The Sabres made a quiet but telling move Friday, and it says plenty about where Radim Mrtka stands right now.
Buffalo signed free-agent defenseman Matt Grzelcyk to a one-year, $850,000 contract ahead of the 2026-27 season, adding a veteran option after Mattias Samuelsson and Olen Zellweger were knocked out of a recent preseason win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Samuelsson was tagged week-to-week because of a lower-body injury, while Zellweger is out indefinitely after entering concussion protocol.
That shuffle opened the door for Mrtka and Ryan Johnson to move into the main practice group at training camp, with Zach Metsa and Dennis Gilbert sliding into the top-six defense group. But Grzelcyk’s arrival makes the bigger point: Buffalo is not viewing Mrtka as a player ready to handle a major NHL job.
Grzelcyk brings a steadier short-term presence. The 32-year-old Boston native spent his first eight NHL seasons with the Bruins, then played for the Chicago Blackhawks most recently.
He had 12 points last season for Chicago, but he put up 40 points in 82 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2024-25. Chicago’s rough year - the club finished 31st in the league - dragged down a lot of numbers, though Grzelcyk still ranked second among Blackhawks defensemen in 5-on-5 expected goal share at 45.7%, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Because he signed so late in the free-agent process, it may take him a bit to get fully up to speed. Still, once he’s ready for game action, he’s the kind of player who looks positioned to sit as Buffalo’s No. 7 defenseman ahead of Johnson and Mrtka. The only real question is whether Grzelcyk or Metsa holds that reserve spot if the Sabres’ blue line eventually gets back to full strength with Samuelsson and Zellweger returning.
For Mrtka, the bigger story is development, not urgency.
Buffalo used the No. 9 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft on the 19-year-old Czechia native, and the appeal is obvious. At 6-foot-6, he pairs size with skill and skating in a way that jumps off the page.
But the Sabres knew from the start that he was going to need time, and his offensive production last season didn’t change that. In 48 games across the regular season and playoffs for the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds in 2025-26, he scored just one goal.
That kind of output against junior competition is not what you want from a top-10 defenseman prospect. He is not being asked to become a Rasmus Dahlin-level scorer, but Buffalo would like to see much more from a player with his frame and draft status. For comparison, Daxon Rudolph - the defenseman the Sabres selected at No. 4 overall in the 2026 draft - scored 37 goals in WHL play last season, postseason included, for the Prince Albert Raiders.
So the likely path for Mrtka runs through Rochester. At least one full season, and probably two, with the AHL’s Rochester Americans feels like the most realistic route, and Buffalo clearly does not want to rush him. That’s part of why Grzelcyk was brought in: to give the team extra insurance while Mrtka gets more seasoning.
Right now, when the roster is healthy, Mrtka probably sits around 11th on the organizational defensive depth chart. There are a lot of important names ahead of him, and he’ll have to make major strides before he can push into Buffalo’s top six, especially with Rudolph now entering the picture as well, though he’ll play at the University of Denver this season.
None of that means Mrtka is headed for bust talk. It just means his climb is going to take longer than it does for most high picks. He could still get a brief look with the Sabres at some point this season, but the main job is likely to be in Rochester, where he can log real minutes, work special teams, and develop in a lower-pressure setting against pro competition.
That first season with the Amerks should tell Buffalo a lot more about when the right-shot defenseman might be ready to arrive for good. For now, Grzelcyk gives the Sabres exactly what they need: a reliable stopgap on the blue line.
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