Sabres Prospect Pool 2025-26

[GASabresIUFAN]

Who are our current prospects?  My general rule is as long as the player is 24 and under and is waivers exempt he is considered a prospect.

In that context Benson (he is still waivers exempt despite 2 years in the NHL), Kulich, Kozak and Doan are still prospects.  Kulich, Doan and Kozak all also spent time in Rochester next season.   

I'm also going to restrict myself to guys I think have a legit shot at the NHL or at least being AAAA players. (Bold = 2025 draft pick)

Group 1:  Guys likely to (or should) start the year in the NHL - Levi, Doan, Kulich and Kozak

Group 2:  High end picks - Rosen, Helenius, Mrtka, Östlund,

Group 3: Maturing guys close to NHL ready - Novikov & Komarov

Group 4: early and middle round picks showing potential - Kleber, Ziemer, Osburn, Wahlberg, Strbak, McCarthy, Neuchev, Leinonen, Sardarian, Bedkowski, Kucharcik

Group 5: FA or Late round picks who have potential - Brunet, Leenders, Richard, Geary, Ratzlaff, Kopff, Meloche, Laberge, & Prokhorov

I'll add guys once drafted today.

Others Still in the system:  Ryan Johnson (31st - 2019), Kisakov (53rd - 2021), Polatpov (33rd  - 2021 - signed in RUS through 26/27), Miedema (109th in 2023), Nadeau (97th in 2021).

Edited Sunday at 03:04 AM by GASabresIUFAN

[St. Pete Gogolak]

Rosen is going to be five years out and still not a sniff of the big league?  

[bob_sauve28]

31 minutes ago, St. Pete Gogolak said:

Rosen is going to be five years out and still not a sniff of the big league?  

He doesn't really check any of the boxes making us harder to play against and better on defense 

[dudacek]

34 minutes ago, St. Pete Gogolak said:

Rosen is going to be five years out and still not a sniff of the big league?  

I think if Rosen is in the countdown to the end of his Sabre career.

If he isn’t thrown in to a trade this summer, he will go back to Europe next summer.

[GASabresIUFAN]

Rosen is the one obvious trade piece.  Östlund is next on the trade watch.  

[Turbo44]

2 hours ago, St. Pete Gogolak said:

Rosen is going to be five years out and still not a sniff of the big league?  

Not when your stat line in 15 nhl games is 0 goals, 1 assist, -6. Some guys are just AHL guys unfortunately....bad pick

[Big Guava]

6 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Who are our current prospects?  My general rule is as long as the player is 24 and under and is waivers exempt he is considered a prospect.

In that context Benson (he is still waivers exempt despite 2 years in the NHL), Kulich, Kozak and Doan are still prospects.  Kulich, Doan and Kozak all also spent time in Rochester next season.   

I'm also going to restrict myself to guys I think have a legit shot at the NHL or at least being AAAA players. 

Group 1:  Guys likely to (or should) start the year in the NHL - Levi, Doan, Kulich and Kozak

Group 2:  High end picks - Rosen, Helenius, Mrtka, Östlund,

Group 3: Maturing guys close to NHL ready - Novikov & Komarov

Group 4: early and middle round picks showing potential - Kleber, Ziemer, Osburn, Wahlberg, Strbak, McCarthy, Neuchev, Leinonen, Sardarian

Group 5: FA or Late round picks who have potential - Brunet, Leenders, Richard, Geary, Ratzlaff & Kopff

I'll add guys once drafted today.

Others Still in the system:  Ryan Johnson (31st - 2019), Kisakov (53rd - 2021), Polatpov (33rd  - 2021 - signed in RUS through 26/27), Miedema (109th in 2023), Nadeau (97th in 2021).

Johnson would likely be in group 1 or 2...he played quite a few games for the Sabres and looked decent most times.

5 hours ago, St. Pete Gogolak said:

Rosen is going to be five years out and still not a sniff of the big league?  

Someone they had on WGR talking hockey described Rosen as a "tweener". A player too good for the AHL but not good enough for the NHL.

[GASabresIUFAN]

On 6/28/2025 at 5:19 PM, Big Guava said:

Johnson would likely be in group 1 or 2...he played quite a few games for the Sabres and looked decent most times.

I don't think Johnson is in the Sabres plans.  Even with our terrible D last season, the Sabres only gave him 3 games.  To make matters worse for him the Sabres have acquired since the deadline JBD, Kesselring and Timmins, re-sign Byron and have Dahlin, Power and Samuelsson under big contracts.  At best he's 8th D, but I think Novikov and Komarov are ahead of him on the Sabres internal depth chart.  

 

Edited Tuesday at 02:22 PM by GASabresIUFAN

[GASabresIUFAN]

I've update the op to reflect the 2025 draft.  

 

[Taro T]

On 6/28/2025 at 12:13 PM, GASabresIUFAN said:

Rosen is the one obvious trade piece.  Östlund is next on the trade watch.  

Would say Östlund is the obvious trade piece.  He still likely has value around the league but Helenius is the better prospect now and the Sabres would be loathe to part with him; Noah not as much IMHO.  (And Noah still might pan out as an NHLer.)

Rosen only gets added as a trade piece if somebody needs SOMETHING, ANYTHING else other than a 6th or 7th round draft pick coming back.  Yes, Buffalo would love to deal him; but somebody has to actually WANT him using up one of their 50 slots in order for them to successfully do so.

Hope for his sake, somebody really doesn't want Adams throwing in a 7th to balance everything out.

[Turbo44]

Rosen and his 0G, 1A -6 in 25 nhl games doesn’t have gm’s salivating

his AHL numbers are okay but nothing great

he’s just a partial wiff of a 1st rd pick ….it happens

[Archie Lee]

15 hours ago, Turbo44 said:

Rosen and his 0G, 1A -6 in 25 nhl games doesn’t have gm’s salivating

his AHL numbers are okay but nothing great

he’s just a partial wiff of a 1st rd pick ….it happens

15 games, not 25. Rosen’s most common linemates in the NHL?  The likes of Tyson Jost, Brandon Biro, fellow rookies Kozak and Östlund. 

Contrast that with Mackie Samoskevich in Florida. Same draft as Rosen. Similar AHL #’s. Similar size. He breaks in with Florida last year because the panthers are up against the cap and NEED a rookie on an entry level contract. He gets 31 points in 72 games this past year. His most common linemate? Conn Smythe winner Sam Bennett. 

If they Sabres were a serious NHL team, Rosen would play on the 3rd line this year with McLeod and Zucker or Greenway.  And he would put up 30-35 points and nobody would think he was a complete bust. But, the Sabres are not a serious NHL team and they are failing Rosen, who is likely to rot on the vine. 
 

 

Edited Tuesday at 02:08 PM by Archie Lee

[WhenWillItEnd66]

Sad that Johnson seemed to fall through the Sabres cracks. He played well when called up and held his own defensively! He could be a good trade piece.

[Mr. MVP]

23 hours ago, Taro T said:

Would say Östlund is the obvious trade piece.  He still likely has value around the league but Helenius is the better prospect now and the Sabres would be loathe to part with him; Noah not as much IMHO.  (And Noah still might pan out as an NHLer.)

Rosen only gets added as a trade piece if somebody needs SOMETHING, ANYTHING else other than a 6th or 7th round draft pick coming back.  Yes, Buffalo would love to deal him; but somebody has to actually WANT him using up one of their 50 slots in order for them to successfully do so.

Hope for his sake, somebody really doesn't want Adams throwing in a 7th to balance everything out.

Rosen has to be worth more than a 6th round pick.  You’re underestimating his value. 
And I don’t think Östlund is that far behind Helenius.  I think those two are going to battle it out the next two years to see who will get what spot on the Sabres. 

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, Mr. MVP said:

Rosen has to be worth more than a 6th round pick.  You’re underestimating his value. 
And I don’t think Östlund is that far behind Helenius.  I think those two are going to battle it out the next two years to see who will get what spot on the Sabres. 

Personally like Östlund (not as much as Helenius, but like him), but if a team is looking for an F prospect either he or Wahlberg is the guy I'd expect the Sabres to be willing to reluctantly part with that would actually be asked for by another team.  Want the Sabres to treat Helenius like the Blues treated Thomas.  You aren't offering us a good enough player for us to let you pry him from our clutches.  (Now if you'd offer us X instead, for that exact same package but with Helenius included instead of other prospect THEN we might be able to find a deal; but X better be who's coming back to us.)

Can't see anybody targeting Rosen.  And he could surprise and become a legit middle 6er.  But based when he's done so far, don't see anybody clamboring for him.

[LGR4GM]

There's not a ton of forward talent in the pipeline these days. Since 2022, Buffalo has selected 8 forwards with picks that hold some type of value (1-3 rounds) and 5 defenders. If we go 2023-2025 that changes to 4 forwards and 5 defenders with those picks. 

The 2026 draft will need to focus on re-stocking a forward pipeline that is headlined by Helenius (1st) and... idk Östlund (1st) I guess? Wahlberg (2nd) maybe? Ziemer (3rd) looks good. While it has enough RHD to sink a small boat in Mrtka (1st), Kleber (2nd), Strbak (2nd), McCarthy (3rd), Bedkowski (3rd). 

Before you counter this remember we have 2 first overall defenders on the team as well. On top of that you need 3 RHD total on the NHL roster but 12 fowards. Just something to think about. Maybe a late round forward jumps up into the mix this year and it helps balance it out but we are somewhat imbalanced with a lot of defenders in the pipe. 

[Flashsabre]

6 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

There's not a ton of forward talent in the pipeline these days. Since 2022, Buffalo has selected 8 forwards with picks that hold some type of value (1-3 rounds) and 5 defenders. If we go 2023-2025 that changes to 4 forwards and 5 defenders with those picks. 

The 2026 draft will need to focus on re-stocking a forward pipeline that is headlined by Helenius (1st) and... idk Östlund (1st) I guess? Wahlberg (2nd) maybe? Ziemer (3rd) looks good. While it has enough RHD to sink a small boat in Mrtka (1st), Kleber (2nd), Strbak (2nd), McCarthy (3rd), Bedkowski (3rd). 

Before you counter this remember we have 2 first overall defenders on the team as well. On top of that you need 3 RHD total on the NHL roster but 12 fowards. Just something to think about. Maybe a late round forward jumps up into the mix this year and it helps balance it out but we are somewhat imbalanced with a lot of defenders in the pipe. 

Rosen. Some people didn’t like the pick but he is a good prospect. If they don’t see a spot for him they need to move him for a player that can help now.

Also no idea what the story with Poltapov is. Another Sabres 2nd round pick that is trending towards not going anywhere.

Also this should have probably been Benson’s first year on the Sabres. 
 

I agree with you that there needs to be a focus on forward draft picks moving forward.

Edited 9 hours ago by Flashsabre

[Thorny]

24 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

There's not a ton of forward talent in the pipeline these days. Since 2022, Buffalo has selected 8 forwards with picks that hold some type of value (1-3 rounds) and 5 defenders. If we go 2023-2025 that changes to 4 forwards and 5 defenders with those picks. 

The 2026 draft will need to focus on re-stocking a forward pipeline that is headlined by Helenius (1st) and... idk Östlund (1st) I guess? Wahlberg (2nd) maybe? Ziemer (3rd) looks good. While it has enough RHD to sink a small boat in Mrtka (1st), Kleber (2nd), Strbak (2nd), McCarthy (3rd), Bedkowski (3rd). 

Before you counter this remember we have 2 first overall defenders on the team as well. On top of that you need 3 RHD total on the NHL roster but 12 fowards. Just something to think about. Maybe a late round forward jumps up into the mix this year and it helps balance it out but we are somewhat imbalanced with a lot of defenders in the pipe. 

Almost exactly what I was getting at yesterday. And it’s not like the on roster forward ranks are overflowing with young F talent either, at least not if Quinn doesn’t severely get back on track.

we really are buoyed there by the vets, Thompson and Tuch, and McLeod and even Zucker. 

there’s Benson and Quinn and Kulich for real upside potential, and lately it seems like it’s been narrowed down to merely Benson and Kulich. And that in with a weak F prospect pool and you can see it’s a systemic issue.

Norris completely popping off would go a long way, of course, but it’s interesting how this sort of overall look of the F can coexist with the fact we did put the puck in the net a lot last year. Some of that is a year over year thing but a lot does just come down to how hood Tage and Tuch are.

the sense of what we are waisting (along with the elephant in the room Dahlin) is palpable 

[DarthEbriate]

10 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

There's not a ton of forward talent in the pipeline these days. Since 2022, Buffalo has selected 8 forwards with picks that hold some type of value (1-3 rounds) and 5 defenders. If we go 2023-2025 that changes to 4 forwards and 5 defenders with those picks. 

The 2026 draft will need to focus on re-stocking a forward pipeline that is headlined by Helenius (1st) and... idk Östlund (1st) I guess? Wahlberg (2nd) maybe? Ziemer (3rd) looks good. While it has enough RHD to sink a small boat in Mrtka (1st), Kleber (2nd), Strbak (2nd), McCarthy (3rd), Bedkowski (3rd). 

Before you counter this remember we have 2 first overall defenders on the team as well. On top of that you need 3 RHD total on the NHL roster but 12 fowards. Just something to think about. Maybe a late round forward jumps up into the mix this year and it helps balance it out but we are somewhat imbalanced with a lot of defenders in the pipe. 

The other issue is that many center prospects (even great ones like Reinhart) convert to wing and play there in the NHL. They had several center prospects but: Kulich is up, Savoie is moved, Kozak could make the squad this season - but tracks as a 4C at his peak. They don't have bona fide top 6 forwards in the hopper, especially at center.

4 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

Also no idea what the story with Poltapov is. Another Sabres 2nd round pick that is trending towards not going anywhere.

Poltapov is trending upwards. There is the risk he doesn't come to the NHL, but if he does, he'll arrive as a ready-to-go bottom 9 winger (probably 2/3W) who has been playing against men for 5 seasons. And most importantly, he'll arrive on an ELC -- cheaper than Adams can entice for the role from the NHL like Malenstyn or Lafferty, etc.

[Thorny]

I also think about how the Sabres have focused on converting Östlund to a goal scorer lol 

4 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

The other issue is that many center prospects (even great ones like Reinhart) convert to wing and play there in the NHL. They had several center prospects but: Kulich is up, Savoie is moved, Kozak could make the squad this season - but tracks as a 4C at his peak. They don't have bona fide top 6 forwards in the hopper, especially at center.

Poltapov is trending upwards. There is the risk he doesn't come to the NHL, but if he does, he'll arrive as a ready-to-go bottom 9 winger (probably 2/3W) who has been playing against men for 5 seasons. And most importantly, he'll arrive on an ELC -- cheaper than Adams can entice for the role from the NHL like Malenstyn or Lafferty, etc.

Just signed a new deal in the khl

Edited 8 hours ago by Thorny

[jahnyc]

Considering the number of picks and where we have been picking, I wouldn't say our prospect pool is overflowing with potential NHL talent.  To be fair, some of our top picks have started with the Sabres, but I would have hoped that we would have more overall talent in our prospect pool given the trades we made for picks and the 14 years and counting of not making the playoffs.

If we don't make the playoffs this season and we name a new GM, I hope there will be a revamping of our scouting efforts as well.

[pi2000]

I expect somebody will break out in Rochester and get some extended looks in Buffalo this season.

Impossible for us to predict who that might be, but the "older" guys like Rosen and Kozak are running out of time.

[DarthEbriate]

9 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Just signed a new deal in the khl

Before last season -- yes. He can leap the pond in 2027-28, if he wishes. It's the Kaprizov route (minus the exception 1st line/All-Star status, of course) for his age 24-25 season.

[Thorny]

2 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

Before last season -- yes. He can leap the pond in 2027-28, if he wishes. It's the Kaprizov route (minus the exception 1st line/All-Star status, of course) for his age 24-25 season.

I’m sure Adams will prove quite the recruiter 

[DarthEbriate]

2 minutes ago, Thorny said:

I’m sure Adams will prove quite the recruiter 

All he has to do is say, "Trade me." Adams will.

But maybe by then Power will have grown up and... Levi...   anyway...  We can't worry on this particular asset or fear it walking away or being carelessly tossed away by Adams just yet. He's working on his game like any non-first round college kid would be.... But he's definitely progressing. (And it's going to take him an extra year to graduate.)