The Rochester Americans had finished practice for the day, but a few players and coaches stayed on the ice running shooting drills on goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

At 6-5, 220 pounds, Luukkonen is an NFL defensive end on skates, but 6-7 Tage Thompson, about the size of an NBA small forward, sure set a nice screen for him to work on tips and rebounds.

“It’s real nice to be back on the ice, with this team and having normal practices,’’ said Luukkonen, who finally left the ice 30 minutes after most of his teammates. “It’s been a long time, but practices have started for me so I’m really excited and looking forward to a game.’’

So are hockey fans eager to get a look at one of the hottest goaltending prospects to join the parent Buffalo Sabres organization in years.

Luukkonen, just 20 years old from Espoo, Finland, was a 2017 second-round NHL draft pick, the 54th selection overall. That’s the highest goaltender drafted by Buffalo since Sweden’s Jhonas Enroth was selected in the second round, 46th overall, in 2006.

In their 50-year history, the Sabres have drafted just four goaltenders in the first round: Bob Sauve (1975), Tom Barrasso (1983), Marty Biron (1995) and Mika Noronen (1997). Biron and Noronen, another Finnish goalie, starred in Rochester before launching their NHL careers.

The buzz over Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen – “UPL’’ for short – is understandable.

As a teenager, he shined on the world’s biggest stages, leading Team Finland to gold medals at the 2016 U18 and 2019 U20 World Junior Championships and a silver at the 2017 U18 event.

At the worlds last January in Vancouver, Luukkonen was 4-2-0 in six games with a 1.80-goals-against average and .932 save percentage, leading Finland past Team USA 3-2 in the final when he stopped 26 of 28 shots. One was a breakaway with 10 minutes to play on Jack Hughes, the No. 1 overall pick in last June’s draft by New Jersey, one of the tournament’s signature moments.

But beyond that, Luukkonen won Most Valuable Player honors in the Ontario Hockey League for leading Canada’s top junior league in wins (38) and shutouts (six), taking the Sudbury Wolves to the playoffs. He actually made his pro debut with the Amerks last April, stopping 32 of 34 shots in a victory at Belleville, before undergoing surgery to correct a nagging hip issue.

Six months of rehabilitation has him back on the ice and working himself into playing shape. He’s still a short time away from playing a game, but he’s getting close.

“It’s something that built up over time, a common injury with goalies,’’ Luukkonen said. “We decided to take care of it now and I’m just excited to be back. It was a slow process, but now I’m getting the right conditioning. We did a really good job with that in Buffalo (during training camp) and it’s helped to have the some of the same coaches here.’’

Luukkonen is under the watchful eyes of Sabres goaltending development coach Seamus Kotyk and Amerks interim head coach Gord Dineen.

“We’re easing him back into it, giving him some game-situational drills or putting him out with the full team, and just being very patient with him,’’ said Dineen, whose club, off to a 5-2-1-1 start, hosts Providence Wednesday and Binghamton Friday at Blue Cross Arena. “He’s done his work on the other side of it, off the ice with his rehab. Getting his health back, that’s priority No. 1.’’

At each stage of his career, UPL has delivered wins like UPS delivers packages.

Yes, he has great size. His butterfly extends from Exchange Street to the Genesee River. But Luukkonen is more than just a big man.

Thanks to Finland’s highly respected development model, he has impeccable technique, reflexes quick enough to steal your watch and put it back on before you’re missing it, and he controls rebounds like the Cookie Monster corralling a spilled package of Chips Ahoy.

As for the mental side of his position, one of the most challenging in sports, Luukkonen has proven time and again he can handle pressure with the best of them. Reminding scouts of the netminding heroes of his homeland, like Miikka Kiprusoff, Pekka Rinne and Tuukka Rask.

“I haven’t seen a ton of him, but right away what stands out is that he’s young, but he has come in here very confident,’’ Amerks veteran defenseman Zach Redmond said. “He’s obviously a huge body, takes up a lot of space and moves well. I haven’t seen a ton, like I said, but I can see what all the hype’s about.’’

Luukkonen has an older brother who played hockey and a twin brother whose preferred game was soccer.

“I was always a goalie,’’ he said. “But I also played soccer and several other sports and I think that really helps you develop (athletically). I guess it just came natural for me to be a goaltender, I never think too much about it.’’

Part of what’s natural is a calm demeanor.

“Yes, I do stay calm,’’ he said. “I think that’s a good trait for a goalie, not to let too much get to you.’’

Especially when the pressure is at its greatest, like representing your country in the biggest international hockey events. He was teammates with Henri Jokiharju, who has been a terrific addition to the Sabres’ defensive corps this season.

“Playing in front of big crowds, especially the world juniors, and knowing how much attention those tournaments get. The whole hockey world is watching,’’ Luukkonen said. “It’s a huge benefit for young players to learn to play in those tournaments.’’

Now he’s in the American Hockey League learning the pro ropes.

Unlike skaters, the majority of goaltenders take a much slower path to the NHL, and the AHL has been an excellent training ground. Current Sabre Linus Ullmark of Sweden, a sixth-round pick in 2012, put in three seasons as the Amerks’ workhorse. Ryan Miller, Buffalo’s career wins leader, also put in three seasons in Rochester.

Dineen said Luukkonen has the work ethic to understand that like Rome, goaltenders aren’t built in a day. He’s also still adjusting to a new culture.

“It’s our job to make sure we’re exposing him properly and that he’s developing as he should,’’ Dineen said. “His size, you can’t teach that, but he’s really got a lot of athletic ability and just hockey smarts where he reads the game well. That’s everything I’ve seen in the short window we’ve had him, and hearing last year, how he carried his team (in Sudbury) to another level.’’

When Luukkonen is ready to play, the Amerks and Sabres will have a decision to make regarding Sweden’s Jonas Johansson, another top prospect who is 13-8-2 with a 2.84 goals against average in parts of four seasons for Rochester. A third-round pick in 2014, Johansson, 23, has played two full seasons for the Cincinnati Cyclones, Buffalo’s ECHL affiliate. He’ll be a free agent in 2020.

Andrew Hammond, 31, a seven-year pro with 56 NHL starts, is Rochester’s veteran presence in net and the third goalie in the organizational pecking order behind Carter Hutton and Ullmark in Buffalo.

But having Johannson and Luukkonen in the system shows the care being given the goalie position by Sabres’ GM Jason Botterill.

For his part, Luukkonen isn’t looking too far ahead.

“Right now, it’s just getting on the ice, playing in the games soon and seeing how that goes and build from there,’’ he said. “It helped that I got to play one game here last year.''

Like many before him, the first of many on the road to the NHL.

LROTH@Gannett.com