The Sabres’ pipeline still has plenty of names worth tracking, and a few of the most interesting ones are about to get a longer look as training camp opens and the Rochester Americans start sorting out their first full professional seasons.
Buffalo’s recent rise has been built in large part on homegrown talent - Zach Benson, Jack Quinn, Mattias Samuelsson, Owen Power and others all took major steps last season, while young forwards Noah Ostlund, Konsta Helenius and Jiri Kulich got encouraging early runs in the NHL. Even with that group moving up, the organization’s prospect base remains deep.
Some of the top-end talent, including 2026 first-rounders Daxon Rudolph and Ilia Morozov, big defenseman Adam Kleber and competitive winger Brodie Ziemer, are staying in college for now. Others are in Buffalo for the Prospects Showcase this weekend and will roll into camp this month.
For Rochester, though, the spotlight falls on a different set of names - players starting to make the jump from prospect to pro.
Radim Mrtka is near the top of that list. The 2025 ninth-overall pick already got a taste of North American pro hockey last season, skating in four AHL games to open the year, seven more to close it, and three of those coming in the Calder Cup Playoffs. He finished with two assists in 11 games for the Amerks, then went back to Seattle in the WHL and piled up 37 points in 48 games.
At Development Camp in June, the 19-year-old described the adjustment this way: “It’s a little different than juniors, a little heavier,” Mrtka said. “… Some guys were telling me it’s even harder than NHL, because everyone’s just fighting for a spot.
So, I knew that. It’s a great league, but nothing I can’t handle.”
Rochester coach Michael Leone wants the 6-foot-6 defenseman to keep building in a few key areas: skating, strength and his ability around the net. That growth would push Mrtka closer to an NHL look. He also spent time in last fall’s training camp and got a longer, encouraging stretch of preseason action, so there should be even more attention on him in this month’s exhibitions.
“I loved the time I could play there with guys like (Rasmus) Dahlin, who’s my idol,” he said. “… And I see how tough it is, so it gives me motivation to work even harder.”
Another defenseman ready for his first full pro season is Maxim Strbak, who comes in with a lot more mileage than the average newcomer. The 21-year-old spent three seasons at Michigan State, finishing with a plus-33 rating and 46 points in 102 games. He also went through four IIHF World Junior Championships - averaging a point per game in 2024 and 2025 - and played in the 2026 World Championship.
After weighing his options, Strbak signed his entry-level deal with the Sabres this spring and then made a brief AHL debut, appearing in two games at the end of Rochester’s regular season.
“It’s really a good league, the Big Ten, the Spartans. It’s such pro-level hockey,” he said.
“So, you always have it in the back of your head like, ‘Oh, maybe another year wouldn’t be that bad.’ But I think, personally, I was ready to take the next step.”
Sabres director of player development Tim Kennedy called the 6-foot-2 blueliner a “hard-to-play-against, shutdown defender” with good physicality. Strbak blocked 38 shots for Michigan State last season, and now he steps into a crowded right-shot defense group in Rochester.
That competition includes Gavin McCarthy, another right-handed defenseman who’s already taken his first pro steps. The Buffalo-area native and 2023 third-round pick appeared in five games for the Amerks after wrapping up a three-year run at Boston University.
McCarthy, 21, wore the captain’s letter for BU last season, saw time on the power play and put up 21 points, including four goals and 17 assists, in 36 games. Leone said during Development Camp that the next step is sharpening the defensive side of his game.
“He’s got to get stronger,” said the Rochester coach. “A lot of it is the same for some of the young defensemen coming into the American League.
It’s really important to round out those skills to be a really good defender, because that’s what everybody’s looking for [in] the next defenseman. Everybody’s trying to find a (number) five, six that can play reliable minutes.”
Strbak sees the battle clearly.
“We’re all three kind of in the same position when it comes to me, [Mrtka] and Gavin. All right-handed defensemen.
We’ll all have to earn it, all have to compete for a spot. I think that’s a good thing; we’re all going to get better because of that.”
Up front, the opportunity has grown wider in Rochester, especially after a busy stretch of turnover. Ostlund and Helenius have likely moved on to full-time NHL duty, Anton Wahlberg was traded to Anaheim, and Josh Dunne, Jagger Joshua, Tyler Kopff, Jake Leschyshyn and others left in free agency. That opens the door for Jake Richard.
Richard signed his entry-level contract in May after three years at UConn, where he produced 88 points, with 32 goals and 56 assists, in 108 games. The 22-year-old had 27 points in 38 games as a junior last season. A sixth-round pick in 2022, he’s been a familiar face at Development Camp and has consistently stood out in the annual 3-on-3 scrimmage.
“He’s relied on heavily offensively, and he’s really the leader of that team as an offensive catalyst,” Kennedy told Sabres.com in March, before Richard and UConn began the NCAA Tournament and lost to Strbak’s Spartans in the first round. “… Yes, he needs to produce for his team to have success, but his overall game, his 200-foot game, has improved whether it’s on the forecheck, the backcheck, his defensive-zone play.”
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