Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres announced on Tuesday their roster for this weekend's Sabres Prospects Challenge at Harborcenter. The roster includes four former first-round picks of the Sabres over the last few years.
The oldest of the first-round picks is Isak Rosen, who went 14th overall to Buffalo in the 2021 NHL Draft.
The 22-year-old has only played 15 NHL games, picking up just one assist in that span. The winger has 221 games in the American Hockey League with the Rochester Americans, scoring 73 goals and adding 85 assists for 158 points.
This year will be the fourth time Rosen has participated in the Sabres Prospects Challenge.
Meanwhile, Noah Ostlund was the 16th overall pick of the Sabres in the 2022 NHL Draft.
The 21-year-old saw his first NHL games near the end of last season, being kept off the scoresheet over eight games played. Ostlund played 58 games with the Amerks in his first professional season in North America last year, scoring 20 goals and picking up 20 assists for 40 points.
In 2024, the Sabres were very happy that forward Konsta Helenius fell to them at No. 14 overall. Helenius played this past season in the AHL as an 18-year-old, putting up 17 goals and 24 assists for 41 points in 73 games.
This year’s first-round pick was right-handed defenseman Radim Mrtka. After training camp, the ninth overall pick this past June will likely be sent to the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League.
In addition to Mrtka, others from last June’s draft playing will be third-round defenseman David Bedkowski, fourth-round forward Matous Kucharcik, fifth-round defenseman Noah Leberge, sixth-round forward Ashton Schultz, and two of Buffalo's three seventh-round picks, forwards Melvin Novotny and Ryan Rucinski.
Power forward Anton Wahlberg was taken in the second round of the 2023 NHL Draft, and has appeared in 83 AHL games so far, where he has 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points.
The goaltenders for Buffalo in this year's tournament will be 2022 second-round pick Topias Leinonen, 2023 fifth-rounder Scott Ratzlaff, 2024 seventh-round pick Ryerson Leenders and this year's fourth-round goalie Sam Meloche.
This will be Ratzlaff’s third tournament for the Sabres and Leenders' second.
The Sabres have some good young prospects in the college ranks, but they’ve already started classes.
Clarence Center native Gavin McCarthy has recently been named the new captain at Boston University. The 20-year-old defenseman was taken by the Sabres in the third round of the 2023 NHL Draft.
Join Brian Koziol, Josh Schmit and myself for a 7:05 p.m. faceoff on Friday when the Sabres host the New Jersey Devils at Harborcenter.
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