Levi, Sabres goalie prospect, facing bigger expectations at Northeastern

BUFFALO — Devon Levi is returning for his third season at Northeastern University with his sights set on maintaining success under the weight of heightened expectations.

The Buffalo Sabres goalie prospect didn’t play in 2020-21 because of an injury, but sparkled last season, when he won the Mike Richter Award as the top goalie in NCAA men’s hockey.

“I’m going to treat it like it was last year,” Levi said during Sabres development camp in July. “I still have a lot to prove. I definitely think I have more to give. … I want to get better. I want to do better, and obviously be mindful of not putting too much pressure on myself where I have to carry the whole team.”

Last season he set a Northeastern record with 10 shutouts and led the NCAA with a .952 save percentage in helping the Huskies to their first Hockey East regular-season title. He was named the NCAA Rookie of the Year and Hockey East Goaltender of the Year, and was a top-10 finalist in voting for the Hobey Baker Award, given to the top player in men’s NCAA Division I ice hockey, after finishing 21-10-1 with a 1.54 goals-against average in 32 games.

“It’s an additional challenge that you’re going to face at the pro level, for sure,” the 20-year-old said. “You play so many seasons that coming off a good season, how are you going to do it again? That’s the question. A lot of people have a hard time with that. It’s easy to get caught up in thinking you’re the best and you came off a really good season and trying to manage expectations. So I’m really looking forward to going into that challenge and managing it and learning how to do it.”

Mike Condon, his goaltending coach at Northeastern, will be there to help. The former NHL goalie didn’t know much about his pupil before taking the job before last season. But he was familiar with Levi’s play at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship, where Levi had a .964 save percentage in seven games for Canada to break the tournament record held by Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price (.961 for Canada in 2007). Condon also had heard NHL players Levi has skated with in the offseason speak very highly of him.

“He came as advertised, if not more,” Condon said. “I’ve never really seen anybody play like the way he played last year.”

When the two of them first connected, Levi was already eager to learn, armed with notes and a fervent curiosity, very receptive to whatever his goalie coach would throw his way.

“He knows what he has to do,” Condon said. “He knows how far he…