played well in a six-game loss to Djurgarden in the first round of the playoffs.
Vilken räddning av Topias Leinonen 🤯 pic.twitter.com/kX2MuvndeK
— TV4 Hockey (@TV4_Hockey) March 18, 2025
Leinonen joins Luukkonen, Devon Levi, and 2023 draftee Scott Ratzlaff in the Sabres system, as well as unsigned prospect Ryerson Leenders in the club’s goaltending pipeline.
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