Five years into its rebuilding plan and the Sabres are still among the NHL’s most irrelevant franchises. And there’s a definite cause for concern that the Blue and Gold squandered a few of their early draft picks during that time.
Owen Power looks like an underachiever, Zach Benson’s production hasn’t steadily increased, Jack Quinn has taken a step back over the past two seasons, and Matt Savoie is playing in the Edmonton Oilers system. I can go on and on here, but overall, there’s little return on the investments to date.
But let’s focus on Savoie here, as it’s where this story begins. Back in the summer of 2022, I decided to watch the NHL draft over at the local gym, putting it on three of the place’s five televisions that way I’d have a visual regardless if I was near the dumbbell rack, the cardio machines, or if I was chatting with a few friends near the shelves.
Anyway, once the Sabres made their pick, I left and watched the rest of Round 1 from home. It wasn’t long until they took Noah Ostlund before, ultimately, snagging Jiri Kulich. Three years later, let’s measure the results.
Matt Savoie and Noah Ostlund remain unproven commodities
Matt Savoie has appeared in five NHL games, one with the Sabres and four with the Oilers, recording an assist in that frame. With Edmonton, he’s compiled a minus-4 and 12:31 of average total ice time.
That said, he’s played well for the Bakersfield Condors, and there’s a good chance he’ll at least work out as a middle-six player. With Bakersfield, he’s got 16 goals and 41 points in 50 games, putting him on a sound pace in what is his first full AHL season.
Noah Ostlund struggled with his transition from Sweden to the North American game, but he’s since found his groove. In 37 contests, he has 24 points and 11 goals, putting him on pace for 33 points and 15 goals in 51 games.
Consistency is key if Ostlund plans on becoming an integral part of the Sabres lineup, likely in 2026-27. And both he and Savoie find themselves trailing the Sabres final pick of that draft and one who is proving he should’ve gone higher.
Jiri Kulich has shown he was the Sabres best pick in 2022
Drafted 28th overall, Kulich picked up the North American game with ease, with 46 points and 24 goals across 62 games in 2022-23. He followed that up with 45 points and 27 goals in 57 contests, which earned him the right to play virtually full-time this season with the Sabres.
While Kulich only has 12 goals and 19 points in 49 games, he’s also logged a solid 14:23 of average total ice time. This tells me his floor in the NHL is in the middle six but with top-six potential, not much different from another Sabres player whose name I’ll mention later.
Kulich has also won 188 faceoffs and has snagged a 45.6 faceoff win percentage. No, these aren’t good numbers, but we’ve seen far lower with the Sabres among younger players. It indicates that in the future, we’ll see him hover over the 50-percent mark.
Kulich has continued to bring a high-energy and moderately physical game to the Sabres, and he’s one of five players in the lineup to have scored three game-winning goals, a number that leads the team.
While Kulich hasn’t broken any records, nor will he, he’s still evolved into an integral part of the Sabres lineup. I’m looking for him to take a JJ Peterka-like leap next season, and Kulich could easily wind up seeing himself progress in a way similar to what we’ve seen from Peterka, whose production has steadily increased since his first full NHL campaign in 2022-23.