The Buffalo Sabres exited the 2025 NHL Draft with a hefty stockpile of prospects. The Sabres picked nine times in the draft, but came away with underwhelming results.
The Sabres had one first-round pick and a third-rounder. From there, the Sabres had two picks in the fourth round and three in the seventh round, with picks in the fifth and sixth rounds squeezed in.
Yes, the abundance of picks is nice. But they don’t seem to yield the sort of high-end prospects the Sabres would have liked to get.
So, let’s recap what the Buffalo Sabres haul at the 2025 NHL Draft looked like as the club heads into free agency this summer.
First round: Radim Mrtka
The Sabres selected blue liner Radim Mrtka right around where he was predicted to go. The Athletic had him going 10th to the Anaheim Ducks. Tankathon had him eighth to Seattle.
So, why go for Mrtka, the best defenseman after Matthew Schaefer?
The pick seems to signal that the Sabres might have a big hole to fill in their blue line within the next couple of seasons. And, it makes sense to fill it with a huge, right-shot defender. Mrtka, 18, is listed at 6’6” and 218 pounds. He looks like a slightly shorter version of Zdeno Chara.
Elite Prospects describes him as a two-way defenseman. His numbers with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL back that up. He put up three goals and 35points in 43 games.
If Mrtka morphs into a solid offensive defenseman, the Sabres could have two elite blue liners in Mrtka and captain Rasmus Dahlin.
It’s a tantalizing thought, Sabres fans need to keep in mind.
Third round: David Bedkowski
The Sabres didn’t have a second-round pick. So, their next pick came in the third round. The pick was used on another blue liner, David Bedkowski of the Owen Sound Attack.
The Sabres picked another big defenseman with the pick. Bedkowski is listed at 6’5” and 220 pounds. He’s described as a heavy-hitting defensive defenseman. The 18-year-old won’t light up the scoresheet, but has the potential to become a solid shutdown blueliner.
At this rate, Buffalo could have an enormous blue line core in the next half-decade or so.
Fourth Round: Matous Kucharcik, Samuel Meloche
With the 103rd pick, the Buffalo Sabres picked center Matous Kucharcik. The 18-year-old played for HC Slavia Praha this past season. And yes, he’s another big player, standing 6’4” and 181 pounds.
Kucharcik is described as a two-way center. He notched four points in 20 games for the main Slavia Praha club this past season. That’s not bad for an 18-year-old playing in a pro league.
The other fourth-rounder, Samuel Meloche, is a goalie from the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies of the QMJHL. Meloche was picked as the Sabres look to fill out their goalie depth. The Sabres have just one goalie signed on the NHL roster, starter Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, while James Reimer is a UFA and Devon Levi is an RFA.
In the pipeline, the Sabres have Topias Leinonen and Scott Ratzlaff. They could be promising netminders, but the organization needs more depth. So, reaching for Meloche with the 116th pick is not a bad idea.
Fifth Round: Noah Laberge
Noah Laberge is another blueliner on Buffalo’s radar. He’s a different sort of blueliner. Laberge is described as a mobile, two-way defenseman. The 18-year-old spent his draft year in the QMJHL with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. He put up 35 points in 63 games.
If Laberge can translate his skills to the NHL, he could be a promising puck-moving middle-pairing defenseman with solid size.
Sixth round: Ashton Schulz
The Sabres reached for another center with the 167th selection. Ashton Schulz from the Chicago Steel of the USHL landed with the Sabres after a 39-point season with the Steel. Schulz is on the smaller side at 5’11”. He sounds like he could be a decent 3C NHL center at some point.
He’ll be playing for the University of North Dakota this upcoming season.
Seventh round: Melvin Novotny, Evgeny Prokhorov, Ryan Rucinski
The Buffalo Sabres had three seventh-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft. The club used is 195th pick on Melvin Novotny. Novotny is a Swedish forward who put up 38 points in 41 games with the Leksands IF J20 team this past season. He’ll join the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL next season. Novotny is described as a cerebral player. His hockey IQ could help him eventually make it to the NHL.
The Sabres picked another goaltender with the 199th pick. This time, the team called Evgeny Prokhorov’s name to fill out their goalie depth. Prokhorov is a Russian netminder who looks like a long shot to make the NHL. He’ll first need to transition to North America before getting a shot at the NHL.
The Sabres’ final pick was Ryan Rucinski, a center, from the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL. A smaller forward at 5’10”, he put up decent numbers last season (42 points in 49 games). He’ll be a long shot to make it to the NHL, but could certainly improve his stock by having a strong season with Ohio State in the NCAA next year.