The Buffalo Sabres prospect pool is as good as ever, and I feel like I’m on perpetual repeat saying that. Or simply on automatic: The Sabres big club disappoints us, but hey, at least their AHL affiliate’s pretty good, even those underrated names.
Then, something happens when those kids get to the big club, and that big club gets no better. It reminds me of the football program (we didn’t have hockey, unfortunately) at my old high school. That seventh, eighth, and even those freshman teams were outstanding. Then, at the varsity level, we’d win between two and three games a year.
Guess you could call us the Sabres of high school football, right? Yeah, that’s quite the correlation right there. Anyway, we still got a trio of good prospects who could see more time with the Blue and Gold as the season fades into late January and beyond.
Isak Rosen
With 28 points in 32 games, Isak Rosen is once again showing he deserves another look. He’s gotten better with each passing season at the AHL level, and with 14 goals on his resume so far in 2024-25, it’s inevitable that he’ll get an extended look.
He’s also taken just 75 shots on goal, giving him an outstanding 18.7 shooting percentage. Yeah, this is all coming up against players who are less skilled, but Rosen, for the most part, has found more consistency. And that’s something that wasn’t there all the time last season.
Devon Levi
Players with Levi’s skill set kind of get thrown into awkward situations: Too good for the AHL, but not quite there for the NHL. Even though the Sabres inked Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to a well-deserved extension this past offseason, Levi’s the player who has shown he’s got more upside; he just lacks experience.
This season, we’re seeing Levi handled a whole lot better than he was last year, and it’s paying off. So far, he’s got a 0.911 save percentage, a 2.36 GAA, 12 wins, and two shutouts. Levi’s not done yet showing off his improved game in Rochester, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he got another extended look with the Sabres if they fall out of contention.
Konsta Helenius
Conventional wisdom tells me that Konsta Helenius should stick around the AHL all season, but he’s more than caught on well enough to at least make a cameo appearance in a Sabres uniform. His numbers have shown he hit the ground running in North America, with six goals and 11 assists in 29 games, and his 0.59 points per game ranks ninth on the team.
All of these are good signs, and should Helenius show us that he’s figuring out the North American game even more and taking another step forward, making an appearance in the NHL would be his job to lose.