Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - For a second-straight year, a player representing the Buffalo Sabres has scored the Golden Goal at the World Championship.
Last year, it was Tage Thompson winning it for Team USA in a 1-0 overtime win over Switzerland in Sweden.
In 2026, Team Finland held a roster spot open for Konsta Helenius with the hopes he may join its roster if the Sabres had been eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Boy, are they happy they did.
Playing alongside team captain Aleksander Barkov (Florida Panthers) in six games throughout the tournament, Helenius scored picked up six points (3+3), including the game-winning goal in overtime on Sunday, a 1-0 win over the host nation Switzerland.
The Sabres' 2024 first-round pick (14th overall) was one of the "Black Aces" during Buffalo's first-round series against the Boston Bruins. The team then elevated Helenius to regular practice, knowing there was nobody that could play in the top-six if there was an injury.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff knew he had to make changes to the roster, trailing their second-round series against the Montreal Canadiens, 2-1 in games. The crazy atmosphere of the Bell Centre in Montreal is not like anything you've ever seen in sports, and there was no question the Sabres were intimidated by it in their Game 3 loss.
Ruff met with the coaching staff and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, and there was some doubt and worry about putting a 19-year-old in his first Stanley Cup Playoffs game in that environment. At then end of the day, they decided to put Helenius in because they know the confidence that he has.
Helenius did play a regular season game in Montreal earlier in the year, but this was a whole different environment.
Afterwards, Helenius just shrugged his shoulders and said it was no big deal. All it was was a hockey game. The kid made a difference in Game 4, playing 12:53 of ice-time, while being one of Buffalo's best players in a 3-2 win.
In Game 5, Helenius had a goal on five shots. In Game 6 back in Montreal - an elimination game for Buffalo - Helenius had a goal to help send the series back to Buffalo for Game 7.
In nine regular season games with Buffalo, Helenius had four points (1+3). In the American Hockey League with the Rochester Americans, he had 21 goals and 41 assists for 62 points in 63 games. He added three points in three playoff games.
Helenius felt the past season went well, especially since he got better as it went along.
"Overall, it was a great season," said Helenius during his end-of-season press conference before heading over for the World Championship in Switzerland. "I think I had a great camp, didn't make the team, went to Rochester and just played well there. Then I got a chance to play here and it was a great experience. It was easy to come here and play with the boys, they helped me a lot. And then I went back to 'Roch' and I knew if I wanted to play in the NHL, I needed to get a bit better. Tried to get better every day there, and they prepare you well to get to the NHL. So when I got a chance to come here later to play to be a 'Black Ace', I knew I had a great season. So if I get a chance to play, I just want to show that I can help the team to win. So when I got the chance, I just tried to do my best."
Two fellow Finns helped Helenius when he got to Buffalo after being drafted: Henri Jokiharju and then this season it was Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Luukkonen even lent the kid his car, which he proceeded to get into an accident with. But the Sabres goaltender pretty much just laughed it off, and didn't seem too concerned.
In Rochester, Helenius would pass up many scoring opportunities in favor of looking for teammates. Amerks assistant coach Vinny Prospal encouraged him to shoot more, and he listened.
Helenius said his first season in Rochester was tough, but this year, head coach Mike Leone wanted him to play faster with the puck. He feels that made him a much better player.
We are also already seeing what I had heard from many on the day he was drafted. Many, including now former general manager Kevyn Adams, were shocked he was still there at 14th overall, and I had quite a few scouts tell me Buffalo got a steal with the pick.
Five of the seven picks before Helenius were defensemen, leading to Adams and his staff getting their guy at No. 14.
There's no question, in my mind, that the AHL careers of Helenius, Noah Ostlund and Jiri Kulich are over. All are former first-round picks, and all will be Sabres next year, if they aren't traded.
The great thing about Ostlund and Helenius is they both play just as well on the wing as they do at center. Kulich has trouble on the wing, and is much better at center. He proved that at the end of the 2024-25 season when he centered Zach Benson and Thompson, and the line played well.
Thompson can't wait for these young players to be a big part of this team going into the future.
"Konsta was one of those guys that came in, and I didn't really know a whole lot about his game. And for being such a young guy, the way he plays the game is so mature," said Thompson at his end-of-season press conference. "He's got incredible skill and the ability to make plays and score goals, but the maturity in his game, I think, is pretty remarkable. To be thrown into a playoff series like that and to be rock solid, I was pretty impressed. So I'm really excited to see the summer he has, and coming into camp, he's going to be a big piece moving forward."
The question now becomes with these three young players ready to start making their marks in the NHL, will that affect how Kekalainen handles the negotiations with winger Alex Tuch? The Sabres general manager has already said any new contract must allow the team to keep getting better.
July 1 is the deadline - being the official start of the new league year and opening of NHL Free Agency.
The NHL Scouting Combine started on Monday in Buffalo. While there will, once again, be physical testing with the prospects later in the week for strength and conditioning coaches, the most important part of the week for several teams will be the interviews with the players and discussions with other teams on-hand.
