The Buffalo Sabres' recent trade of Stiven Sardarian may not generate much in terms of headlines, or in return as he was traded for future considerations, but highlights how badly they missed in one of their more important draft classes.
The 2021 NHL Draft was supposed to be a turning point for the Buffalo Sabres. They were coming off one of the worst seasons in franchise history, and general manager Kevyn Adams was clearly looking to rebuild by making several trades that resulted in them having 11 draft picks, including seven in the Top 100.
Unfortunately, that draft class wasn’t as strong as the Sabres needed. In fact, they have had only three players reach the NHL and have already traded away one of those players.
Buffalo Sabres got the first and last pick right but not much else in 2021 NHL Draft
The Buffalo Sabres would have the first overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and went with defenseman Owen Power. He was the consensus top prospect, and while he has taken a little longer to develop, this past season seemed to be a turning point for him.
Then in the seventh round, and their last pick in this NHL Draft, the Sabres drafted Tyson Kozak, and he has shown to be a valuable fourth-line player. He has already played in 67 games over the past two seasons and will likely be one of the extra forwards this season.
Unfortunately, outside of those two picks, the Sabres haven't gotten much from this draft class. They would trade Rasmus Ristolainen to the Philadelphia Flyers to get a first-round pick, which ended up being the 14th overall, and would select Isak Rosen.
Rosen has made it to the NHL but struggled to establish himself and was traded this past season to the Winnipeg Jets in the Logan Stanley trade. However, selecting Wyatt Johnston, who went less than 10 picks later, would have made more sense.
Of the remaining eight draft selections, three have spent time in the AHL in Rochester and may eventually make it to the NHL with the Sabres in Oliver Nadeau (fourth-round pick) and Nikita Novikov (sixth-round pick). The third player is Alexander Kisakov, who played in Rochester from 2022-23 through the 2024-25 season but failed to stick in the lineup and wasn't on the team last season.
Prokhor Poltapov has remained in the KHL since being drafted, and William Von Barnekow has remained in the SHL. The remaining three are no longer with the Sabres (Sardarian, Josh Bloom, and Viljami Marjala).
When looking at some of the players the Sabres could have drafted shows just how big of an opportunity they missed. For example, Poltapov was selected with the first pick in the second round, and one pick later, Olen Zellweger was selected, and five picks later, Josh Doan heard his name called.
Later in the second round, the Sabres selected Aleksandr Kisakov but made the pick with Matthew Knies still on the board, and he was selected five picks later by the Maple Leafs.
Long before the Sabres traded Stiven Sardarian, the 2021 NHL Draft class was a major "what if" question for this franchise. If they had made a few different picks, especially early, they might have ended that playoff drought sooner than they did.
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