The Buffalo Sabres have spent 15 hard years building to this point, and now the payoff is a roster loaded with young talent and real depth up front. That’s the good news. The tricky part is figuring out exactly who belongs where.
There’s no shortage of options among the forwards, but there is some real uncertainty about the cleanest lineup fit. The Sabres now have to sort through that group and decide what to do with the players who don’t quite slide into place.
Josh Doan and Zach Benson are already locked in as core pieces after signing long-term extensions. Noah Ostlund is in that same mix after his own extension. Then there’s another wave of young talent in Konsta Helenius, Jack Quinn, and Jiri Kulich.
Those last three are where the biggest questions sit. Helenius could end up at center or on the wing.
Quinn looks like part of the plan to help replace Alex Tuch’s departed offense, but he is also a pending restricted free agent, which adds another layer to his situation. Kulich is another key piece: does he take back the first-line center job, or does he need more time before settling into that role?
Training camp should go a long way toward answering those questions. Lindy Ruff may simply let the competition play out and see who earns what when the season opens. Every one of those players has the look of a future building block; the challenge is finding the right slot for each one.
Tage Thompson is right in the middle of that conversation, too. He played most of the 2025-26 season at center, but he was at his best late in the year after shifting to right wing. He seems better suited to the wing, but Buffalo’s center depth makes that choice a little complicated.
If Thompson moves back to center, then one of Kulich or Helenius would have to shift to the wing. If Thompson stays on the wing, Kulich could reclaim his top-line center role, with Josh Norris back as the second-line center. Ryan McLeod is also an option there.
Right now, the tentative path looks like keeping Thompson on the wing, giving Kulich another shot at first-line center, and using Norris, McLeod, and Sam Carrick as the other three centers. In that setup, Helenius and Ostlund would be on the wings, and Jason Zucker could end up on the fourth line, if not out of the lineup altogether.
Of course, there’s one move that would clear things up fast: a trade. The Sabres are reportedly hot on the trail of Connor Hellebuyck, and getting him would mean giving up one or more of the pieces already mentioned. It would also solve the forward logjam while giving Buffalo a major upgrade in net.
Talks with the Jets about Hellebuyck have reportedly been going on since before the NHL Draft, but nothing has happened yet. With the veteran goalie reportedly not reporting to training camp and possibly not playing if Winnipeg doesn’t move him, the pressure could shift in Buffalo’s favor if the Sabres are the team he lands with.
General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen has already shown a strong feel for finding value and making the right move when the time is right. He is not going to strip away young talent just to make a splash for Hellebuyck unless it fits the long-term plan.
And if no trade comes together, the Sabres may just let the competition sort itself out. That would give their prospects more time to develop at their own pace, even if it means more decisions down the road about who stays, who shifts, and who gets moved.
That’s the kind of problem every team wants. Buffalo has enough talent to make the choices difficult, and enough depth to keep those choices from being bad ones. The real answer may not come right away, but the 2026-27 season should tell the story of how this group settles in.
In Other News...
Sabres Suddenly Face A Bigger Goaltending Question Than Expected
Buffalos goaltending picture shifted again this summer when Devon Levi moved on to Edmonton after his development had stalled following an encouraging first NHL look. Levi had been one of the more important young names in the Sabres system, the kind of prospect who seemed capable of giving the organization a long-term answer in net, but his path never really kept moving forward the way Buffalo hoped. Now he gets a fresh opportunity with the Oilers, where playing time is suddenly more available because of Frederik Andersens injury situation.
For the Sabres, though, Levis departure only sharpens a familiar concern. The organization is left to sort through a pipeline that does not offer an obvious front-line solution, and the loss of a player once viewed as a major part of that future makes the search feel more urgent. Buffalo still has to determine where its next dependable option in goal is coming from, and Levis success or failure in Edmonton will only keep that conversation hanging in the background. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Prospect Weekend Revealed A Bigger Concern Than The Scores
The on-ice results at Harborcenter were lopsided enough, with Bostons prospects taking both games in the scaled-down showcase, but the bigger takeaway for Buffalo was what the weekend said about the pipeline. The event itself has been pared back from the sprawling prospect gatherings of past years, and the Sabres are now at a stage where many of their highest-end young players have already moved on to the NHL or college ranks.
What remained was a forward group built mostly from undrafted players and late-round picks, a reminder that the organization is leaning more on depth development than star power at this point. Buffalo still had names worth tracking and the setting still offered a useful first look, but the gap in upside was hard to miss and it left the club with a familiar question hanging over the rest of its prospect pool. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Just Added Two Rochester Names Worth Watching Closely
The Rochester Americans are already planting a few seeds for the future, adding forward Thomas Bordeleau and goaltender Talyn Boyko on one-year AHL contracts for the 2026-27 season. For a Sabres organization that leans on Rochester as its development pipeline, these kinds of signings are the sort worth filing away now, especially when the players involved come with different paths but clear pro experience.
Bordeleau brings a more established track record, arriving as a former second-round Sharks pick with NHL and AHL scoring on his resume. Boyko is much further along the developmental curve, having spent most of his time in the ECHL and logging only 10 career AHL games, so his fit in Rochester will be one to watch as the Amerks continue shaping their roster depth. [Read more 🡒]