Daxon Rudolph has grabbed plenty of attention with his fast start at the University of Denver, but he’s not the only Sabres defense prospect making noise in college hockey.
Luke Osburn is right there with him.
The Wisconsin sophomore has piled up nine points, with four goals and five assists, in eight games, and the Badgers have surged to the top of the national rankings with a 7-0-1 start. His best night so far came Saturday in a 6-1 road win over Minnesota, where he finished with a goal and two assists. The Big Ten teams had played to a 1-1 tie a few nights earlier.
For Buffalo, Osburn’s rise has been a steady one. The 6-foot-1 defenseman was a fourth-round pick in 2024, then followed that with a breakout year in the USHL with the Youngstown Phantoms, posting 41 points in 55 games. He carried that momentum into his freshman season at Wisconsin, where he had 21 points in 33 games, and now he’s taken another step with a bigger role in 2026-27.
His game fits what the Sabres want from their blue line. Osburn can skate, he sees the ice well, and he has the kind of offensive instincts that work in a system built around defensemen jumping into the rush and creating chances in transition.
The remaining question has always been whether his work away from the puck would catch up. Early in his second season in Madison, that part of his game appears to be trending the right way.
It wouldn’t be a shock if Buffalo signs him to an entry-level deal after Wisconsin’s season ends, though another year in college is still possible. Either way, his path to the NHL has moved faster than it looked like it might when he was drafted.
Rudolph’s start at Denver has only added to the excitement. The freshman has 12 points in 10 games for the third-ranked Pioneers, giving the Sabres another promising young blueliner to track.
And there’s more beyond those two.
Adam Kleber, the 6-foot-6 defenseman at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, isn’t going to light up the scoresheet the way Osburn or Rudolph can, but he has shown more offense this season. The junior has five points, one goal and four assists, in 12 games, which is a step up from the 12 points he had in 40 games as a sophomore.
Kleber’s value still starts in his own end. He’s viewed as a shutdown defender, and if he can keep adding even a little offense, that should be enough to strengthen his NHL case. That’s why Buffalo has reason to like what it’s seeing early in 2026-27.
The same conversation circles back to Radim Mrtka. The Sabres don’t need him to become a Dahlin-level driver of play, but his scoring numbers are worth watching.
He scored one goal in 48 WHL games, regular season and playoffs combined, in 2025-26, and he still hasn’t picked up a point in 13 games with the AHL’s Rochester Americans this season. He’s only 19, so there’s time for that to change, but the lack of offense is a concern.
Kleber is 20, and the early signs are more encouraging. That puts him in the same general bucket as Osburn: defense prospects who could be in line to join the Amerks for the stretch run once their college seasons are done.
Zoom out, and Buffalo’s pipeline on the back end looks strong. Rasmus Dahlin, Mattias Samuelsson, Owen Power and Olen Zellweger are already part of the picture, and the next wave is pushing hard behind them. That gives the Sabres a real strength on defense, even as other areas of the roster remain unsettled, especially first-line center and goaltender.
It also leaves general manager Jarmo Kekalainen with a possible trade chip. With so much blue-line depth in the system, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he uses that strength in a blockbuster deal. Whether he’d be willing to move a player like Kleber is another question entirely.
In Other News...
Sabres Have One Clear Trade Path To Fix Their Biggest Problem
Buffalos blue line is in a better place than it has been in years, with Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power and Daxon Rudolph among the defensemen in the organization and under contract. That kind of depth gives the Sabres something most teams would love to have, but it also creates a roster logjam that can be used to address the one spot that still feels glaringly unfinished up front.
The bigger issue is the same one Buffalo has been trying to solve since Jack Eichel left: finding a true No. 1 center. General manager Jarmo Kekalainen has shown interest in adding that kind of top-line pivot, and the most obvious way to make it happen may be to deal from the position where the Sabres are strongest. The question now is whether that surplus on defense can finally be turned into the offensive centerpiece this team has been missing. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres May Have A Real Answer To Their Top-Six Scoring Problem
The Sabres have spent enough time looking for more punch in their top six that any plausible upgrade is going to get attention, and Owen Tippett has emerged as one of the more interesting names to watch. The Flyers winger brings size, speed and a track record that suggests there could be another level in his game, which is exactly the kind of profile Buffalo has been trying to find as it searches for more reliable scoring help up front.
What makes Tippett especially intriguing is that he is still young enough to fit the Sabres' long-term timeline while also carrying enough value that Philadelphia would not move him cheaply. Any real discussion would have to start with Buffalo deciding how aggressively it wants to go after a player like this and what kind of roster piece it is willing to part with, whether that means a center such as Ryan McLeod or another notable asset. For now, it is all speculation, but it is the sort of speculation that makes sense for a team still trying to solve a familiar problem. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Face A Big Konsta Helenius Decision After Rough Start
Konsta Helenius has hit an early snag in his first NHL season, and the Sabres are trying to balance patience with the reality of a 20-year-old forward who has managed just one goal and three points in 11 games. The rough start has been shaped in part by an upper-body injury, but Buffalos view of Helenius has not changed much from the player it watched develop in Finland and in the AHL, where his talent and upside showed up more consistently.
The question now is what gives him the best chance to keep moving forward, because the Sabres are not ready to write him off as a prospect. A trip back to Rochester is on the table if it means more meaningful minutes and a better developmental path, and the organization will weigh that option carefully as it tries to protect both his confidence and his long-term growth. [Read more 🡒]