feature image Devon Levi ProReads Jan 18 2025 Limiting Pass Options with Paddle Down and Slot Spin Shots

Different Cues Reading Slap Shot vs Wrist Shot

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Devon Levi continues to be among the American Hockey League leaders with a .916 save percentage and we didn’t want to waste any of his incredible insights from the Buffalo Sabres prospect from his time in the NHL, so it’s time for another Pro Reads from our extended sit down two summers ago and subsequent time together last summer. 

THE SEQUENCE

In this video review, Levi is facing the New Jers Devils and a delayed rush chance:

Devon Levi Pro Reads 12 Screencap 1
This is a bit of a hard play to isolate with Freeze Frames like the above because it starts with two Sabres defenders converging on a Devils player along the right boards just inside the blue line, right before this cross-ice pass to Nico Hischier inside the top of the left circle.

As Hischier collects this puck above, what are the primary threats Levi needs to consider?

Which one do you think is mostly likely to connect given his defensemen’s positioning?

We can’t see all of Levi in this freeze frame, but what do you think of his depth at this point?

THE SAVE

As you watch this all play out in the video below, ask yourself the same questions. Try to pause it at the exact point you know which threat is the one you need to worry about.

As the play transpired and the drop pass to a one-timer became the most obvious threat, what did you notice about how Levi’s approach shifted? What changes for you on a slap shot, which is becoming increasingly rare in the NHL, versus a wrist shot from there?

Did you spot any other parts of this sequence that allow him to make that glove save?

THE PRO READ

Now let’s hear from Levi on how he saw and managed this sequence:

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