Leinonen, Sabres talent, uses new opportunity after injury

BUFFALO — The last two years have not been easy for Buffalo Sabres rookie goalie Topias Leinonen. But now he is healthy again and has a new opportunity ahead of him. He is ready to take the next step.

Injuries and lack of playing time when healthy have hampered the 20-year-old's development path; since being selected by the Sabres in the second round (No. 41) of the 2022 NHL Draft, he has been limited to 59 games (regular season and playoffs), including international games.

Of the 40 games he played in 2022–23, 23 were with JYP's U20 team in Finland. Last season, he played a total of 19 games: 11 with JYP U20 (four in the regular season, seven in the playoffs), six with JYP's men's team in Liiga, Finland's top professional league, and two with KeuPa HT in Mestis, the country's second-highest league.

“He handled it well,” said Seamus Kotyk, Buffalo's goaltender development coach. “It was a bit of a balancing act, but he did it. And now we are happy and optimistic that his new team in Sweden is exactly the right fit for him and exactly what he needs.”

This season, Leinonen (1.95 m, 102 kg) will take his talent to Mora, a team in Allsvenskan, Sweden's second highest league, where he will have the chance to secure the first place and compete for that position against another young goalkeeper.

“I think this is a good choice for me,” he said during the Sabres' development camp in July. “I want to play a lot and that's important right now.”

It was Leinonen's third development camp with Buffalo, but the first in which he was able to fully participate from start to finish. For some in the organization, it was the first time they were able to see him in action.

He was injured on the first day of his first camp in 2022, and last summer he suffered a stress fracture in his ankle that kept him off the ice for the entire duration of camp.

Leinonen's injury problems are reminiscent of what fellow Finnish-born Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen went through early in his career after being signed. The two, who also have similar physiques, have spoken a few times, including during development camp when Buffalo had Luukkonen appear via Zoom to talk to all the goalies in attendance.

Among the topics Luukkonen addressed was how to deal with adversity.

“It's good for me to hear what he thinks and things like that,” Leinonen said. “… It's good for me and I hope I can talk to him (more).”

Leinonen said Luukkonen is one of several goalies he enjoys watching, along with Thatcher Demko of the Vancouver Canucks and Pekka Rinne, formerly of the Nashville Predators. Leinonen grew up watching his father, Tero, who had a long professional career as a goalie, mostly in Finland, and that's why he plays the position.

With few games to see, the Sabres have also had to rely on evaluating Leinonen at practice to get a sense of what stage of development he is at. And despite the obstacles, they have seen progress.

“He was getting faster,” Kotyk said. “I saw his body just look different at times. I saw a lot of different things that are hard to measure from a statistical standpoint, but that's where I was trying to measure his growth.”

Leinonen's game was characterized by size and agility, which is exactly what Buffalo looks for in a goalie of his stature.

“He has the ability to develop the stubbornness needed to be good,” Kotyk said. “Now he's just trying to refine all the details and improve his game.”

This includes finding consistency, improving his physical condition and working on his movements in the goal area.

Now, with Mora, the door is open for Leinonen.

“They see optimism in him, similar to what we do,” Kotyk said. “But they also know he needs a lot of training and needs to make bigger steps off the ice that will help him on the ice.”

“I think they see it that way. That's what I want for him this year. Everyone knows, there's no denying it – he needs to play hockey this year and he needs to play games.”