Top 5 Buffalo Sabres prospects in CHL leagues to follow in 2023-24
The Buffalo Sabres have plenty of talent heading into the CHL leagues in 2023-24, and every single one of them will be fun to follow this season.
The Buffalo Sabres have more than a few prospects in the CHL leagues looking to make a name for themselves. So if you’re looking to follow some exciting players in the system, look no further than the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL, where you might just find a few of them taking over games this year.
Below, you will meet five of them not named Matt Savoie. This is because there is a chance Savoie doesn’t play a full season in the WHL. You will, however, see a mixture of fresh and familiar names, with arguably the Blue and Gold’s most exciting overall prospect topping the list.
5 hottest Buffalo Sabres prospects playing in the CHL
5 – Scott Ratzlaff, G/Seattle Thunderbirds
Scott Ratzlaff is intriguing thanks to his smallish size, which puts him into the same class as Devon Levi. That being said, it’s inevitable that Ratzlaff will be compared to Levi from now until he perhaps gets the chance to see ice time in the NHL a few years from today.
The ultra-competitive Ratzlaff, when given the opportunity, enjoyed his fair share of success with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, finishing the regular season with 34 games played, five shutouts, a 25-8-0 record, a 0.918 save percentage, and a 2.15 GAA. If Ratzlaff builds on those numbers in 2023-24, those Levi comparisons will only intensify.
4 – Ethan Miedema, F/Kingston Frontenacs
Few 18-year-olds display as much size as Ethan Miedema’s 6’4, 209 lb frame, and it’s just scary to think he has still a few more years to grow. Miedema was well-traveled this past season, starting the year with the Windsor Spitfires, where he scored 31 points and 11 goals in 36 contests.
He then moved on to the Kingston Frontenacs and put up another 21 points and nine goals in 32 games. Miedema didn’t immediately excel in Kingston thanks to the fact he had to acclimate into a new system. But once adjusted, Miedema evolved into one of the better players on the team. Look for a massive jump as he plays his first full season with the Frontenacs.
3 – Mats Lindgren, D/Red Deer Rebels
An exciting offensive defenseman, Mats Lindgren will continue the quest to further improve his defensive game in 2023-24. While it’s true Lindgren has a long way to go before he’s even remotely NHL-ready, keeping tabs on him while he hones his skill on the blue line will be fun to follow this year.
This could result in fewer points, as evidenced with his regression from 44 in 2021-22 to just 34 in 2022-23, although he did put up nine in 12 playoff games for the Red Deer Rebels. But at this point, Lindgren will be doing all he can to show that he’s ready to take the next step and compete for a spot with the Rochester Americans come 2024-25.
2 – Vsevolod Komarov, F/Quebec Remparts
Vsevolod Komarov is another prospect who will be showing that he can sneak his way into Rochester next season, and the 19-year-old also has potential to be a two-way player. A pivotal piece to helping the Remparts snag the Memorial Cup, Komarov scored 39 points and 12 goals during the regular season, and another eight points in 18 playoff games.
Look for one of the newly-signed Buffalo Sabres prospects to make another leap this season on both sides of the puck. And yes, I am already projecting him to end up in Rochester not next season, but once the QMJHL’s season ends and the Amerks are in the playoffs.
1 – Zach Benson, F/Wenatchee Wild
And finally, we got Zach Benson, who, even nearly a month later, I’m still in shock that he fell to the Buffalo Sabres. Benson, while undersized, put up 98 points and 36 goals in just 60 games before he scored another 17 points and seven goals in 15 postseason outings.
If you’re doing the math, then that’s 115 points in 75 games, averaging out to 1.53 points per game. Assuming Matt Savoie joins him at some point in Wenatchee, then it wouldn’t surprise me if Benson threatened 115 points in the regular season alone.
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Even if Savoie earned a spot in the Buffalo Sabres lineup and somehow sticks, Benson shouldn’t see a drop-off in production. He made things look easy during development camp and in the 3-on-3 Tournament, and that should foreshadow what he will do in the WHL this season.
Source: After hot finish, Sabres prospect Ethan Miedema primed for breakout season: ‘A 40-goal man’ by Bill Hoppe, BuffaloHockeyBeat.com
(Statistics provided by Elite Prospects)