Sometimes all it takes is a change of scenery.
That's seemingly the case for Ashton Schultz. The Buffalo Sabres' sixth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft was putting together a mundane season for the USHL's Chicago Steel (22 points in 32 games), but he's found another gear since a trade to the Sioux City Musketeers in mid-February.
Schultz, who started his USHL career with the Sioux Falls Stampede, has recorded 10 points (three goals and seven assists) in eight appearances for the Musketeers.
Sioux City head coach Jason Kersner described the 5-foot-11, 181-pound forward as a "winner" and said the opportunity to bring him in was something the club couldn't pass up.
"Truthfully, I'm not sure we would have made that level of trade for any other player in the league," Kersner recently told Tyler Millen of Sabres.com. "Those intangibles and who he is, as much of how good as a player he is, is why we felt comfortable making the move."
Schultz, 19, was an terrific scorer in high school, tallying 57 points in 28 contests as a senior, but he's spent most of his time in the USHL trying to improve defensively.
"That's been a big thing for me these past two years, coming from high school to the USHL, everybody's good. There's not a bad player on the ice," Schultz told Millen. "Having that 200-foot game, especially playing center most of the time, you've got to have that. I think this year, it's been another focus of mine to keep adding on to the defensive side, especially going into college next year."
The Minnesota native is committed to play college hockey for the University of North Dakota next season. It'll represent another big jump as the Fighting Hawks are one of the NCAA's top programs, as highlighted by currently being ranked No. 2 in the country.
Underrated prospect Ashton Schultz is carving out a potential path to the Buffalo Sabres
Reaching the NHL after being selected in the sixth round of the draft is far from a guarantee.
Just 30.6% of sixth-rounders play a single NHL game and only 8.4% end up scoring at least 100 points in the world's best hockey league, based on research by Jacob Billington of The Hockey Writers.
Schultz is putting himself in position to beat the odds.
Along with his recent success for the Musketeers, Schultz represented the United States at the 2025 World Junior A Challenge in December. He recorded six points (three goals and three helpers) across five games as Team USA captured the tournament championship.
His improvement in the defensive end has been essential because he hasn't displayed a high-end scoring rate in three USHL seasons (a modest 72 points in 109 games).
That said, Schultz has displayed impressive play-creation ability and he's emerged as a leader. He'll also gain some more big-game experience as Sioux City has already qualified for the playoffs.
As it stands, he probably projects as a bottom-six center if he ultimately reaches the NHL. That can obviously still change as he's at least three years away from suiting up for the Sabres.
Schultz is probably ticketed for a minimum of two seasons with North Dakota and then he'd likely need at least one full campaign with the AHL's Rochester Americans, and that's an aggressive timetable. Three college seasons and two years with the Amerks could be more realistic.
The latter would put him on pace for a Buffalo arrival around age 24 or 25, which is pretty standard for late-round draft picks with long development runways.
Schultz could always accelerate the process with immediate success at the collegiate level. How his offensive game holds up against elite NCAA competition will tell an important tale.
Regardless, the unsigned right-shot forward has all the makings of strong organizational depth because of his intangibles. He'll probably have a long hockey career one way or another, even if it doesn't include a permanent lineup spot at the NHL level.
The Sabres will hope his boost in performance since the USHL trade is a sign of things to come, though.