In just over a week, the 2025-26 OHL regular season will come to a conclusion, with the 2026 OHL playoffs beginning about a week later. The vast majority of the playoff spots up for grabs have already been claimed, with the teams already in the picture fighting for playoff positioning throughout the final few games of the season.
These OHL playoffs will also act as one of the last chances that draft-bound players will have to put up strong performances for teams to consider ahead of this June's NHL Draft.
But with the playoffs just around the corner, which teams should the Buffalo Sabres and their fans be keeping an eye on during the playoffs?
By highlighting draft-eligible players and their positioning in the draft, I make the case for three teams to earn the most attention during this stretch run and playoff tournament.
The Saginaw Spirit could provide several interesting forward prospects in anticipation of free agency blows
The Sabres have four wingers that are set to hit free agency this summer: Alex Tuch, Tanner Pearson, Josh Dunne, and Beck Malenstyn. Negotiations have been taking place between the Sabres' front office and Tuch, though it is unknown if such talks will lead to a new contract. Outside of that, there's a decent chance that Buffalo brings Beck Malenstyn — who has scored 10 points through 64 games played this season — back as a role player.
If there is a chance that the Sabres lose one or more of the aforementioned wingers in free agency, then drafting a winger to fill a depth role will immediately become a priority.
With this in mind, Saginaw Spirit wingers Nikita Klepov and Egor Barabanov could potentially make their case to be selected by Buffalo over the course of the OHL playoffs.
While the Spirit aren't exactly in the greatest position to go on a deep playoff run — Saginaw currently sits in eighth place in the Western Conference and just two points behind the seventh-place Owen Sound Attack — Klepov and Barabanov are the team's top two contributors. Klepov leads the Spirit in terms of points and goals; the Deerfield Beach native has 88 points and 36 goals to his name so far this season. At the same time, Barabanov is Saginaw's top assist-getter, tallying 58 assists so far.
In terms of draft positioning, Klepov is projected to be a first-round selection; most outlets are predicting that Klepov is selected between picks 20 and 30. That said, the same projections show that Barabanov is most likely going to be picked after the first 100 selections.
The good news for Buffalo is that both Klepov and Barabanov should be on the board when their turn to pick comes. The Sabres' first round pick is currently projected to be the 28th overall pick while their possession of the 113th pick (via Edmonton) puts them about ten selections away from Barabanov.
It remains to be seen how Saginaw's performance in the OHL playoffs could improve or deteriorate the respective draft stocks of Klepov and Barabanov. The Spirit could still finish as high as sixth in the Western Conference, however they will have to play either the Kitchener Rangers, Flint Firebirds, or Windsor Spitfires in the first round. None of those teams are going to be on upset alert, meaning that the team's top players could very well be playing in a situation where the Spirit is down 3-0 and (barring a comeback) the series' outcome will have little effect on individual draft positioning. That said, Klepov could easily become a top-20 selection if he were to help rally Saginaw and win them a round or two.
If you're a fan of center depth, the Guelph Storm is your team to watch
Though it may not be the biggest need for the Sabres, you can never have too many centers.
Yes, I am aware that centers like Peyton Krebs are heading for free agency in some form, but fans should take that with a pinch of salt. Tage Thompson, Josh Norris, and Ryan McLeod are all locked in for the long-term future, while Sam Carrick will be in town for next season.
But if the Sabres are going to use one of their mid-to-late-round draft picks on center depth, then the Guelph Storm might be a team on the front office's radar. Centers Layne Gallacher and Carter Stevens are both projected to be picked after the first 100 picks at this year's draft, and they've both acted as valuable pieces for Guelph's playoff push. Acquired from the Brantford Bulldogs via trade, Gallacher has recorded three goals and 11 assists in his first 26 games with the Storm. His draft-bound teammate, who is playing in his second season for the Storm, has recorded 33 points (19 goals and 14 assists) through his first 48 games of the season; his first season with the Storm saw him record 26 points (13 goals and 13 assists) through 66 games played.
The Sabres' second pick of the 2026 NHL Draft could be used to take one of the two Storm centers. At 113th overall, Buffalo would be in a strong position to pick one of Gallacher or Stevens, who are respectively projected to be selected 114th and 115th overall.
Though Gallacher and Stevens may not end up cracking the Sabres' roster right away, Buffalo can always elect to defer offering an entry-level deal until the 2027-28 season, allowing for the two players to continue developing with the Storm or even with the Rochester Americans. The move would also allow for Buffalo to do their due diligence on Carrick and Justin Danforth's contracts; if the team were to allow one or both players to enter free agency after next season, there could be an opening for one of Guelph's two draft-bound centers to crack the Sabres' roster in 2027-28.
As for Guelph's playoff aspirations, they're in a similar position to that of the Spirit despite being two positions higher. Guelph is 20 points behind the London Knights for fifth in the OHL's Western Conference; with just six games left on the Storm's regular season slate, the Storm are guaranteed to finish between sixth and eighth place. That means that they'll take on one of the Rangers, Spitfires, and Firebirds to open the OHL playoffs; at this moment, Guelph's first-round opponent would be the Spitfires, whom the Storm have stolen points from twice this season.
The Brantford Bulldogs could win it all, and their defense could be of interest for Sabres fans
While only two Bulldogs players are projected to be picked at this year's draft, one of which is a defenseman, there could still be some interest in the Bulldogs from the Sabres' front office.
I am going to establish that Carter Malhotra, who is projected to be taken as a top-10 pick, won't be on the Sabres radar. Rather, it will be Czech defenseman Vladimir Dravecky who could be of interest for the Sabres. While he doesn't have the flashiest scoring numbers (8 goals and 19 assists), he is the OHL's eleventh-best defenseman when it comes to the plus/minus rating. At +27, Dravecky finds himself in third among Bulldogs defensemen for that statistic and three plus/minus points ahead of St Louis Blues draft pick and Czechia alternate captain Adam Jiricek.
While Dravecky is projected to come off the board just after the first 50 picks, the Sabres could always find their way up the draft order. A draft-day trade for positioning can't be ruled out; such a move could always take the Sabres into the third round and in position to take Dravecky.
That said, the Sabres top two defensive pairs are more or less set for the long term, with Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, and Mattias Samuelsson all locked into contracts that take them to the end of the decade. However, they're the only three defensemen locked into long-term contracts; both Luke Schenn and Logan Stanley will be free agents this offseason while the likes of Bowen Byram will join them during the following offseason. The Sabres will likely end up having at least half of their current defensive core locked up to long-term contracts, but that would still leave some roster slots open on the defensive side of the ice.
At a 44-9-8-2 record, the Bulldogs are both first in the Eastern Conference and the OHL's best team, sitting four points ahead of the Kitchener Rangers and five up on the East's second-place team: the Barrie Colts. While the Bulldogs are just 7-4-4-0 against the Colts, Ottawa 67's, and Peterborough Petes (the other three top-four teams in the Eastern Conference), their current playoff positioning works in their favor. Though they'd currently have to play one of Peterborough or North Bay should they get to the second round, the Bulldogs will avoid Ottawa and Barrie until the third round of the playoffs.
Either way, a deep run for the Bulldogs would certainly give players like Dravecky the space to earn experience and record strong performances throughout the postseason. In the case of Dravecky, a strong performance or two would also ensure that teams like the Sabres can retain him as an option ahead of the draft.