The Buffalo Sabres selected Melvin Novotny with the 195th overall pick in the final round of the 2025 NHL Draft in June. The 18-year-old Swedish winger is already charting a path to vastly outperform that draft placement after arriving to North America.
Novotny scored 38 points (12 goals and 26 assists) in 41 games for Leksands IF's junior club in Sweden last season. He's parlayed that into a terrific start for the USHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks with 10 goals and 12 helpers across 18 appearances.
The UMass college commit's ability to consistently create scoring chances for teammates is something that's lacking for Buffalo both at the NHL level and in its prospect pool, which is why the seventh-round draft choice is already generating intrigue.
Melvin Novotny faces a long journey to the NHL, but the Buffalo Sabres should be excited about his recent development
The most impressive thing about Novotny is his compete level. The winger seemingly never gets tired and constantly outworks opponents in puck battles, which allows him to quickly move the play in the attacking direction.
Muskegon head coach Colten St. Clair recently told Tyler Millen of Sabres.com the prospect has so far made a seamless transition to North American hockey.
"He's just a really good human being and fun to be around," St. Clair said. "He's got a confidence of no matter where you're from, it's still life, and it's still the game of hockey. ... Just how hard he works, and the willingness to want to really dig in."
Novotny isn't an elite skater and doesn't have an overly imposing frame (6'1'', 187 pounds), which is why he didn't attract more attention during the draft process, but his combination of work ethic, vision and high hockey IQ is nevertheless impressive.
In addition, his shot has shown signs of legitimate improvement with the Lumberjacks, though for now he still projects more as a pass-first playmaker.
The left-shot forward explained there's no special hidden reason for his recent development.
"To be honest, I work really hard, I do a lot of extra work, and I think there's nothing else behind it than that," Novotny told Millen. "I want to learn every day. I'm very dialed in on every practice, workout, and I do video, and I think that's the secret behind it."
Novotny isn't close to knocking on the NHL's door, but it'll be interesting to see how much progress he can make over the next two years.
Along with the rest of this season in the USHL, he'll have a great chance to represent Team Sweden in the 2026 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (and probably the 2027 World Juniors, too), and he'll also play his first NCAA campaign with the Minutemen within that time frame.
Where Novotny stands by the summer of 2027 will say a lot about his possible NHL future. He could make the jump to the AHL's Rochester Americans at that point, though it may ultimately take two or three collegiate seasons before he's ready for pro hockey.
All told, Novotny is probably five years away from even entering the NHL discussion for the Sabres, but general manager Kevyn Adams should still be happy with the prospect's early returns.