Konsta Helenius keeps piling up reasons to be taken seriously, even if the broader hockey world still isn’t fully catching up.
Buffalo leaned on the 20-year-old Finland native in its second-round playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens, and he answered with two goals in four games while often looking like the Sabres’ most dangerous offensive threat. That came after a season that already had plenty of punch: the No. 14 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft put up 63 points, including 21 goals and 42 assists, in 63 AHL games and also handled himself well in 13 games with Buffalo.
Still, the respect hasn’t quite matched the production. On Tuesday, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic slotted Helenius at No. 42 in his summer ranking of the league’s top 100 prospects.
"Helenius has been one of Finland's top young players and is going to have a long NHL career," Wheeler wrote. "Some things in his profile do give pause about a true top-six projection, and he may end up as more of a middle-six type, but his track record looks like that of a top-six player and he started to show it more in North America and at men's worlds."
That ranking feels awfully low for a player who has kept showing up everywhere Buffalo has needed him. He was a steady force for the Rochester Americans, where injuries and Sabres recalls often left him carrying a heavy offensive load, and he was just as effective for Finland at the 2026 IIHF World Championships.
Helenius joined Finland after Buffalo was knocked out of the playoffs by Montreal, jumped right onto the Lions’ top line, and produced six points in six games. The biggest moment came in the championship game against Switzerland, when he scored the Gold Medal-winning overtime goal.
Development doesn’t move in a straight line, but Helenius has looked like a player on a steep climb since the start of last season. At 5-foot-11, he may still need a few more years before he reaches that ceiling, but the tape keeps pointing toward a future point-per-game NHL forward.
He’s expected to spend the 2026-27 season in Buffalo, which means he’ll likely age out of prospect lists before next summer. Even so, the idea that he has never really been treated like a top-10 prospect is hard to square with what he’s done. Putting him around No. 50 doesn’t line up with the eye test.
Don’t be shocked if he’s in the Calder Trophy conversation by season’s end.
Wheeler also included three other Sabres prospects in his top 100: defenseman Daxon Rudolph at No. 12, defenseman Radim Mrtka at No. 54 and forward Noah Ostlund at No. 55.
Rudolph, whom Buffalo took No. 4 overall in the 2026 NHL Draft, came to the organization in the Bowen Byram trade with the Chicago Blackhawks after it became clear the veteran blueliner wasn’t interested in a long-term contract extension with the Blue and Gold. He’s viewed as a strong puck-moving defenseman who could eventually become Buffalo’s second power-play quarterback behind Rasmus Dahlin, and his season at the University of Denver will be a key test of how close he is to NHL readiness.
Mrtka, selected ninth in the 2025 draft, didn’t make the offensive jump Buffalo hoped for. He finished with one goal and 33 assists in 43 games for the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, though he still made his mark as a physical, defense-first presence. At 6-foot-6, his long-term projection may be trending more toward a second-pair role than a top-pair anchor.
Ostlund remains a tougher call because his point totals don’t scream elite-prospect status, but Buffalo was better when he was on the ice. He brings a complete game and should settle in as a useful middle-six forward for a long time, even if the accolades never pile up.
There weren’t any obvious Sabres names left off Wheeler’s list, but center Ilia Morozov could force his way into that conversation by next year. Buffalo took the 17-year-old Russian with the No. 20 overall pick in 2026, and he already has an NHL-sized frame at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds.
Last season, as the youngest player in college hockey, he held his own at Miami (Ohio) and posted 20 points, with eight goals and 12 assists, in 36 games. He’s expected to take on a bigger role for the RedHawks starting in the fall.
Taken together, the Sabres’ prospect pipeline looks a lot healthier than it did two or three years ago, and that’s a big part of why the organization believes it’s building toward something more stable.
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