Grading the Sabres’ 2025 Draft Picks

The Sabres did not have many top-end right-handed defenders before they made this pick, and they have been struggling to find one for their full-time lineup for a while now. While Mrtka is not an immediate solution to their problem, he is an outstanding long-term option for them when he is ready in just a few years. They get an A for this pick.

Round 3: Pick 71 – David Bedkowski, Defense

Keeping with the trend of large defenders, the Sabres went with one of the bigger and tougher defenders in this draft when they took David Bedkowski in the third round. Another towering player, standing at 6-foot-5, he is more of a shutdown defender who moves players better than he moves pucks. He is not the kind of player who does anything super flashy, but he can skate well, throw hits, and keep position pretty well. He will not be ready for the NHL, likely for four-plus seasons, but he is a prospect to keep a close eye on. The Sabres get an A for this pick as well.

Round 4: Pick 103 – Matous Kucharcik, Center

Matous Kucharcik is a little bit of a different pick compared to what the Sabres usually take with their forwards. While they normally look for the skilled players who rely on their natural talent to carry them, or very simply to play a high-octane game to put up a lot of points, Kucharcik is the antithesis to that. This kid is a two-way, defense-first type forward, and he is the kind of player that rounds out a roster on their bottom two lines. He plays hard, he plays smart, and he makes the players around him look good just by being in position. He has some work to do in his finishing ability, as players will still need to score as they progress to the NHL, but if he can develop into a playmaker with defensive abilities, he would be a premier third-line center for any team. The Sabres get a B for this pick.

Round 4: Pick 116 – Samuel Meloche, Goaltender

Looking objectively at the player, Samuel Meloche is a decent goalie prospect. He plays in the high-scoring Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies as a goalie, and he has managed to accumulate 38 wins and six shutouts during his tenure there. He has good reflexes, and he can read plays just as well as most goalies at his level. Where the pick is slightly confusing is that the Sabres have a number of goalie prospects already in their pipeline. Take out Rochester star Devon Levi since he may make the team out of camp, and has spent some time in the NHL, and they still had three other goalie prospects before taking Meloche. The player is good, but the player type is questionable here. Sabres get a B-minus for the player, and a D for the position choice.

Round 5: Pick 135 – Noah Laberge, Defense

Adding another defender to their prospect list was definitely the right call, since the Sabres’ prospect group there was getting depleted. Noah Laberge plays on the left side and is a respectable size at 6-foot-1. He is a positionally sound defender who plays well in his own end, but can still put up points when the opportunity affords it. He is good at finding his teammates to make plays up ice, and he can shoot the puck pretty well on top of that. Being a solid two-way defender with some upside, the Sabres get another B-minus for this pick.

Round 6: Pick 167 – Ashton Schultz, Center

Another cerebral player, Ashton Schultz is the kind of pick that gets made at this point in the draft. He does not have a ton of upside, but he is the kind of prospect that works hard and does a lot of good things for the caliber of player that he is. His size more fits in line with the Sabres’ main prospect group, standing at 5-foot-11, so he is not huge, but he makes up for it in his compete level. He is a decent pick for sure, and the Sabres get a C for this one.

Round 7: Pick 195 – Melvin Novotny, Winger

The Sabres finally added some depth for their prospect pool along the wing with their first seventh-rounder. Melvin Novotny is a playmaker who is willing to drive plays and react to plays to make sure that the right things happen. His hesitation can cause some trouble at times, but when he generates chances for himself or his teammates, the puck does find its way into the net very well. As a seventh-round pick that will be heading off to the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the United States Hockey League (USHL), Novotny is a project player who will not likely see pro action until he is 23 or 24 years old. Low-risk/mid-reward pick here. Sabres get a C.

Round 7: Pick 199 – Evgeny Prokhorov, Goaltender

For the second season in a row, the Sabres took a goaltender in the seventh round. This would be less of an issue if they did not take another goalie in the fourth round of this draft, or (as mentioned before) have as many goalie prospects as they do. Once again, Evgeny Prokhorov is a good goaltender with some decent upside to him, as he stands 6-foot-3 and finished with a 2.19 goals-against average this past season. As a Russian playing in the Russian equivalent of junior hockey, he is eligible to come play for the Americans sooner than the other goalie prospects, and with the solid numbers he had, it is a real possibility that he was chosen for this reason. That is, assuming he chooses to come to the United States from Russia. Sabres get a B-minus for this player choice, and I will not dock any other points since seventh-round selections are so volatile.

Round 7: Pick 219 – Ryan Rucinski, Center

Ryan Rucinski is an optimal final pick. He is a shorter forward standing at 5-foot-10, but he is a tenacious player who is willing to drive the net and do the work to score goals and make chances happen. He is not flashy or complicated, and that is what makes his game work. He is a solid playmaker, and an equally talented scorer, but he needs a supporting cast. Rucinski is not the star of the show, but he could function very well inside a system that rewards his drive and style of play. For the Sabres’ final pick in 2025, they get a B-minus again.

Sabres’ Final Grade

All in all, the draft went about as well as it could have for the Buffalo Sabres. First, they traded away JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth in exchange for Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan before the draft began, thus addressing a primary need of theirs. They made a good trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins on the second day of the draft to move out some cap, while getting back a talented defender in Connor Timmins. Then, finally, they added a great group of prospects to their pool that they can now develop or move as trade assets if they please.

As for the prospects themselves, these kids are all a group of great skaters who play tough, and play smart. The Sabres had an obvious player type in mind based on which kids they selected, and they definitely found some of the better ones in this draft. The only real hiccup was the fact that they took two more goaltenders, but time will tell how necessary that was. All in all, for the 2025 NHL Draft, the Sabres get an A-minus.