The Buffalo Sabres wrapped up their preseason on Friday night with a 5-4 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. On Saturday, they began the process of cutting their roster down to the required 23 players ahead of Monday afternoon's deadline.
In those moves, they sent four players back down to the Rochester Americans in the AHL, and three of them weren't really a surprise. That group included Noah Ostlund, Vsevolod Komarov, and Zach Metsa, who was just brought up yesterday due to the injuries the team had on defense.
The fourth player, though, was a bit of a surprise, but not necessarily with how Radim Mrtka has played starting in the Prospect Challenge through training camp and the preseason. Mrtka was the ninth overall pick this past June in the 2025 NHL Draft, and the initial plan seemed to include another season in the WHL with the Seattle Thunderbirds.
However, the 18-year-old has played very well over the past few weeks and so well that the team felt it was better to send him to the AHL instead of back down to juniors. This is a clear indication that the Sabres believe he is closer to the NHL than many initially thought.
When might Radim Mrtka be playing with the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL?
This is a great opportunity for Mrtka and to see how he performs against better players in the AHL with the Rochester Americans.
In the preseason, Mrtka played in four games (likely would have been five if he was not dealing with an illness prior to the preseason finale) and had 17 minutes of ice time or more in three of them. It was not necessarily perfect, but Mrtka made a lot of great plays with an assist in the first preseason game, five hits in the first game against the Red Wings, and a goal in the second game.
As good as Mrtka looked, the plan should be for him to get a full season in the AHL with the Rochester Americans. There are a number of players ahead of him that should get called up over the course of the season when there are injuries or the Sabres need depth for their blueline.
If this upcoming season goes well, though, for Mrtka, then next season becomes a legitimate possibility for him to begin the season with the Sabres. He has exceeded expectations almost every step of the way to this point and has earned the opportunity ahead of him.