The Sabres ended up picking eight players in this year’s draft from nine picks, with just the one player trade
When the Buffalo Sabres traded down on Thursday in the first round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft to add a ninth pick in total, it looked like something big was in the works. It was very unlikely that the Sabres would end up picking nine players, given their need for help right now as they attempt to end an NHL-leading 13-year playoff drought.
However, there was disappointment in store for Buffalo fans, as the only trade General Manager Kevyn Adams was able to swing was a minor one, moving the 43rd pick for bottom six forward Beck Malenstyn from the Washington Capitals.
In all, the Sabres leave Las Vegas with eight prospects, more than you would expect from a team looking to make some noise in the regular season. However, that is a bit unfair on the actual draft itself because Buffalo went a long way towards replenishing the pipeline, especially in what was becoming a pretty bare defensemen section. In a vacuum and with the test of time, this could even be considered a great draft with the Sabres prioritizing players difficult to play against, and even a mandatory goaltender pick thrown in there.
However, the Sabres’s needs are now, and aside from a first round pick in Konsta Helenius who could be ready to play in the big league very soon, if Buffalo will need this crop of players to break the playoff drought then things have gone very wrong.
Round 1: Konsta Helenius – C – Jukurit (Liiga) | 14th overall
The 5-foot-11, 189-pound native of Ylojarvi, Finland recorded 36 points (14+22) in 51 games in Finland’s top professional league (Liiga) while on a loan to Mikkelin Jukurit. His 36 points were the fourth-most in a single season by an under-18 player in Liiga history behind current NHL forwards Aleksander Barkov (48), Mikael Granlund (40), and Kaapo Kakko (38). His 47 career points rank second all-time among Liiga players before the age of 18, trailing only Barkov.
Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams believes that Helenius could be ready for pro hockey soon. “We see a winning hockey player,” Adams said. “Someone who’s going to play center for us and help us win hockey games.”
Round 2: Adam Kleber – D – Lincoln (USHL) | 42nd overall
The 6-foot-6, 215-pound right-shot defenseman recorded 26 points (5+21) in 56 games for the Lincoln Stars of the USHL in 2023-24. He led all Lincoln defensemen in goals (5), game-winning goals (3), power-play goals (2), and points (26). Kleber earned bronze with Team USA at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup last August, recording one assist in five games. The Chaska, Minnesota native is committed to play collegiately at the University of Minnesota Duluth in 2024-25.
Assistant GM Jerry Forton said that Kleber was a “huge priority” for the organization due to his compete and character. “I think he has a good brain for the game,” Forton said. “The character with this kid is just as much a part of the story as anything else. He left Minnesota high school hockey before his junior year to move out to Lincoln, Nebraska, played two full years in the USHL, which is extremely rare for a kid to leave Minnesota high school at that stage. … Forced his way onto the US team at the World Junior A Challenge. Was the youngest D-member on that team and started as the seventh D-man, and at the end of the tournament was their best player.”
Round 3: Brodie Ziemer – RW – USNTDP | 71st overall
The Sabres used the third-round pick to select forward Brodie Ziemer, who posted 70 points (27+43) in 61 games with the U.S. National Team Development Program, finishing fourth on the team in points. A native of Hutchinson, Minnesota, Ziemer served as team captain for Team USA at the U-18 World Championship, leading the team to a silver medal after tallying three goals and nine assists in seven games. At 5-foot-11, 196-pounds, Ziemer is committed to play at the University of Minnesota in 2024-25.
Forton shared that had the Sabres not moved up to get Ziemer, that they may have had to move down about 20 spots on their draft list for the next available player. “Captain of the U.S. team, moved all around their top six all season long, really for two seasons,” Forton said. “Is a player that just makes other players and linemates and really drives entire teams and programs culture there. I’m very convinced – we’re all very close on our staff with the University of Minnesota staff – I can almost assure you, he’ll be just like he was at the National Program. He’ll be a future captain at the University of Minnesota. And he’s got a fallback game, but he’s also got great hands around the net and a good shot overall.“
Round 4: Luke Osburn – D – Youngstown (USHL) | 108th overall
The 6-foot-1, 172-pound defenseman ranked third among USHL rookie blueliners with 23 points (8+15) in 60 games. Osburn is committed to the University of Wisconsin.
Round 4: Simon-Pier Brunet – D – Drummondville (QMJHL) | 123rd overall
With pick No. 123, the Sabres selected defenseman Simon-Pier Brunet, who played in 52 games for the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.
The 6-foot-2, 196-pound native of Gatineau, Quebec recorded 14 points (4+10) those contests and added two goals and four assists in 19 playoff games as the Voltigeurs took home the QMJHL title to advance to the Memorial Cup. Brunet played alongside current Sabres prospect Vsevolod Komarov in Drummondville.
Round 6: Patrick Geary – D – Michigan State University | 172nd overall
Geary played in 32 games for Michigan State in his rookie campaign, tallying five goals and eight assists in those contests while playing with current Sabres prospect Max Strbak. A native of Buffalo, the left-shot defenseman played AAA Junior Hockey for the Buffalo Jr. Sabres for four seasons before playing for the Waterloo Black Hawks of the USHL in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Forton said the Sabres’ scouting staff saw a lot of Geary while watching Strbak and that he became a player they really liked. “He was a player that Jason Nightingale was extremely passionate about as were others, myself included,” Forton said. “We brought him into our own little mini combine in Buffalo. I had Tim Kennedy and Jason and others telling me what an elite athlete he was always. We ran him through the same tests that our NHL players run through and that they use at the Combine. He would have tested out at the combine in the top three percentile of all the athletes at the combine and probably top five percentile of our NHL players. And love the path. But a couple more years at least at Michigan State. Being a Buffalo kid’s a bonus, and we obviously know his character inside and out.”
Round 7: Vasily Zelenov – LW – RB Hockey Juniors | 204th overall
Zelenov recorded 14 goals and 37 points in 40 contests for Red Bull in the Alps Hockey League, ranking second on the team in assists and goals and third in points.
He led Austria’s junior league in both goals in points during the 2023 playoffs and captured a championship with RB Hockey Juniors.
Round 7: Ryerson Leenders – G – Mississauga (OHL) | 219th overall
Leenders appeared in 46 games for the Steelheads and posted a 24-17-4 overall record along with a league-best .909 save percentage. He recorded a .933 save percentage in two playoff games for Mississauga in 2024.
The 10th-ranked North American goalie by NHL Central Scouting earned a gold medal with Team Canada at both the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and the 2024 IIHF U-18 World Championship.