Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Rochester Americans head coach Mike Leone is taking part in his third Sabres Development Camp in Buffalo. Not only does Leone get to see the up-and-coming players in the organization at development camp, but he also has coached some of them at the AHL level.
The Sabres' 2025 first-round pick Radim Mrtka got to play four games for Leone last season before getting sent back to juniors. Once the Seattle Thunderbirds' season was over, the defenseman came back and played four more games, and then three games in the playoffs against the eventual Calder Cup champion Toronto Marlies.
I was curious if Leone saw a big difference in the, then, 18-year-old from the beginning of the season until he got back to Rochester at the end of the year.
"He had a really good training camp, and I think confidence is a huge thing with a young player," Leone said following Monday's opening day of development camp at Harborcenter. "He played really good in the exhibition games, he comes down to Rochester, he's playing with a lot of swagger and confidence, and then he went back to Seattle playing a lot of minutes. His team wasn't as good, and then you get him back and I thought his first couple of games back were a deer in headlights. We had a really hard schedule, we played Providence [Bruins] twice, and they won 54 games. But I thought as he got back to where he was when he first played early in the season, he started to get more comfortable. And then playing in the playoffs, especially because we ended up playing the team that won the whole thing, for him to play that series and go through the emotion of the series and have a chance in Game 3 was really good for him."
The Marlies won the best-of-three series, 2-1.
Leone spent two years coaching Noah Ostlund for 52 games, and two years coaching 2024 first-round pick Konsta Helenius for 128 games.
Ostlund only played seven games in the AHL this season before being called up to Buffalo, and played so well he never went back. He earned 60 games with the Sabres and three more in the playoffs before getting injured.
Leone was very happy for Ostlund, who was the 16th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.
"Noah last year started out the season, he had one point in 10 games. I'm sure there's a lot of questions being asked about, but I told a lot of you, I've coached a lot of talented players. And if you see the work he put in while he was injured, I call Noah a quiet worker. He goes about his business, real humble, and he just has traits you can't teach," Leone said. "His ability to transport the puck, he makes players around him better, and I knew it was just a matter of time.
"He came back from injury and I think he was AHL Player of the Month two months in-a-row. He went to Syracuse, and there's no where to hide there. I think he had five points and was the best player on the ice. And then to see him get the opportunity this year, I couldn't be more proud."
As for Helenius, he made his playoff debut in the most difficult atmosphere in hockey - Montreal - and it didn't phase the 19-year-old one bit.
"'Hele' came over last year and it's a big jump - the game's faster, he needed to get quicker. We had a really good discussion in his exit meeting on what he needed to do to get better, and a big part of coaching now is understanding what makes players tick," Leone said. "'Hele' is a player that you can be extremely hard on, and I love that about him. He wants to know when he's not playing good, and I thought this year he made a huge commitment to play winning hockey. It wasn't just about points.
"What I was most proud of is he got called up and played in a tough environment, and he's fearless and has a swagger to him where he can go into any rink and think he's the best player on the ice. That's what makes him great, and it happened fast for both of those kids."
This year's first-round pick Daxon Rudolph was on the ice just three days after being drafted fourth overall by the Sabres.
"It was a tough day in the gym, but it's fun to see everyone else and competing," said Rudolph following his first development camp session.
Rudolph seems to have a plan as to how long he'll play college hockey at the University of Denver.
"In a perfect world, I think it will be one year," he said. "I'm definitely not scared of two, no rush at all to jump into the league. I want to make an impact when I do, so if it's two years, I'm completely fine with that. I'll just assess at the end of next year and go from there."
The only player from the Sabres organization that Rudolph has played with was Mrtka. He will be going against many of his Sabres teammates next season with the Pioneers.
The Amerks head coach has gotten to know many of them
The Amerks head coach has gotten to know many of them
