The Buffalo Sabres have a 19-year-old prospect who's averaged over a point per game in the AHL this season, and he also produced a standout three-point performance during a brief stint at the NHL level.
His name? Konsta Helenius, but for some reason you won't find him at the forefront of any top prospects lists despite his elite production and rapid development since the Sabres selected him with the No. 14 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.
Scott Wheeler of The Athletic released his annual spring ranking of the league's 100 best drafted prospects on Monday. Helenius was grouped in "Tier 4" at No. 32 overall.
"Helenius is going to have a long NHL career, and you have to remind yourself of his age when contextualizing what he's accomplished, but some things in his profile do give me pause about a true top-six projection," Wheeler wrote. "He may end up as more of a middle-six type."
The longtime prospect analyst added: "He'll be an interesting case study in how far smarts can take a player without a defining/dynamic trait to complement the IQ."
Helenius has looked every bit like a future top-six player (and maybe even a bona fide first-line cornerstone) with the AHL's Rochester Americans. He's tallied 61 points (20 goals and 41 assists) across 60 appearances in 2025-26.
Those numbers are particularly impressive when you consider the Amerks have struggled for extended stretches throughout the campaign due to defensive weaknesses and Buffalo's injury woes, which have necessitated a steady stream of AHL recalls.
In turn, the Finnish forward has often been asked to carry a heavy burden, especially since fellow prospect Isak Rosen was traded to the Winnipeg Jets at the NHL trade deadline in March. He's responded by playing the best hockey of his young career.
Sabres fans may not see Helenius with the big club again this season — his contract situation creates incentive for Buffalo to keep him in Rochester for the Calder Cup Playoffs instead — but he'll likely be a full-time member of the Blue and Gold starting in 2026-27.
So, it won't be too long before the 5-foot-11 center can show he's far more than a "Tier 4" prospect.
A look at the other Buffalo Sabres prospects in The Athletic's latest NHL top 100 rankings
Two other Sabres young guns cracked Wheeler's list: defenseman Radim Mrtka and forward Noah Ostlund, who's set to graduate from most prospect ratings after a full season with the Sabres.
Wheeler views Mrtka, the No. 9 selection in the 2025 NHL Draft, as Buffalo's most promising prospect, placing him at No. 22 overall.
"It's also important to remember that Mrtka is a June birthday and already doesn't have some of the kinks you expect a D his size and age to have," Wheeler wrote. "I would like to see him take charge a little more on both sides of the puck at times, given the tools — he reminds me a little of Owen Power in some ways — but the upside is real, and he's going to have a long career."
Mrtka was projected to have a long development runaway ahead when the Sabres grabbed him in the opening round last year, but that outlook changed quickly.
The 6-foot-6 blueliner dominated the competition at Buffalo's prospect camp and didn't look out of place during Sabres training camp, which earned him a four-game trial with the Amerks before he was returned to join hockey with the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds.
He produced 34 points (one goal and 33 assists) in 43 regular-season games with the Thunderbirds, and he added three assists in the club's opening-round playoff elimination.
Mrtka will need to fine-tune his offensive game to fit the Sabres' up-tempo, attacking style of play, which depends heavily on defensemen getting involved, but he's already made significant strides defensively and has improved his passing ability to spark transition opportunities.
The high-upside defenseman will likely need at least a year of seasoning in Rochester, but he'll probably see at least a little bit of NHL action next season, similar to Helenius this year.
Meanwhile, Ostlund came in at No. 38 on The Athletic list.
"Ostlund is silky smooth in possession and a superb puck transporter through neutral ice," Wheeler wrote. "He has a slippery quality that few players have; the puck just sticks to him in tight coverage, and he is a catalyst on his line in a variety of ways. He's a nifty little player."
The 22-year-old Swede, who's currently trying to overcome an upper-body injury before the playoffs get underway, has emerged as an ideal complementary forward for the Sabres. He's posted 27 points (11 goals and 16 assists) in 60 games with solid transition and defensive impacts for a rookie.
He doesn't have the true game-changing upside of Helenius or Mrtka, so his more modest placement in the prospect rankings is fair, but the fact he's acclimated to the NHL game so quickly speaks to his strong likelihood of being a long-term member of Buffalo's middle-six forward group.
In the big picture, it's been a highly productive campaign for the Sabres organization. It ended the longest playoff drought in NHL history at 14 years, it has a legitimate chance to make a deep postseason run and its prospect pool looks vastly improved from last spring.
Buffalo can finally be realistically optimistic about its hockey team for the first time in over a decade.
Add us as a preferred source on Google