Oilers complete trade with the Sabres involving a goaltender

That is not a roster fill - that is a near-free asset.

Bowman upgraded a 2028 third-round selection to a seventh-rounder and received a 24-year-old netminder with 120 AHL games, a .914 career save percentage in the minors, and legitimate trade value.

The return alone makes this less a crease fix and more an asset move dressed as roster management.

Levi arrived in Buffalo in July 2021 as part of the Sam Reinhart deal with the Florida Panthers.

The Sabres held him for five full seasons, watched him earn an AHL All-Star nod, and moved him for a pick upgrade.

That return signals exactly how Buffalo valued him internally - not as a future NHL starter, but as organizational depth with no path to the roster.

Edmonton recognized the gap between Levi's market value and Buffalo's asking price and acted immediately.

Tristan Jarry posted a .858 save percentage across 19 games last season, a genuinely alarming number for a Stanley Cup contender.

Levi, whose NHL career save percentage sits at .894 across 36 starts, is not the fix.

He is not an NHL starter yet, and the Oilers went into this trade knowing that.

Rumors linking Darnell Nurse to Nashville and a potential defensive return remain active heading into free agency.

A move of that scope typically demands a useful NHL-ready player going back the other way.

Levi, acquired for draft pick lint, just became that player. Bowman did not fix the crease today - he quietly gave himself a piece to fix it on the next move.

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