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The 32-in-32 Series is an annual event here at DobberProspects! Every day in August we will be bringing you a complete breakdown of a team’s Draft, and insights into their off-season movements thus far. Following this up in September, we will dive into every team’s prospect depth charts with fantasy insights and implications for the upcoming seasons. Check back often, because we plan on filling your hockey withdrawal needs all off-season long!

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By: Kevin Wong

The Buffalo Sabres had one objective in mind when they made their eight selections in the 2024 NHL Draft — to acquire more building blocks for a roster that encapsulates power, intensity, and two-way accountability. Their 2023 draft class signalled a step towards this foundation. Their latest crop of selections represents a continued procurement of these qualities, headlined by one of the draft class’ most highly-coveted two-way forwards.

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Draft Recap

Round One, 14th Overall – Konsta Helenius, C

The Sabres opted for 5-foot-11 Finnish centerman Helenius with their first draft choice, trading down from the 11th pick to the 14th just moments prior. Helenius offers a tenacious two-way game with smooth puck-transitioning abilities through the neutral zone and an ability to maneuver the puck within tight spaces. He is capable of delivering crisp passes even in challenging scenarios, although he is sometimes prone to holding on to the puck for too long in an attempt to open up passing lanes for his team. He is not the quickest of players nor does he control the puck with the craftiness and elegance of an elite stick-handler.

His patience and creativity are among his strengths, allowing him to be an effective playmaker and forechecker. He engages with intent in traffic, pushing the opponent to move the puck or forfeit it to his team. This is manifested through strong body position and contact along the boards.

He has spent the last two seasons with Jukurit of Liiga, although his rights belong to Tappara. In 51 games this year, he scored 14 goals and 36 points. He achieved a draft-year points-per-game average of 0.71, only slightly behind Patrik Laine’s 0.72 Liiga average in 2015-16. He also represented Team Finland at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, the U18s, as well as at this year’s World Championship in Prague. He became the youngest ever player to represent Team Finland at the men’s championship event.

His strong situational awareness and ferocity aid him on the defensive side of the puck as well. As the Sabres attempt to develop a hard-nosed identity with the likes of Tage Thompson, Zach Benson and Dylan Cozens, the acquisition of Helenius represents a continuation of this process rather than any deviation.

Round Two, 42nd Overall – Adam Kleber, D

To enrich their depth on defense, 6-foot-5 shutdown defender Adam Kleber became the Sabres’ second-round choice. Kleber has represented the Lincoln Stars of the USHL these past two seasons and is slated to join the University of Minnesota-Duluth in the NCAA in 2024-25. His size, reach and ability to maintain sufficient gap control with opposition puck carriers contributed to his selection at 42nd overall. He tends to play on the left side as a right-shot defender.

Kleber is adequately mobile for his size, allowing him to track and contain his opponent without too much difficulty. His first two steps can be slow, which sometimes causes him to become flat-footed when the puck is just out of reach. He can reach a fair top speed and maintains it while turning. There remains the potential for him to add strength to his frame, enhancing his ability to engage along the boards and to protect the bottom half of his own zone.

He has also shown improvements to his puck support capabilities, as he had in the past been weaker at initiating breakouts and fostering offensive momentum for his team. As a result of these developments, Kleber possesses a wide-enough array of other attributes to complement his defensive acumen. His offensive skill set remains fairly limited at this stage, however. He tallied 21 assists along with five goals in 56 games in 2023-24 with the Stars after recording a mere eight assists in 2022-23.

Round Three, 71st Overall – Brodie Ziemer, RW

The Sabres added another high-intensity player in the third round, drafting 5-foot-11 sparkplug Ziemer of the USNTDP with their 71st-overall pick. Ziemer captained the USNTDP’s U18 squad and embodied that leadership role on the ice with his high motor and fierce pursuit of the puck. He spent the season on a line with James Hagens, the current favorite to be selected first overall in the 2025 NHL Draft. Ziemer’s puck retrievals, particularly his ability to pressure the opponent, helped to facilitate the offensive control of his line, including at the 2024 U18 World Juniors where he scored three goals and twelve points in seven games.

Although he has not yet exhibited the high-level puck skills or the vision required to be an effective playmaker, he drives his line’s possession and zone-to-zone transition with tenacious board work and a valuable relentlessness. His linemates tend to take charge of creating offensive plays once his team has the puck. He possesses a heavy shot and can finish plays both point-blank and from further out. He backchecks aggressively, sometimes bodychecking the opponent to separate them from the puck.

He scored 27 goals and 70 points in 61 games with the USNTDP team in 2023-24. He is expected to join the University of Minnesota this fall.

Round Four, 108th Overall – Luke Osburn, D

The Sabres selected Osburn of the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms with their 108th-overall pick. He was born on September 9, 2006, making him one of the youngest 2024-eligible draftees. The University of Wisconsin is his choice of destination to play in 2026.

Osburn’s game revolves around his smooth, powerful skating strides and prompt reaction time.

There are some weaknesses in this 6-foot-1 puck mover’s defensive posturing, but he has largely compensated for this in his current league with his mobility and a good sense of anticipation to attack rush plays early. He often tries to intercept the puck by accelerating into the opponent’s passing lane. In footraces for loose pucks, he is comfortable with his ability to out-skate the opponent. Osburn can quickly initiate a counter-attack for his team off of a high-speed backcheck or an aggressive poke at the opposing puck carrier. He pivots well and maneuvers fluidly along the ice. Osburn is not afraid to initiate a body check. There remain some positional and board work issues in his own end, although further coaching may help to alleviate these concerns.

Once his team has possession of the puck, he becomes an active participant in their attack. There is little hesitation in Osburn’s transition game, as once he has gained the puck in his own end, he will either carry it up with confidence or distribute it with a sense of snap and urgency. He can transition up the ice quickly and can weave around traffic at the point, utilizing his edges to bait opposing defenders and create lanes when he has the puck on his stick. He has a penchant for pinching and sliding down the offensive zone, cutting with a subtle move to get past the opponent and below the faceoff circles. Despite all of this, he lacks some of the playmaking prowess and patience that could otherwise allow Osburn to be more of an o-zone quarterback. He scored eight goals and 23 points in 60 games with Youngstown last year, his one and only season in the USHL.

Round Four, 123rd Overall – Simon-Pierre Brunet, D

Six-foot-two defenseman Brunet is the first of two 2024 Sabres draftees to be selected from the CHL. Representing the Drummondville Voltigeurs for the past three seasons, Brunet was joined by fellow Sabres defense prospect Vsevolod Komarov in 2023-24. The two played on different pairings, but nonetheless reached the Memorial Cup Finals together after winning the QMJHL championship.

Brunet played on the Voyageurs’ penalty kill and provided a mostly-stay-at-home role in a third-pairing capacity. The defensive defenseman does not play a particularly aggressive style, although he is an opportunistic bodychecker. He throws his weight along the boards and regularly bumps the opponent to dislodge the puck from them. There are times, however, when Brunet will line up a hit even when it might take him out of the play. In such cases, his teammates must cover for him on the back end until he returns. Brunet possesses average speed, often taking a few strides and gliding along deep in his own end.

His four goals and ten assists in 52 games were nearly triple his point total of five from the year before. Brunet handles the puck with a degree of stiffness, although he can pass the puck out of trouble without much concern.

Another strength is Brunet’s active stick, which he uses to tie up the opposition in front of his own crease. He has a lengthy reach that he uses to poke the puck away, although he becomes flat-footed while reaching. He can be a scrappy defender, particularly in front of his net.

The Sabres sought to bolster their pool of defense prospects this summer, adding four with different stylistic appeals.

Round Six, 172nd Overall – Patrick Geary, D

In the sixth round, the Sabres selected 20-year-old defensive defender Patrick Geary of the NCAA’s Michigan State University. This past season, he was a teammate of 2023 Sabres draftee, defenseman Maxim Strbak. He is similar to his fellow 2024 Sabres draftees in that he prioritizes responsible play in his own end and can be effective at protecting his goaltender from high-danger scoring opportunities. During the campaign, he was tasked with killing penalties and was relied upon even more so in the NCAA national tournament to defend in four-on-three and five-on-three scenarios.

Geary lacks a sense of offensive consciousness, opting not to be too adventurous or complex. His plays with the puck seem intended simply to avoid making mistakes, whether it be lobbing the puck on net from the point or chipping it deep upon encountering it in the neutral zone. Geary’s passes are sufficiently delivered to his teammates.

He needs to improve his mobility and can be caught flat-footed while defending off the rush. If the opponent chips the puck past him, they can sometimes skate on to it before he can cut them off. Geary’s puck-handling skills also require some refinement, as he can be handcuffed when the puck crosses his path from uncomfortable angles. Geary handles it with a good sense of control while carrying it in open ice, however.

Round Seven, 204th Overall – Vasily Zelenov, LW

After selecting a slew of defenders in the middle rounds, the Sabres acquired 6-foot-0 winger Zelenov with their 204th pick. Based out of Austria, he spent 2023-24 with the Salzburg Red Bull Juniors of the Alps Hockey League, a men’s professional league formed from the 2016 merger of Italy’s Serie A and the Austrian-Slovenian Inter-National League.

Zelenov scored 14 goals and 37 points for his team, third most among his teammates.

He moves choppily on the ice and seems to have trouble affecting the momentum of the game at his current level. Zelenov does not move the puck very quickly when he has it nor does he handle it with a particularly high degree of sensitivity or finesse. He can cradle the puck at a high tempo, but risks losing it when he tries to do too much. The pressure of his opposition tends to be enough to contain him.

Zelenov does not tend to anticipate well enough to execute timely transition plays or outlet passes. Additionally, the deficiencies in his maneuverability hamper his ability to create space for himself when he has the puck on his stick. His lack of effective mechanics also seem to impair his ability to hustle on the backcheck and engage in shot-blocking.

If Zelenov can continue to develop his technical abilities, he may be able to advance his professional career. Improvements to his situational awareness are also necessary, as the pace of play will only become more challenging at higher tiers of competition.

Round Seven, 219th Overall – Ryerson Leenders, G

The Sabres used their final pick to select an acrobatic 6-foot-1 goaltender, Leenders of the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads. With a 2023-24 record of 24-17-4-0, a league-leading save percentage of .909 among starters and a goals-against average of 3.12 in 46 games, he received strong attention during his draft season. He represented Team Canada at the IIHF U18 World Juniors and played the first 30 minutes of the Kubota Top Prospects Game for Team Red to help backstop them to a 3-1 win.

He challenges shooters aggressively in order to take away vulnerabilities and has the lateral explosiveness to shuffle across his crease and track cross-crease scoring chances. Leenders is a mobile goaltender with very active legs to take away the bottom half of the net and control rebounds. His speedy reflexes allow him to kick loose pucks away from danger in some situations. He plays with a more animated technique than many larger goaltenders, but is also quite poised and deliberate.

There would be a degree of risk associated with selecting a netminder of this profile earlier in the draft, as his game requires an advanced sense of anticipation, athleticism and technical ability. As the level of competition increases, Leenders’ development must also keep pace. His potential ceiling is certainly part of the allure that prompted the Sabres to use their seventh-round pick to secure his rights.

The organization selected 6-foot-1 goaltender Scott Ratzlaff in the fifth round a year ago, giving them now a pair of prospects of that type.

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Off-Season Moves

Outgoing: Jeff Skinner, Victor Olofsson, Zemgus Girgensons, Tyson Jost, Riley Stillman, Brandon Biro, Eric Comrie, Eric Robinson, Linus Weissbach, Jeremy Davies, Joseph Cecconi, Matthew Savoie

Incoming: Jason Zucker, Sam Lafferty, Beck Malenstyn, Ryan Mcleod, James Reimer, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Colton Poolman, Felix Sandstrom, Dennis Gilbert, Jack Rathbone, Josh Dunne, Tyler Tullio

Despite being closer to a playoff berth than they have been in over a decade, the Sabres still fell short of their ultimate objective. This year’s result was the catalyst for a major shakeup. Numerous former core members are gone, most notably Jeff Skinner and Victor Olofsson. The emergence of Olofsson as an NHL sniper in 2019-20 brought high expectations, but he failed to elevate his game further in the following four seasons. His faults as a forechecker were never fully offset by his propensity to find soft spots in high-percentage scoring areas. Skinner, likewise, might be less-suited than other candidates for the more abrasive, faster direction that the Sabres are now aiming to achieve. The departure of Casey Mittelstadt at the end of last season is another example of the team’s actions to transition away from the previous combination of open-ice skill and passive board work.

Sam Lafferty, Jason Zucker and Ryan Macleod offer abundant speed, pace and pressure. They apply a high output of energy in each shift, qualities mirrored by most of the Sabres’ latest draftees. The price of Matthew Savoie to obtain Mcleod will be a source of discussion for years, but a balanced approach to finesse and intensity seems to be the objective, whereas the team had too little defensive accountability and intensity.

Lindy Ruff’s return to Buffalo after an 11-year absence is another major change, swapping out Don Granato’s direction of the past six years as both assistant and head coach in exchange for the mind behind Buffalo’s last era of stability and success.

The changes this season have been some of the boldest in quite some time, and the expectation is that they will finally restore some dignity for the Buffalo Sabres.

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Kevin is @CambieKev on Twitter. He is a scout, writer, video editor and hockey historian who has published visual and written material for DobberProspects, Canucks Army (The Nation Network), Pass It To Bulis, Nucks Misconduct (SBNation/Vox), and Last Word on Sports, among other organizations. His content has also been featured in such publications as The Athletic. He is a Future Considerations (FCHockey) alumnus and has been with the DobberHockey team since March 2020 as both a scout and columnist. Kevin is also the creator of The Lost Shifts video series, numerous story-based montages, and the 85-minute highlight film, Pavel Bure: A Rocket Through Time.