Two Us. Two Ks. Five years.
The Buffalo Sabres have signed goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to a five-year contract with an AAV of $4.75 million, the team announced Wednesday evening.
Luukkonen was scheduled for an arbitration hearing next week, but that now won’t be necessary, as the Sabres have locked up the netminder for the seemingly long term.
The 25-year-old is coming off a year where he earned the starter’s spot in Buffalo, starting 51 games and appearing in 54 total over the course of the season. He went 27-22-4 with a .910 save percentage and 2.57 GAA while carrying the heaviest workload of his NHL career to date.
With 100 career NHL games under his belt, Luukkonen will look to once again solidify his spot as the starter in Buffalo, a position he’ll have to compete for, likely with Devon Levi.
Luukkonen was drafted 54th overal by Buffalo in 2017 with the 23rd overall selection.