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An early look at the Sabres biggest needs for the 2024 NHL Draft

With the best prospects pool in the game, it’s hard to believe the Sabres lack organizational depth, but the reality is, every team does.

By Todd Matthews

Sep 24, 2023; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Buffalo Sabres forward Jiri Kulich (20)
Sep 24, 2023; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Buffalo Sabres forward Jiri Kulich (20) / Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports
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Possessing the best prospects pool in the game doesn’t always mean it’s without flaws, and even the Buffalo Sabres have a few positions they can add to their elite organizational depth chart. As a franchise that should no longer find themselves in rebuilding mode thanks to the limited amount of space on the big club and the deep depth at most positions, this won’t be as intensive of a task surrounding general manager Kevyn Adams. 

Still, you can never add too much talent to a prospects pool, and since this should be the year Adams moves some prospects, it means he must continue to strike gold at positions of need. So, which three positions should he key on in the 2024 NHL Draft, and which players would make good selections in late June? 

The Sabres currently lack a pure right wing forward

There are a few high-end prospects in Buffalo who can play right wing, like Matt Savoie and Jiri Kulich. But both can shift between center and wing, so we’re talking about someone who can purely play wing, like what they have in left wingers Zach Benson (kind of hard to call him a prospect) and Isak Rosen. 

What’s even more interesting is that if you look at Scott Wheeler of The Athletic’s most recent ranking of the Sabres pipeline, he doesn’t list a single right winger unless you count the versatile Kulich and Savoie. For a team projected to pick 11th in the NHL Draft unless the lottery says otherwise, the Sabres could find one of those players this year. 

Tankathon currently lists players like Liam Greentree, Michael Brandsegg-Nydgard, and Beckett Sennecke solely as right wingers, and they should all be there when the Sabres pick either at or around 11th overall.  

No, Kevyn Adams doesn’t need to take one of the aforementioned names if there is a player ranked higher on his board in the first round. He should still abide by the ‘take the best available’ road, but with one of his earlier picks, it would be wise to invest in someone who mainly sees ice time at right wing. 

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