The Sabres have had some solid No. 1 overall picks over the years in Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power. Both are sound contributors to the Blue and Gold, especially Dahlin, who’s worked his way into a captaincy role at the young age of 24.
But neither Dahlin or Power have worked their respective ways into the role of ‘franchise savior,’ and neither look like players the Sabres can build their team around. That said, the Blue and Gold need someone with sheer game-changing potential, not a ceiling you can describe as ‘great, but not elite.’
Dahlin and Power fit that moniker, and neither Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, Dylan Cozens, Jack Quinn, Zach Benson, nor JJ Peterka look like sound options. Most of the names I just mentioned are good players, but as we’ve seen throughout the last few seasons of the Kevyn Adams era, good players don’t often translate to playoff appearances.
And when they do, it’s not likely those teams will get far. So, maybe this lost season’s one of those ‘blessings in disguise,’ even if we don’t care to admit it. Because if the Sabres land in the top three and can somehow win just one more top pick in the lottery, they might just snag the ultimate game-changer.
One player headlining the 2025 NHL Draft may complete the Sabres
One player on my mind is Porter Martone, whose 6’3, 207 lb physique stands out. No, he didn’t have a great showing at the World Juniors, in which he had more penalty minutes than points.
But still, Martone’s rocking and rolling with 63 points and 22 goals in 34 games this season. And as of Sunday, January 26th, Martone’s the projected second-overall pick. So, while he’s not a consensus No. 1 overall as opposed to Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini, I’m still convinced Martone can skate right in there and be the savior to someone’s franchise.
He’d also skyrocket to the top of the Sabres already-stacked prospect rankings. Even if Kevyn Adams traded a few of them away, and at this point, I wouldn’t blame him, the Sabres prospects pool would be just fine.
Plus, it would be a decent tradeoff - Noah Ostlund, for example, probably isn’t anything more than a middle-six player in this league. Ryan Johnson’s ceiling may be fringe as a second-pairing blueliner. So, I would roll with a player of Martone’s caliber in two seconds and finally have someone the Sabres can build their team around. He would instantly make them a more relevant unit.