Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) – The Buffalo Sabres have confirmed they have decided not to sign three of their former draft picks to entry-level contracts. Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News was the first to report this.
The one prospect not getting a contract from the Sabres that surprises me a little bit is 2022 fourth-round pick Mats Lindgren. I think it has more to do with organizational depth than Lindgren himself.
Buffalo will also not sign their two seventh-round picks from the 2020 draft. Albert Lyckasen is a defenseman playing in Sweden and Jakub Konecny is a forward playing in Czechia.
The deadline to sign Lindgren, Lyckasen and Konecny to entry-level contracts is Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. ET.
Buffalo already has a stable of young defensemen in the NHL, and another waiting in the wings with the Rochester Americans like Ryan Johnson and Nikita Novikov.
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Vsevolod Komarov is signed and will likely be in Rochester next season after wrapping up his junior season with the Drummondville Voltigeurs at the CHL Memorial Cup.
Komarov led the QMJHL in assists and points for defensemen playing for Drummondville and the Quebec Ramperts, where he won the Memorial Cup last season under head coach Patrick Roy. This season earned him QMJHL Defensemen of the Year honors, and a nomination for the CHL Defenseman of the Year.
Buffalo also drafted defenseman Maxim Strbak in the second round of the 2023 NHL Draft, who just finished his Freshman season at Michigan State University. Western New York native Gavin McCarthy was also taken in the third round last June, so there really is no room for Lindgren or Lyckasen.
Lindgren played the last two seasons of hockey with the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League. Despite adding size last summer, Lindgren is on the smaller side for a defenseman.
Buffalo signed their top-two picks from the 2020 NHL Draft, Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka, with the only other pick coming in the fifth-round being former Buffalo Junior Sabres forward Matteo Constantini. He has played two seasons at the University of North Dakota, where he scored 10 goals and added 14 assists in 60 games.
Last year, Constantini transferred to Western Michigan and had 11 goals and 20 assists for 31 points in 38 games.
Looking back at the 2022 NHL Draft, Buffalo has signed all three of their first-round picks in Matt Savoie, Noah Ostlund and Jiri Kulich. They’ve also inked third-round pick Viktor Neuchev.
