Sitting on a couch in Växjö, Sweden, four hours from his family in Nykvarn, Noah Östlund looked like a teenager doing what a teenager does best: eating a heated-up meal box his mom had prepared, then heading to bed before getting up for practice the next day. That was life in his second season in the Swedish Hockey League - quiet, structured, and far from the spotlight.
Now, the 22-year-old’s routine looks a lot different. Instead of a Swedish apartment, he’s in Buffalo, where he’s been living with Josh Doan since the end of the summer and taking him on in ping pong.
“I’m working him pretty good,” the Swede said. “I’m better right now, but at first, I had no chance. Now I’m beating him.”
Doan wasn’t about to let that slide.
“‘You’re only as good as your last game’ is a motto I live by, and I did beat him last game,” Doan said. “So, therefore, I’m currently the champion.”
That kind of back-and-forth fits Östlund. The hockey has always come first, and it’s the part of his game that has earned the loudest praise. Buffalo drafted him in the first round, and he put up 49 points in 75 games in the defensively heavy Swedish pro ranks before coming across the Atlantic and adjusting to North American ice without much trouble at all.
Lindy Ruff has called him a “coach’s dream.” Rasmus Dahlin said he’s got “the whole package.” What stands out most is the maturity in Östlund’s game, especially away from the puck, even though he’s still one of the younger personalities in the room.
That doesn’t mean he’s all business. Far from it. He’ll joke about Josh Norris’ supposed Swedish skills from a few stalls away, and when his name comes up in conversation, his face lights up with a grin.
“We joke around that if you're ever having a tough day, you can go get a cheery laugh from Osty, because he'll laugh about anything you say,” Doan said.
The road here wasn’t instant. Östlund had 27 points, with 11 goals and 16 assists, in 60 games as a rookie, and he’s signed the longest of any Sabre. But there were growing pains along the way, from being a teenager playing against men in Sweden to debuting in Rochester with one point in his first 12 AHL games in 2024-25 to fighting for a spot in Buffalo’s lineup.
Now, the fit looks much cleaner. He’s settled in, both in the locker room and in the city, with a long-term place secured in Buffalo for the next nine years.
“It takes time to get comfortable, especially with a new country, new language, everything,” Dahlin said. “And (Östlund)’s always been playing unbelievable, but now he's really taking it to the next level.
I think that's just being comfortable and (having) more confidence. That guy is going to be an incredible hockey player.
He's so smart. He’s just starting.”
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