The Buffalo Sabres announced the 2024 Prospects Challenge schedule on Tuesday, as they’ll be hosting the Boston Bruins, Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Ottawa Senators at LECOM Harborcenter. The teams of NHL hopefuls will face off beginning Friday, September 13th in the annual round-robin tournament. The rosters have yet to be announced, but based on the prospect pool we have a good idea of who may participate in the event for Buffalo.
Last year, first-round draft selection Zach Benson was the highlight of the Sabres’ roster for the tournament, as he began his quick rise to proving he can jump straight to the NHL. Other top prospects participating were forwards Jiri Kulich, Isak Rosen, Matthew Savoie, and defenseman Ryan Johnson. Savoie has since been traded to the Edmonton Oilers in the Ryan McLeod deal.
Generally, the prospects participating in the event play in North America in the upcoming season. European leagues such as the KHL, SHL, and Liiga begin sooner and are in session during the tournament, so those prospects have already been returned to their teams. NCAA players also generally do not participate for similar reasons. Instead, we get a mix of AHL, ECHL, OHL, QMJHL, and WHL players in each team’s pipeline.
So who may participate in the Prospect Challenge for the Buffalo Sabres? Let’s run through the options available.
Buffalo Sabres Prospects Challenge Projected Roster
Featured Forwards
- Konsta Helenius (Unknown)
- Jiri Kulich (AHL)
- Noah Ostlund (AHL)
- Isak Rosen (AHL)
- Anton Wahlberg (AHL)
The Sabres did not ask Kulich, Rosen, Noah Ostlund, and Anton Wahlberg to participate in Development Camp in July to give their top prospects a rest and to get a better look at some of the other talent in the pipeline. Kulich and Rosen got a taste of NHL action last season, but could still be invited onto the roster to gauge where they stand against their peers.
Ostlund and Wahlberg are coming over full-time from Sweden and are available for their first Prospects Challenge. Both should be featured players, as the Sabres see a bright future for their pair of Swedish centers.
Konsta Helenius is a wild card, as he’ll participate in the tournament if Buffalo decides to bring him over to North America to play in the AHL (or potentially NHL) this season. If he returns to Liiga, he will not be available to play for the Sabres in the Challenge.
All together, the Sabres’ top five forward prospects in the tournament are as elite as it gets. They should dominate in the scoring department, especially when matched up against players in Canadian Juniors.
Featured Defenseman
- Vsevolod Komarov (AHL)
- Nikita Novikov (AHL)
Vsevolod Komarov is coming off a stellar season, winning QMJHL Defenseman of the Year honors. He posted 69 points in 60 games, bringing an offensive upside to the team to complement the top forward prospects.
Nikita Novikov is more of a steady presence on the backend, bringing physicality and puck-moving skills to a potential top pair with Komarov. Both could stick together in AHL Rochester as well, forming a promising Russian duo on the backend.
Featured Goalies
- Scott Ratzlaff (WHL)
Scott Ratzlaff was the standout top goalie at Sabres Development Camp. He’ll return to Seattle of the WHL this season to refine his game, but Ratzlaff is already the most athletic goalie in the organization outside of the NHL.
Returning Forwards
- Riley Fiddler-Schultz (AHL)
- Aleksander Kisakov (AHL)
- Tyson Kozak (AHL)
- Ethan Miedema (OHL)
- Olivier Nadeau (AHL)
- Viktor Neuchev (AHL)
- Graham Slaggert (AHL)
Six other Rochester Americans will likely return to the Prospects Challenge Roster for the Sabres, as Aleksander Kisakov and Viktor Neuchev are prime candidates to provide secondary scoring and top-six minutes. Tyson Kozak and Olivier Nadeau are looking to take another step forward as they remain longshot NHL hopefuls.
Riley Fiddler-Schultz and Graham Slaggert are on AHL deals with Rochester and will help fill out the roster.
Perhaps the most intriguing player on this list is Ethan Miedema, a big, skilled power forward who flashed in the three-on-three tournament at Development Camp.
Returning Defensemen
- Chris Jandric (AHL)
- Zach Metsa (AHL)
- Norwin Panocha (QMJHL)
Norwin Panocha is the only returning Sabres draftee after Komarov and Novikov. He looked steady in Development Camp, showing professional upside after being drafted in the seventh round in 2023.
Chris Jandric and Zach Metsa are heading into the second year of their AHL deals and will help round out the defense.
New Forwards
- Ty Cheveldayoff (AHL)
- Tyler Tullio (AHL)
The Amerks signed 21-year-old Ty Cheveldayoff to an AHL deal this summer. The Prospects Challenge will be the first extensive look the organization gets at the young winger, who scored 35 points in 57 games for Spokane of the WHL last season.
Tyler Tullio is on a two-way deal after coming over with McLeod in the Savoie trade. He still has an outside chance at the NHL and the Sabres will get their first look at him in the uniform as well.
New Defensemen
- Simon-Pier Brunet (QMJHL)
- Noah Laaouan (AHL)
- Peter Tischke (AHL)
Simon-Pier Brunet was Komarov’s teammate in Drummondville of the QMJHL last season, where he’ll return to play in 2024-2025. Depending on Helenius’ landing spot this season, the fourth-round draft pick may be the only skater from the 2024 draft class available to play in the tournament.
Noah Laaouan and Peter Tischke are on AHL deals, providing the depth needed to complete the roster.
New Goalies
- Ryerson Leenders (OHL)
While Brunet may be the only skater from the 2024 draft available to participate for the Sabres, Ryerson Leenders is expected to be the team’s second goalie in the Prospects Challenge. Leenders was selected in the seventh round by Buffalo and is returning to the OHL this season.
Non-Roster Invites
Last year, the Sabres carried 15 forwards, eight defensemen, and two goalies into the Prospects Challenge. The team included two players, one forward and one goalie, who had no association with the Sabres organization. These players were considered “non-roster invitees” and were brought in to round out the team.
The Sabres have two goalies already in Ratzlaff and Leenders, so they won’t have to invite someone at the position. Eight defensemen are slated for the roster, giving them a nice even number for practice and two extras for games.
The forward group is where they are most thin, thanks to several prospects in the NCAA and overseas. If Kulich and Rosen are asked to play in the tournament, and Helenius participates, the Sabres have 14 forwards. They went with 15 last season to make it a clean five lines to work with.
If they decide to do the same this season, one non-roster player invite reaches that number.
Sabres Prospects Challenge Potential Lines
Now for the fun part – let’s form some potential lines the Sabres could use in the Prospects Challenge. Here’s what the forwards could look like:
Jiri Kulich – Noah Ostlund – Isak Rosen
Anton Wahlberg – Konsta Helenius – Viktor Neuchev
Ethan Miedema – Tyson Kozak – Aleksander Kisakov
Ty Cheveldayoff – Graham Slaggert – Tyler Tullio
*Non-Roster Invitee* – Riley Fiddler-Schultz – Olivier Nadeau
Kulich, Rosen, and Ostlund have long been discussed as three of the top four prospects in the Sabres pipeline, and we may get our first chance to see them all together. The top six, with Helenius, could be very exciting to watch.
This deep group is impressive considering the Sabres will not have some of their most intriguing forward prospects such as Brodie Ziemer, Stiven Sardarian, and Jake Richard.
As for the defense, the pairings could look like this:
Nikita Novikov – Vsevolod Komarov
Norwin Panocha – Zach Metsa
Chris Jandric – Simon-Pier Brunet
Peter Tischke – Noah Laaouan
The defensive group is less impressive, with Adam Kleber, Maxim Strbak, Gavin McCarthy, and Luke Osburn unavailable. The focus will be on Novikov and Komarov to do most of the heavy lifting.
As for the goalies, things are pretty clear-cut:
Starter: Scott Ratzlaff
Backup: Ryerson Leenders
Ratzlaff will get most of the crease duty, with Leenders working in at times. 2022 second-round pick Topias Leinonen will be in net in the Swedish HockeyAllsvenskan for Mora IK, making him unavailable for the tournament.
Buffalo is solid in net, can get by on defense, and is stacked at forward. As long as Kulich, Rosen, and Helenius participate, the Sabres have a serious chance of winning the Prospects Challenge in front of their home crowd.
