The Buffalo Sabres have been stockpiling draft picks and high-end prospects for the better part of 15 years as they have been through multiple rebuilds and a 13-year playoff drought. In doing so, they have amassed one of the best prospect pools in the NHL and can boast some stellar depth in every position from down the middle, all the way to between the pipes. They have so many top-end talents that they have even used some of them to make some trades for roster players recently. Despite that, they still have some of the best prospects in the NHL.
This list will examine the prospects that the Sabres have which have not played more than 20 games in the NHL, as it leaves more room to discuss the players without NHL experience. This means players like Devon Levi, Zach Benson, and Ryan Johnson will be left off, as they all have played significant time in the NHL to this point. With that being said, these are the top 10 Sabres prospects going into the 2024-25 season.
10. Vsevolod Komarov, Defense
Vsevolod Komarov was a fifth-round pick of the Sabres in the 2022 Draft, and since his draft day, he has done nothing but improve. The right-handed shooter became a much more complete defender than the clunky offense-first style defender he was, and he rounded out his game to score in a much more transitionary way. He is an excellent skater, and has learned to be a more cerebral player compared to his draft year. His improvements even saw him win Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) Defenseman of the Year honors this past season as he led all QMJHL defensemen with 55 assists and 69 points. On top of that, he was a staggering plus-47. This coming season, he will likely be headed to Rochester for the next stage of development on his path to the NHL. Komarov is a rising prospect for the Sabres, and is an underrated one to keep an eye on.
9. Adam Kleber, Defense
It never hurts to add more defensemen to your prospect pool; especially when one of those defensemen is a 6-foot-6, 214-pound shutdown hulk named Adam Kleber. Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams made a huge move in the 2024 second round when he picked up Kleber and bolstered his defense pool and added another right-handed shooter to the fold. The massive defender is not very offensively gifted, but he can contribute as he scored five goals and 26 points in 56 games for the Lincoln Stars of the United States Hockey League (USHL). His gifts lie more in his positioning and physical play, and that is something worth developing on the Sabres’ end for sure. They don’t need more defenders that can jump up in the rush all the time, and Kleber fits the bill of what a future shutdown defender can be. He is currently committed to playing for the University of Minnesota-Duluth, and that’s where he will play for the foreseeable future.
8. Brodie Ziemer, Right Wing
Brodie Ziemer was the Sabres’ third-round pick in the 2024 Draft, and he was arguably one of the biggest steals for them in that position. He is a strong leader at a young age as he was captain of the US National Development Team, and he possesses all the right skills and strengths to make him a future NHL regular. He is a stocky 5-foot-11, 196-pound player that has a nose for the net, and he has a motor that just does not stop. Watching him play is reminiscent of Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Hyman, and he plays with a tenacity that many fans would foam at the mouth to see on the Sabres right now.
He scored 27 goals and 70 points in 61 games for the US U18 team, so balance in scoring is the name of his game. As a right-handed shooting winger, he fills a gap on the wing that the Sabres will eventually have long-term. He is definitely a few years away from making it to the NHL, and he is currently committed to the University of Minnesota for the 2024-25 season, but seeing him in a Sabres uniform is an inevitability as he has the perfect mentality and skill set to be a part of this team.
7. Victor Neuchev, Left Wing
Probably the biggest surprise to see on this list as I have not put him on any of my prior rankings, but with his steady development, along with his stellar season in Rochester, Victor Neuchev has earned his spot here. He was a third-round pick of the Sabres in 2022 and was touted as a raw goal scorer with not much else to his game when they picked him. Since then, he has learned to play much more responsibly and still find ways to capitalize on scoring chances when they come about for him.
His shot is still his best asset, by far. He can shoot the puck with a quick release, and it has a heaviness to it that only pure goal scorers have. Last season he played 57 games with Rochester and finished with a respectable 11 goals and 28 points along with only eight penalty minutes and was a plus-10. His growth in the past couple of seasons is spectacular and it would not be shocking to see him get some more ice time this season, or even a call-up opportunity in the next season or two.
6. Maxim Strbak, Defense
Maxim Strbak was a second-round pick by the Sabres in 2023 and is a right-handed shooting defender with a great two-way mind. He leans more toward the defensive side of the puck and will not dazzle you offensively with every play, but he has smooth hands and is a solid skater that can get the puck up ice in any way possible. He can do it himself on a rush, or move it with efficiency from his own end with crisp and accurate passes, and while that kind of defender may go unnoticed, he still has tremendous value. In his time last season at Michigan State University, he played 32 games while scoring two goals and nine points; numbers that won’t fly off the page at you, but he gets the job done well. He is committed to playing there for the coming season as well, and likely won’t see NHL action for some time, but when the time comes, he, Kleber, and Komarov will be fighting for a spot.
5. Anton Wahlberg, Center
Another second-round pick in 2023, Anton Wahlberg is a 6-foot-3, 196-pound center with a power-forward mentality through and through. He has strength with the puck, a willingness to drive to the net, and underrated playmaking ability that reminds me of former Sabre Paul Gaustad in a few ways. Wahlberg has much more speed than him, but his ability to hold on to the puck and force opponents to beat him off of it before giving it up is a quality that will eventually earn him a chance in the NHL.
Last season he played a nine-game stint with the Americans and scored one goal and four points, and before that, he put up five goals and 10 points in 43 games while he was on loan to the Malmo Redhawks of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He is poised to play all season in Rochester in 2024-25 and grow his game there, so his path to NHL playing time is closer than some might think.
4. Noah Ostlund, Center
Noah Ostlund is a first-round pick (16th overall) from 2022 which was part of the Sabres’ return in the Jack Eichel trade and this season marks the first time he will be on North American soil for a full season. He spent last season on loan to the Vaxjo Lakers HC of the SHL and he did quite well scoring 12 goals and 23 points in 38 games before coming to play two games for Rochester and putting up a single assist. Where Ostlund thrives is in his skating ability, along with his playmaking. I have long compared him to Washington Capitals forward Nick Backstrom due to his ability to take over a play with his skating, and then dish the puck to a teammate at the perfect time, or finish a play off sheer will if he decided to. His finishing ability is underrated for sure, and it will be exciting to see what he can do in his first pro season with the Americans. He will have some stiff competition going forward to crack the NHL lineup, but he offers a lot of value as one of their top prospects.
3. Isak Rosen, Left Wing
Isak Rosen has climbed this list slowly but surely as he has rubbed off some of the rust in his early development years. While in Rochester, he has shown his ability to be a dominant scoring player, and a very capable playmaking winger on any given night. Because of this, he was given a chance to play a few games in Buffalo last season where he scored zero points and averaged just under nine minutes of ice time. His role was different, so judging his NHL stint does not seem fair for his scoring touch just yet, but gameplay-wise, it showed he is not up to speed. For right now, he is in the right place, and he is a solid player as he scored 20 goals and 50 points in 67 games last season. He will likely be one of the Sabres’ top call-up options during the year if injuries happen. Rosen has a great shot, good skating ability, and some very good senses, but he may be the odd man out in regard to depth at his position. This does not diminish his skill or his value, but it does mean that he could be a valuable trade piece for Adams in the future.
2. Jiri Kulich, Center/Left Wing
The Sabres really got a steal with the 28th overall pick in the 2022 Draft when they selected Jiri Kulich, and since he was taken by them, he has been nothing short of exciting. A dynamic scorer at his core, he possesses all the right pieces to be a top-six scoring winger in the NHL by the time he comes into his own. In his first season with the Americans in 2022-23 he scored 24 goals and 46 points in 62 games, and then followed that up with 27 goals and 45 points in 57 games in 2023-24. His goal scoring earned him a single-game call-up to the NHL where he scored zero points with limited ice time, but expect him to be one of the top two options if he does not make the NHL roster in 2024-25.
Isak Rosen and Jiri Kulich of the Rochester Americans (Photo by Micheline Veluvolu)
Kulich’s development has been steady and he has been very patient. He has shown that he can be adaptable to play both the center and wing position, and that he can play well at both ends of the ice despite his goal-scoring mentality. He, alongside Rosen, have been a dynamic pair, and seeing what they can do together has been something special. His best asset still remains to be his shot; more specifically his one-timer as he can be in nearly any position and let a rocket go to put one past goaltenders in the American Hockey League (AHL). It is only a matter of time before he starts doing so to NHL goalies.
1. Konsta Helenius, Center
In the most recent draft in 2024, the Sabres made a big splash when they selected Finnish center Konsta Helenius with the 14th overall pick. He was touted as a top-ten caliber prospect in the draft and he fell to the Sabres at 14, and with everything he brings to the table, he very narrowly edges out Kulich for the number one prospect spot on this list. Helenius is a high-end two-way playmaking center with an underrated level of physicality that will translate to the NHL very easily. Where many others on this list are multiple years away from playing on the Sabres roster, Helenius could make his way there right out of training camp if he plays things right. He can read plays, win faceoffs, and outwork nearly any player that he comes into contact with despite his modest 5-foot-11, 190-pound frame.
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Last season while playing in the Liiga with Jukurit, he scored 14 goals and 36 points in 51 games as an 18-year-old. In a league filled with grown men, he was putting up pro-level numbers, and because of that, he will at the very least be playing in North America in some capacity this season; whether that is with the Sabres or Americans will be up to him. Helenius has outstanding vision and a pro-level shot already, so even if both he and Kulich do not make the Sabres roster right out of the gate, they will be a powerful pairing in Rochester for sure.
Sabres Have Time To Be Patient
The way that the Sabres’ roster is currently built, they do not need to rush any of these prospects to the NHL any time soon. However, some of them will be ready sooner than later, and will need to be given an opportunity, or they will need to be traded in order to allow them to grow in their careers. Players like Helenius, Rosen, Kulich, and even Ostlund will not need much longer in the minors before the NHL calls their name, but as for the rest of them, the Sabres can let them develop slowly as their futures take hold. The future still looks very bright with a group this talented, and with how balanced it is from the top down, there is a lot to look forward to with all of these young players.
