Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) – The Sabres took Buffalo native Patrick Geary in the sixth round of the 2024 NHL Draft. Geary has already played his first season at Michigan State University, along with Sabres' 2023 second-round pick Max Strbak.
The defenseman got drafted as a 20-year-old in his final year of eligibility.
"Great story there. Another high compete player," said Sabres assistant general manager Jerry Forton after Saturday's NHL Draft in Las Vegas. "Two years in the USHL, forced his way into the lineup at Michigan State this year. And with Strbak there, we saw Michigan State so many times. He was a player that Jason Nightingale was extremely passionate about, as were others, myself included.
“We brought him into our own little mini-combine. I had 'Timmy' Kennedy and Jason and others telling me what an elite athlete he was, and he would test out of the Combine in the top-three percentile in all the athletes at the Combine, and probably top-five percentile in all NHL players. We like the path with a couple of more years at Michigan State, and he knows character inside-and-out."
Geary didn’t get drafted at 18-years-old when he was playing in the USHL with the Waterloo Black Hawks, and Forton has an idea of why.
"I would consider him still a very raw player," he said. "I think by his own admission, he was a little bit of a Cowboy on the ice at times, I would say like a wild horse, he would just want to rely on high compete all the time. Being at Michigan State and playing college hockey in the Big Ten, he’s adapting to a little more structure. He scored the game-winning goal in the Big Ten Championship Game, so he’s started to reign his game in a little bit."
Geary was a part of the Buffalo Jr. Sabres program with Buffalo’s third-round pick in 2023, Gavin McCarthy. McCarthy just finished his Freshman year at Boston University, and was thrilled when his former teammate got drafted.
"I texted him right away and was super happy for him, and happy to have him here," the Clarence Center native said. "I played 16U hockey with him, so it’s super cool to see."
Other former Jr. Sabres in this week’s development camp is 2020 fifth-round pick Matteo Costantini, Jak Vaarwerk and Aiden McKenna.
Geary says he knew he wouldn’t go until the later rounds. He saw Buffalo had a pick in the sixth-round, and was hoping to get picked by his hometown team.
Not only did Michigan State have Strbak and Geary, but they also had this year’s second overall pick, Artyom Levshunov, who went to the Chicago Blackhawks. Geary says it wasn’t easy to break in.
"We were stacked on the D, so I just went in there day-by-day," said Geary after Tuesday's session of Sabres Development Camp. "The coaches are great there, they have a plan for you. I just trusted them a lot. It didn’t go well the first month, I was out of the lineup, but I stuck to it and ran with it."
Geary says he hit it off with Strbak as soon as he got there. Now they’ll have the opportunity to maybe be pro teammates.
"He’s been great," Geary said. "I lived next to him all year, so I got to know him pretty well, but he’s so smart. He’s a young kid, but is mature for his age. He sees the ice a little bit different, and he’s a little more offensive than I am. He helps me with that."
At Sabres Development Camp on Tuesday, this year’s top pick, Konsta Helenius, looked great in many different ways.
I saw him on two different occasions get knocked down with the puck, and he never lost possession. Once he popped up and set up a goal.
Helenius seems like a puck hound when he doesn’t have it, and he’s on a mission to get it back.
The 18-year-old sees teammates well, as he found players coming into the rush late for goals.
2022 third-round pick Viktor Neuchev showed off his speed and skill a few times, allowing the winger to break in for a few nice goals.
McCarthy also looked like he was reading plays pretty well, which lead to offense.
Sabres Development Camp continues on Wednesday morning at Harborcenter with an 11 a.m. ET start time.
