Devon Levi Vs Dustin Wolf going forward?

[yzerman]

Which goalie do you take for the future?

Click to read more...

 

[Bgav]

Goalies are voodoo. Could go either way

 

[Fig]

Already have Wolf so I'll stick with the one we know. Both are close though.

I'm more interested in wondering how people would think a Levi/Wolf tandem would do against Knight/Askarov tandem. (1st round vs 7th round goalies of the 2019 and 2020 drafts)

 

[InfinityIggy]

Voting for Wolf, not because I am a homer but because I am an optimist.

 

[biturbo19]

I worry a fair bit about Levi's size, or relative lack thereof. It's the big question with him and his early returns haven't shown that he can completely overcome that thus far. But then, Wolf is also a similarly smaller goaltender...and i think Levi has the better movement skills and reactions to eventually polish that concern out. Wolf always looks a lot less fluid and athletic to me, but at every level...he's stopped a ton of pucks that way.


The bigger factor at this point, might actually just be the fact that Wolf is in a much better developmental situation. Behind Markstrom, he's got time and won't have to be rushed. Whereas Levi has been completely thrown to the wolves (pun intended). Just dumping him in behind a very porous defensive team and asking him to carry the mail seemed like a terrible idea at the time, and seems to have gone pretty terribly thus far. You always want some sort of insurance policy that can allow a rookie goaltender to find their footing without the whole team's fate riding on it most nights. Buffalo haven't provided that whatsoever and it's the sort of thing that can permanently break a goaltenders psyche...or at least take a very long rehabilitation stint down in the AHL to recover.


Markstrom himself is a guy who i think fell into this. So now, having a guy like that to shelter and help mentor Wolf...that's a potentially huge advantage going forward.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

I worry a fair bit about Levi's size, or relative lack thereof. It's the big question with him and his early returns haven't shown that he can completely overcome that thus far. But then, Wolf is also a similarly smaller goaltender...and i think Levi has the better movement skills and reactions to eventually polish that concern out. Wolf always looks a lot less fluid and athletic to me, but at every level...he's stopped a ton of pucks that way.


The bigger factor at this point, might actually just be the fact that Wolf is in a much better developmental situation. Behind Markstrom, he's got time and won't have to be rushed. Whereas Levi has been completely thrown to the wolves (pun intended). Just dumping him in behind a very porous defensive team and asking him to carry the mail seemed like a terrible idea at the time, and seems to have gone pretty terribly thus far. You always want some sort of insurance policy that can allow a rookie goaltender to find their footing without the whole team's fate riding on it most nights. Buffalo haven't provided that whatsoever and it's the sort of thing that can permanently break a goaltenders psyche...or at least take a very long rehabilitation stint down in the AHL to recover.


Markstrom himself is a guy who i think fell into this. So now, having a guy like that to shelter and help mentor Wolf...that's a potentially huge advantage going forward.

If you don’t think Wolf looks fluid/has good movement I question if you’re ever actually watched him. He’s a human goalie instructional video.

 

[Bounces R Way]

I like both of them but give me the guy who has already dominated at the pro level.

 

[biturbo19]

If you don’t think Wolf looks fluid/has good movement I question if you’re ever actually watched him. He’s a human goalie instructional video.

That's partially the point though, isn't it? I find him less fluid than Levi. More robotic, procedural. Not in that way that someone like Price was basically a human textbook illustration. More in that it's like a series of independent technically executed movements, not always strung together smoothly. Sometimes Wolf even looks kind of jerky and lungey to me. Looking at him, i've always thought he plays like a much bigger goaltender. Not in the sense of "looks bigger in the net", but more...he moves the way a bigger goaltender would.

But that's just my impression. It's ridiculous to default to, "different opinion must not have watched the guy".

 

[Three On Zero]

Voting for Wolf simply because Levi has been ass

 

[Xspyrit]

I'd like to hear one argument for Levi over Wolf...

We don't know how it's going to end but as of now, Wolf is more likely to succeed

 

[biturbo19]

I'd like to hear one argument for Levi over Wolf...

We don't know how it's going to end but as of now, Wolf is more likely to succeed

I mean, that's the crux of the argument. Half a dozen to just barely over a dozen NHL games does not a career make. That's not even really a trajectory.


I think it's fair to be concerned about the situation Levi has be parachuted into and what that can do to a developing goaltender's psyche. But there have been plenty of terrific goaltenders who had rough starts, and plenty who got a handful of great games in, before entirely falling off the map.

It's just ludicrous to be judging this based on things like, "Devon Levi has been terrible" when you're talking about like a dozen games in a bad, rushed situation.



Cory Schneider comes to mind as a prescient example of a guy who was rushed to the NHL due to circumstances and in his first 8-10 games, he was statistically hot garbage. But if you actually watched the games, you could see that it was a case of still being in the process of reining things in and refining and polishing his process. After which, he came back and posted some absolute elite Vezina caliber SV% numbers that legitimately pushed aside a HoF netminder still reasonably within his late prime years.

Goaltenders are volatile as heck to begin with. Especially young ones. Wild to make declarative proclamations this early for either.

 

[Stive Morgan]

Wolf but you can't really go wrong with either.

 

[Fig]

I worry a fair bit about Levi's size, or relative lack thereof. It's the big question with him and his early returns haven't shown that he can completely overcome that thus far. But then, Wolf is also a similarly smaller goaltender...and i think Levi has the better movement skills and reactions to eventually polish that concern out. Wolf always looks a lot less fluid and athletic to me, but at every level...he's stopped a ton of pucks that way.


The bigger factor at this point, might actually just be the fact that Wolf is in a much better developmental situation. Behind Markstrom, he's got time and won't have to be rushed. Whereas Levi has been completely thrown to the wolves (pun intended). Just dumping him in behind a very porous defensive team and asking him to carry the mail seemed like a terrible idea at the time, and seems to have gone pretty terribly thus far. You always want some sort of insurance policy that can allow a rookie goaltender to find their footing without the whole team's fate riding on it most nights. Buffalo haven't provided that whatsoever and it's the sort of thing that can permanently break a goaltenders psyche...or at least take a very long rehabilitation stint down in the AHL to recover.


Markstrom himself is a guy who i think fell into this. So now, having a guy like that to shelter and help mentor Wolf...that's a potentially huge advantage going forward.

I feel like we're looking at the same actions, but differing conclusions. I think Wolf is "less fluid" in the sense that he seemingly moves a lot less or relies a lot less on athletic and reaction to snag a puck or block it. He seems less flashy than Levi because of this, but it's a foundationally sound approach as a goalie.

IMO when I watch him, it's because he makes a lot more minor adjustments a lot earlier and thus is is position and more square a bit earlier. That might make it look less fluid because it's a lot more adjustments than one or two movements to glide into position. This then requires him to do a lot less wider movements and athletic moves to try to make a save than Levi which might seem more robotic. What I've noticed on occasion is that I'm used to seeing a goalie make 2-3 side steps to adjust his position to be more square with a shooter. Wolf I've seen as many as 4-6, and the only way to do that to read the play and begin anticipating the play sooner. This is also a little more apparent when uses his catcher on occasion. He's not looking at his catcher like a lot of other goalies. He snags it often without looking at his catcher in a manner that reminds me of baseball, almost like he knows exactly where his catcher is and whether the puck trajectory with make the puck land right into his glove. After snagging the puck, his eyes are occasionally still scanning the ice for plays perhaps in anticipation of rebounds and perhaps self preservation (ie: other players who might fall on him).

I feel like we're seeing similar things. Levi I think is also relatively positionally sound, but Wolf is a little ahead of him in that aspect of his game. I find most of the other facets relatively close with similar calibre ceilings. Wolf seems a little bit more NHL ready because his positioning is more refined and he doesn't have to primarily rely on his other athletic and reactionary skillsets yet. But I feel like if Levi could also just randomly wake up one morning and figure it out and never look back as well.

 

[pegcity]

Justin Pogge

 

[La Bamba]

Unfortunately, I feel Calgary has a stud on their hands in Dustin Wolf. He has excelled his entire career despite his size

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

I'd like to hear one argument for Levi over Wolf...

We don't know how it's going to end but as of now, Wolf is more likely to succeed

I don't know how much difference in performance anyone can claim to see from them so far. But if you were looking for any argument no matter how thin, Goals Saved above expected would be the answer.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

I feel like we're looking at the same actions, but differing conclusions. I think Wolf is "less fluid" in the sense that he seemingly moves a lot less or relies a lot less on athletic and reaction to snag a puck or block it. He seems less flashy than Levi because of this, but it's a foundationally sound approach as a goalie.

IMO when I watch him, it's because he makes a lot more minor adjustments a lot earlier and thus is is position and more square a bit earlier. That might make it look less fluid because it's a lot more adjustments than one or two movements to glide into position. This then requires him to do a lot less wider movements and athletic moves to try to make a save than Levi which might seem more robotic. What I've noticed on occasion is that I'm used to seeing a goalie make 2-3 side steps to adjust his position to be more square with a shooter. Wolf I've seen as many as 4-6, and the only way to do that to read the play and begin anticipating the play sooner. This is also a little more apparent when uses his catcher on occasion. He's not looking at his catcher like a lot of other goalies. He snags it often without looking at his catcher in a manner that reminds me of baseball, almost like he knows exactly where his catcher is and whether the puck trajectory with make the puck land right into his glove. After snagging the puck, his eyes are occasionally still scanning the ice for plays perhaps in anticipation of rebounds and perhaps self preservation (ie: other players who might fall on him).

I feel like we're seeing similar things. Levi I think is also relatively positionally sound, but Wolf is a little ahead of him in that aspect of his game. I find most of the other facets relatively close with similar calibre ceilings. Wolf seems a little bit more NHL ready because his positioning is more refined and he doesn't have to primarily rely on his other athletic and reactionary skillsets yet. But I feel like if Levi could also just randomly wake up one morning and figure it out and never look back as well.

The reason Wolf looks like this imo, is that he reads the play so well, he is almost always square and set to the shooter, so theres no unnecessary movement.

 

[deleted user]

AwwWWooOo~~!

 

[biturbo19]

I feel like we're looking at the same actions, but differing conclusions. I think Wolf is "less fluid" in the sense that he seemingly moves a lot less or relies a lot less on athletic and reaction to snag a puck or block it. He seems less flashy than Levi because of this, but it's a foundationally sound approach as a goalie.

IMO when I watch him, it's because he makes a lot more minor adjustments a lot earlier and thus is is position and more square a bit earlier. That might make it look less fluid because it's a lot more adjustments than one or two movements to glide into position. This then requires him to do a lot less wider movements and athletic moves to try to make a save than Levi which might seem more robotic. What I've noticed on occasion is that I'm used to seeing a goalie make 2-3 side steps to adjust his position to be more square with a shooter. Wolf I've seen as many as 4-6, and the only way to do that to read the play and begin anticipating the play sooner. This is also a little more apparent when uses his catcher on occasion. He's not looking at his catcher like a lot of other goalies. He snags it often without looking at his catcher in a manner that reminds me of baseball, almost like he knows exactly where his catcher is and whether the puck trajectory with make the puck land right into his glove. After snagging the puck, his eyes are occasionally still scanning the ice for plays perhaps in anticipation of rebounds and perhaps self preservation (ie: other players who might fall on him).

I feel like we're seeing similar things. Levi I think is also relatively positionally sound, but Wolf is a little ahead of him in that aspect of his game. I find most of the other facets relatively close with similar calibre ceilings. Wolf seems a little bit more NHL ready because his positioning is more refined and he doesn't have to primarily rely on his other athletic and reactionary skillsets yet. But I feel like if Levi could also just randomly wake up one morning and figure it out and never look back as well.

Yeah. I think ultimately, it's just different ways of looking at the same thing.

I think the better contrast than Levi, would actually be Carter Hart. He's also a "smaller" goalie, who has pretty textbook mechanics. But i find him a lot more smooth and fluid in net. His movements are just a lot less choppy and segmented to me. It's elegant and very strung together. A lot less of those little microcorrections. The movement just flows fluidly with the play and reading what's going on. The anticipation to make one big push and set, rather than half a dozen little ones.

I mean...at the end of the day, what Wolf does...works. And like i said, he's stopped a billion pucks at every level that way. It's just not as smooth and "natural" feeling as someone like Hart. Or even Levi in this comparison.

 

[Fig]

Yeah. I think ultimately, it's just different ways of looking at the same thing.

I think the better contrast than Levi, would actually be Carter Hart. He's also a "smaller" goalie, who has pretty textbook mechanics. But i find him a lot more smooth and fluid in net. His movements are just a lot less choppy and segmented to me. It's elegant and very strung together. A lot less of those little microcorrections. The movement just flows fluidly with the play and reading what's going on. The anticipation to make one big push and set, rather than half a dozen little ones.

I mean...at the end of the day, what Wolf does...works. And like i said, he's stopped a billion pucks at every level that way. It's just not as smooth and "natural" feeling as someone like Hart. Or even Levi in this comparison.

Intentional bringing up Hart? Wolf backed up Hart in Everett.

 

[biturbo19]

Intentional bringing up Hart? Wolf backed up Hart in Everett.

Yes.

I think it's relevant. Maybe?

The two took the same coaching and they turned it into something a little bit different.

 

[Fig]

Yes.

I think it's relevant. Maybe?

The two took the same coaching and they turned it into something a little bit different.

I'll take your word for it. I admit, I've intended to do some viewings of Hart in a more detailed manner to compare to Wolf... but I never got around to doing so.

 

[gritdash60]

Neither, both suck

 

[yzerman]

Justin Pogge

Nah Trevor Kidd

 

[CanadianSniper]

Wolf is the better goalie IMO, but I think Levi plays and wins more games over the next few years. Calgary will be a worse team and Markstrom still starting. Levi has a much easier path to being the starter in Buffalo, and a more talented roster despite their results this year.