The Buffalo Sabres have signed goaltender Topias Leinonen to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced Friday. The deal will begin with the 2025-26 season.
Leinonen, 21, was chosen by the Sabres in the second round (41st overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft, making him the top goaltender selected that year.
The 6-foot-5 goaltender recently concluded his season with Mora IK of HockeyAllsvenskan, the second-tier pro league in Sweden. He thrived with a heavier workload than in seasons past, finishing with a .910 save percentage in 25 games.
Leinonen made the jump to Mora IK after spending prior seasons with JYP in Finland, where he had been limited to 12 games in 2023-24 due to injuries.
“The more games you play, the more confidence you get,” Sabres goaltending development coach Seamus Kotyk said in February. “How you play different scenarios and situations within a game, that’s where it's starting to improve and then at the same time, his mobility continues to get better, his athleticism gets better.
“There are so many different things that benefit from playing more games. So, this year helped him get back on track in the direction that he needed his career to go.”
Leinonen joins an organizational depth chart that also includes 2023 draft pick Scott Ratzlaff (who signed his entry-level contract in September) and Devon Levi (an AHL All-Star this season), all of whom are under the age of 24.
