At the beginning of the offseason, the Buffalo Sabres had the fewest NHL picks of any team, with only four. However, Jarmo Kekalainen was able to bring some excitement to the NHL Draft and the Sabres fans in attendance as he moved from 27th to 20th, then made the blockbuster trade with the Chicago Blackhawks for Bowen Byram that returned them the fourth overall pick among the trade package.
It was expected that the Sabres were going to trade that pick, as they had been involved in plenty of trade discussions. However, in the end, they decided to make a selection and selected defenseman Daxon Rudolph.
The fact that the Sabres made the pick was suprising but the fact that they passed over Chase Reid, who was considered one of the top defenseman, to select Rudolph. This past season, Rudolph played in the WHL for Prince Albert Raiders and in 68 games had 28 goals and 50 assists.
Next season, Rudolph is expected to play for the University of Denver.
Daxon Rudolph joins elite company with the Buffalo Sabres
This is the third time the Sabres have drafted in Top 10 in the past five seasons and two of those times drafted a defenseman. Last year, the Sabres drafted Radim Mrtka with the eighth overall pick and in 2021 the Sabres drafted Owen Power first overall.
The strength of the Sabres roster last season was their blueline and with the addition of Rudolph and Mrtka waiting in Rochester, this is a position group that should remain among the league best for years to come.
The Sabres are now scheduled to make one more pick in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft with the 20th overall pick.
Add us as a preferred source on Google