Sabres 2026-27 Prospect List

[LGR4GM]

11 hours ago, Brawndo said:

 

Gonna put this here, again, for those who have never seen it:

Quote

 

"This skill (playmaking) is visualized in Brown’s manually tracked data set. Benson’s expected primary assists and slot pass success percentage check in at the 100th percentile, in a sample that includes 700 forwards from this season. In a multi-year data set of over 3000 forwards, his underlying playmaking data is second to only Connor McDavid. You might have heard of him.

And while we’re not sure that it would be fitting to characterize Benson as a dual-threat scorer, every bit as potent a finisher as a distributor, his handling and physical skills allow him to create more than his fair share of pucks into the opposition goal himself. Simply put: Benson doesn’t play small. He’s interior-driven as a puck carrier, protective on the first touch, and capable of establishing inside positioning along the walls for retrievals. The contemporary NHL is more about leverage than it is about size, and he’s going to be just the latest example of that dynamic." - Elite Prospects' 2023 Draft Guide

 

One thing that gets lost in the shuffle with Zach Benson is the hands. His hands are fast, fluid, smooth. Add in the fact his edges have gotten borderline elite over the past 3 years and he is shifty as all hell in tight. 

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, tom webster said:

It’s what usually happens with these guys, the more they talk, the less credible they become.

Benson is indisputably a top 6 player on an NHL team already. That’s not an opinion.

Right now there are maybe a dozen players on his list who have reached that level.

Objectively, Pronman is saying he thinks 120 young players are going to be better than that level.

That includes can’t-miss players like David Edstrom, Thomas Lavoie, Gabe Smith, Eddie Genborg, Casey Mutryn, Jack Berglund, Benjamin Rautiainen, Theo Stockselius, Ryan Greene, Danny Nelson and Vojtech Hradec.

Saying one or two of those guys is better than Benson is a hot take. Saying all of them are means I can’t take your opinions seriously.

Most of them won’t be NHL regulars, let alone play top 6 playoff minutes for a top 5 NHL team.

I doubt there are 120 NHL players I’d take over Benson, let alone 120 prospects.

Edited August 21 by dudacek

[Archie Lee]

1 minute ago, dudacek said:

Benson is indisputably a top 6 player on an NHL team already. That’s not an opinion.

Right now there are maybe a dozen players on his list who have reached that level.

Objectively, Pronman is saying he thinks 120 young players are going to be better than that level.

That includes can’t-miss players like David Edstrom, Thomas Lavoie, Gabe Smith, Eddie Genborg, Casey Mutryn, Jack Berglund, Benjamin Rautiainen, Theo Stockselius, Ryan Greene, Danny Nelson and Vojtech Hradec.

Saying one or two of those guys is better than Benson is a hot take. Saying all of them are means I can’t take your opinions seriously.

Most of them won’t be NHL regulars, let alone play top 6 playoff minutes for a top 5 NHL team.

I doubt there are 120 NHL players I’d take over Benson, let alone 120 prospects.

I've read and listened to Pronman a lot over the years. Pronman has always bristled, not entirely incorrectly, when his media scouting colleague's compare a 5'9" prospect to a Marchand or a Debrincat. His point is that there are very few such players in the NHL. On balance, such players (under 5'10") are less likely to become impactful NHL players. He considers Benson to be under 5'10". While Benson is listed at 5'10", his official combine height was 5'9" 3/4" (which, for clarity on my view, is a meaningless distinction). Also with Benson, there is the added factor that he is a below average straight-line skater. This is objectively true. Benson is not straight-line fast. His edges and balance are great and he is plenty quick, but it is true that his elite IQ, anticipation, and compete level, occasionally generates an opportunity that dies due to his below average straight-line speed. He is not a lab-generated perfect NHL player, though nobody has claimed he is.

At this point, highlighting the shortcomings is just nit-picking. What Pronman is missing, as you have pointed out, is that Benson has already shown outright and without question, that he is very good top-6 NHL player who has positive impacts all over the ice. As Scott Wheeler said in the video clip from the Athletic Hockey Show podcast, there is a better argument that he is in the top 125 overall players in the world today, than there is that he is a fringe top 125 U23 prospect.  Pronman's blind-spot here is baffling.

 

 

     

[DarthEbriate]

Re: that ranking, the Benny Badger doesn’t give a #####.

[shrader]

15 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

Re: that ranking, the Benny Badger doesn’t give a #####.

And we shouldn't either

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, Archie Lee said:

I've read and listened to Pronman a lot over the years. Pronman has always bristled, not entirely incorrectly, when his media scouting colleague's compare a 5'9" prospect to a Marchand or a Debrincat. His point is that there are very few such players in the NHL. On balance, such players (under 5'10") are less likely to become impactful NHL players. He considers Benson to be under 5'10". While Benson is listed at 5'10", his official combine height was 5'9" 3/4" (which, for clarity on my view, is a meaningless distinction). Also with Benson, there is the added factor that he is a below average straight-line skater. This is objectively true. Benson is not straight-line fast. His edges and balance are great and he is plenty quick, but it is true that his elite IQ, anticipation, and compete level, occasionally generates an opportunity that dies due to his below average straight-line speed. He is not a lab-generated perfect NHL player, though nobody has claimed he is.

At this point, highlighting the shortcomings is just nit-picking. What Pronman is missing, as you have pointed out, is that Benson has already shown outright and without question, that he is very good top-6 NHL player who has positive impacts all over the ice. As Scott Wheeler said in the video clip from the Athletic Hockey Show podcast, there is a better argument that he is in the top 125 overall players in the world today, than there is that he is a fringe top 125 U23 prospect.  Pronman's blind-spot here is baffling.

I would argue that Benson has upgraded to avg straight line speed. He doesn't break away but he was caught outright fewer times last year IMPO. 

I will add Benson is the 144th player in the NHL last year in ppg when sorting by a minimum 25gps. He did that as a 20yr old and if it were his 1st or even 2nd season, it would be viewed more highly than it is. I hope he keeps improving because he needs to get into that 40a 20g range if not more. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

5 hours ago, dudacek said:

His doubling down with “***** playoff competition”? Two top 10, 100-point teams?

Talk about digging a hole.

I bet he'd say that TB was a real playoff team. Last I looked Buffalo beat them handily in the regular season and Montreal beat them in the playoffs.  Also didn't Buffalo win arguably the toughest division in hockey which contained 5 team with 99 pts or more?  

Edited August 21 by GASabresIUFAN

[GASabresIUFAN]

And now back to our prospect thread.  
 

I also thought he underrated Ziemer.  Brodie is going to be an NHLer.  While I like aspects of all the D listed in front of him, I’m not sure how many will actually make the NHL.  I also think Brodie is a much better prospect than the Latvian kid we drafted in the 4th rd.

 

[Mr. MVP]

9 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

And now back to our prospect thread.  
 

I also thought he underrated Ziemer.  Brodie is going to be an NHLer.  While I like aspects of all the D listed in front of him, I’m not sure how many will actually make the NHL.  I also think Brodie is a much better prospect than the Latvian kid we drafted in the 4th rd.

 

I’m going to worry about this kid until he signs his name on that contract. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

Just now, Mr. MVP said:

I’m going to worry about this kid until he signs his name on that contract. 

Why? His is a guy in the Doan/Benson mold and the Sabres will be shedding some more forwards over the next couple of seasons as the key younger guys need contracts.  Zucker, Danforth and Carrick are UFAs after next season with few internal candidates to take their place.  Ziemer could step into the NHL directly from college.

[DarthEbriate]

On 8/21/2026 at 8:18 AM, shrader said:

And we shouldn't either

And I don’t think we do. But it’s something to talk about to stay sharp in the offseason. 

Gotta stay at the top of the posting game. The kids are coming up from behind. 

[SabreFinn]

Daily faceoff ranking prospect pools. Sabres 12th.

https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/2026-2027-nhl-prospect-pool-rankings-top-rookies-every-team

 

[nfreeman]

OK, so now Pronman's view is that in a redraft of the 2023 NHL draft, Benson would not go #13.  He would instead be taken at... #15.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7475802/2026/08/26/nhl-re-draft-2023-class/

JFC.  Something is going on here.  Did Benson tease Pronman at some prospect tournament 5 years ago and Pronman hasn't gotten over it?

It doesn't really matter, of course, but people are spending good money on what is supposed to be a top-tier sports (and hockey in particular!) publication -- and this is an embarrassment.  

[LGR4GM]

Pronman being crap at his job was a major reason I ended up buying into Elite Prospects. Their coverage at EP is simply better and Cam Robinson as well as the other scouts are much more objective. 

Quote

There can't be many more fun players to watch at the NHL level. Benson is a dog on a bone in pursuit of the puck. The motor stands out, but there are so many subtle details that are less obvious but every bit as critical to his success along the wall – intercepting and reversing contact, proactive stick-lifts, cutting off opponents at the hands, rolling off checks, etc. Benson does well to turn board play to offence, extending his knee to shield the puck and funneling the play inside at every opportunity. He looks far quicker as a pro, too. This has made him far more dangerous in open ice. He's decisive, inside-driven, and legitimately quick. - JD Burke, Elite Prospects, May 16th, 2026 Buffalo v. Montreal

 

Edited August 26 by LGR4GM

[DarthEbriate]

Maybe Pronman is using reverse psychology?

What I do know is that, after the first three: Benson is the most likely forward to represent his team at the next two All-Star Games. And of all of them, he’ll have the most Selke votes this season.