- Luukkonen says he heard about the Hellebuyck trade rumors from his father
- The Sabres goalie posted a career-best 2.52 GAA in 35 games last season
- Read below for his full comments and what Buffalo’s crease looks like heading into camp
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen did not find out about the Connor Hellebuyck trade rumors from a reporter or an agent. His dad handled that part.
Buffalo’s goalie was asked at the NHL’s European Player Media Tour in Munich about the noise linking the Sabres to the three-time Vezina Trophy winner, and he did not pretend it went over his head.
“My dad told me about it,” Luukkonen told Tom Gulitti of NHL.com. “I don’t follow it too much. Of course, no hockey player is completely out of it, so I knew that it was going on, but in the end, I didn’t hear anything from my agent or anybody else either. So, I don’t know to what extent those (talks) went.”
Catch Luukkonen from the media tour in Munich:
Hellebuyck went public with his trade request last week and said he made it several months ago. Winnipeg and Buffalo talked plenty this summer, and those talks died over a single draft pick.
The 27-year-old has earned the right to shrug at it. Luukkonen went 22-9-3 with a career-best 2.52 goals-against average, a .910 save percentage and a shutout across 35 games while splitting the crease with Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis.
He pointed to the December firing of general manager Kevyn Adams as the moment the room snapped out of it. Buffalo was 11-14-4 at the time and looked headed for another lost year.
“When the GM gets fired everybody kind of realizes, ‘This is it, we have to change the way we do things or we really have to start winning now or next it’s the players who get traded,’” Luukkonen said.
What followed was an NHL-best 39-9-5 run, first place in the Atlantic Division at 109 points and a first playoff berth since 2011.
It ended one goal short of the Eastern Conference Final. Alex Newhook beat Luukkonen through a moving screen in overtime of Game 7, and the goalie has watched it back enough times to break it down himself.
“There’s a moving screen,” Luukkonen said. “You’re kind of too high on your stance, and then you have to react down on the puck. And you think that it’s coming up when it’s not.”
Camp opens later this month with the same three goalies Buffalo finished last season with. Luukkonen wants a bigger share of the starts.
