2025 Sabres Draft Guide: 2nd Round (or late 1st) Targets

Welcome to the 2025 xB Buffalo Sabres Draft Guide! The draft guide has been divided into seven parts so that it can be loaded on your mobile device and consumed in multiple readings, without requiring an hour to complete.

Each player has a BlueSky link with three clips that summarize their projection.

If this is the first time you’ve read my draft guide, let me break down how each section will go:

– Each draft pick the Sabres have will be given five players, which I think are reasonable selections for the Sabres. They are broken down as Dream Scenarios (two given for each draft pick), Realistic Selections (two given for each draft pick), and a Wildcard Selection (one given for each draft pick)

– Dream Scenarios are based on my evaluation of the player, and where I believe they are most likely going to go in the draft. They are based on my draft philosophies and don’t take into account the Sabres’ past draft philosophies. They will usually consist of one forward and one defenseman, but depending on the round or players I think might be available, they could deviate from that structure.

– Realistic Scenarios are based on studying the Sabres’ previous draft philosophies, current prospect pool depth, needs, and players that I think the organization may go with the draft pick, and not necessarily who I would pick.

– The Wildcard Scenario is a draft pick that doesn’t fall directly into the two categories above and is a player that I think would go slightly later than the current selection (or undrafted in the later rounds). Still, I believe it would make an interesting selection for the Sabres.

– First-time draft-eligible players will just have their names displayed in bold. Every asterisk after the players’ name will denote if they are D+1 or D+2 draft-eligible players. For instance, Richard Baran was eligible for the draft last year but was not drafted. He will appear in the draft guide as ‘Richard Baran*’.

Last year, this draft guide included Luke Osburn in a Dream Scenario, Adam Kleber in the Realistic Scenarios, and Konsta Helenius in a Wildcard Scenario. Hopefully, this guide will get lucky again and provide insight for some of the players the Sabres draft. If not, then I encourage you to go to my draft rankings article to see if I had any notes about the player in that article before the recap article I will write.

The Sabres currently have one pick in the 2nd round.

Dream Scenarios

1. Eric Nilson, C, J20 Nationell

DOB: 5/11/07

6’0, 154 lbs

37gp, 12g, 38pts

How does the #13 player I have ranked in my draft rankings end up falling into the second round? Am I taking crazy pills? I know I’m super aggressive when it comes to the projection of Eric Nilson, and now I’m going to use these few paragraphs to try to win you over to him as well.

The main reason he’s so high for me is that there is no player smarter than Nilson in this draft, and he has the skating and skill to do everything as well. He makes all the little plays that don’t just keep possession, but generate scoring chances and spring attacks. His defensive game is elite. He was matched up against LJ Mooney for the U18s semi-final against the USA, and he showed why he’s going to be a great two-way center in the NHL. He wins puck battles, he ties up sticks to prevent tap-in goals, and he can make optimal zone exits against top competition. He won important faceoffs, backchecked hard to stop a 2-on-1, and ripped opponents in the neutral zone. He could have a defensive highlight reel from the U18s alone.

Offensively, he is a smooth skater who is cerebral in his approach to attacking the offensive zone. The clips in the post below outline it in detail. He can go by defenders at the blue line or change gears and slow the pace to see trailing options and open more passing lanes. He’s great off-puck in support of his teammates and has really good hands to settle pucks or tip pucks on net. He can drive transition through the middle, connect plays in the offensive zone, and finish from around the net.

The only, ONLY, thing I worry about is his size as he’s physically underdeveloped. He’s heading to Michigan State next year, where hopefully the less rigorous game schedule will allow him to bulk up. If he’s available, Nilson can be the steal of the draft.

2. Shane Vansaghi, RW, NCAA (Michigan State)

DOB: 10/11/06

6’1, 216 lbs

37gp, 7g, 16pts

Vansaghi played the least amount at even strength for any forward I tracked in North America, at just under 7.5 minutes a game. Even within such a limited amount of ice time, Vansaghi made a lasting impression. He plays a very physical, power forward type of hockey. While Brady Martin is getting the hype for best hitter in the draft, I wouldn’t sleep on Vansaghi to give him a run for his money when the dust settles.

I think the part of his game that sticks out is just how much Vansaghi was asked to play outside his comfort zone as he ran point for the fourth line for their transition game. At the NTDP, he was more of a passenger in transition, and at Michigan State, he was involved in 52% of their successful transitions. His passing metrics show that he would look to facilitate after the entry, and then he’d drive the net looking for a dangerous shot attempt through a pass, tip, or rebound.

He’s extremely defensively responsible for a winger and is a hard-hitting F1 forechecker. He threw some monster hits throughout the year and changed the course of more than a few games I watched (even against my Michigan team) with his physicality. Vansaghi is one of the reasons why I don’t think we’d need to chase Brady Martin in the first, because you can get the physicality and defensive responsibility with Vansaghi while taking someone with a higher offensive upside in the first.

Realistic Scenarios

1. Jack Murtagh, LW, USNTDP

DOB: 8/22/07

6’1, 198 lbs

56gp, 22g, 53pts

This is about the range where I think we’ll see the USNTDP forwards start to go off the board. I think Cole McKinney would be the best option of the three, but I also think he could slip into the first round. Will Moore thinks the game very well, but isn’t as versatile as I don’t see him thriving in a checking role. When I look at what the Adams administration has drafted historically, Jack Murtagh fits the mold of what the Sabres could be looking at if they look to draft a forward in the second round.

Murtagh has a motor on him and works incredibly hard in all three zones. He possesses some flashes of great skill and has an above-average write and slap shot. There’s a possibility that he could be a middle-six scoring winger if everything breaks right.

However, there is a reason I left him off my draft rankings, and that’s because players who track as poorly as Murtagh did this season rarely become proficient offensive players in the NHL. He’s a volume shooter who shoots primarily from outside scoring areas, a low volume passer who completed just 47% of his passes, and was not involved in transition, nor was he efficient in his attempts to transition the puck. He has good highlights, but in between the highlights are a bunch of poor passes and low-danger shots.

He’s off to Boston University in the fall, and if he’s able to take the flashes of skill and become more efficient and consistent in his execution of plays, Murtagh could end up being worth an early second selection.

2. Max Psenicka, RHD, WHL

DOB: 1/18/07

6’5, 185 lbs

24gp, 1g, 7 pts

Murtagh would be an option if we went with Radim Mrtka in the first round, and if we go forward, I think there are three RHD we would be targeting. I’m most interested in Carter Amico, but he barely played this year, and I don’t think he realistically slots ahead of Psenicka, and Peyton Kettles doesn’t offer the upside of either. Psenicka made a late-season club change, where he transferred into the WHL (Portland) after spending the majority of the season bouncing between the junior and men’s leagues in Czechia.

At 6’5, Psenicka uses his length and skating to his advantage, defending transitions and in the defensive zone. He’s mobile given his large frame, and he didn’t get beat much to the outside when I watched him play in the WHL. Psenicka isn’t overly physical, but isn’t afraid to throw a big hit or to engage in board battles and use his size to his advantage.

Offensively, Psenicka relies heavily on trying to join rushes. He is not afraid to activate from the backend to join a rush and generate his offense. In the offensive zone, he utilizes space well to jump up into the play off-puck to make himself an option in medium-danger areas.

His puck skill isn’t very good at the moment. He’s prone to fumbling the puck, and under pressure, can have bad touches that lead to turnovers. His passing is mostly very good, but again, when under pressure, he prefers to try to make the safest play possible, which can be a chip-and-out or sending a pass to a winger on the boards who is covered. He missed a couple of easy passes, but then would connect on a beautiful stretch pass. My biggest red flag for him was that his defensive partner never deferred to him when they were in trouble on a d-to-d pass. This might be my idiocy, but when your defensive partner doesn’t trust you to make a play and always does it themselves, it’s an instant alarm bell in my head.

He’ll most likely play another year in the WHL or go back to Czechia to play in the men’s league for the 2025/26 season. I could see the Sabres taking a swing similar to how they did with Kleber last year.

Wildcard Scenarios

1. Carter Amico, RHD, USNTDP

DOB: 3/15/07

6’6, 234 lbs

13gp, 0g, 3pts

Amico played just thirteen games this season before suffering a season-ending knee injury for the USNTDP. The towering, right-handed defenseman isn’t as smooth-skating as Psenicka, but he comes with a bit more snarl in his game and reads plays very well. In the offensive zone, he prefers to get shots through to the net from the point or to facilitate play down the wall or d-to-d at the blue line. He isn’t an active participant in joining transition rushes for offensive opportunities, which may make him an option when looking at a potential defensive partner for Dahlin or Power.

He reads plays very well and can put himself into positions to break up passes and transition plays through his positioning and physicality. He gets beat wide too often because he doesn’t have the quickest feet, but if he’s able to angle the opponent, they don’t get to the inside. The play that burned him the most was when opponents would chip it by him and then evade his attempt to slow them down around him. He wasn’t able to pivot and recover to get the puck on his own.

His draft capital is probably a mid-late second round pick, but if we don’t address the right side of the defense in the first round and Psenicka isn’t available, I could see the slight reach by Adams to get one of the biggest mystery boxes in the NHL draft provided his medical exams all came back positive.

2. Mason West, C/RW, USHS-MIN

DOB: 8/3/07

6’6, 218 lbs

31gp, 21g, 47pts (10gp, 1g, 9pts in the USHL with Fargo)

I saw Mason West for the first time at the Hlinka camp at the Northtown Center exactly a year ago, and I was blowing up my scouting friends’ phones about him. After watching two games at the USA development camp, I had concluded that, if anyone teaches this kid the finer details of hockey, he’s going to be a monster. Afterwards, I learned he was a two-sport athlete who hadn’t committed to football or hockey yet for his college recruitment, and it all made sense why he didn’t have the finer details. At the combine, it has been reported that West will play football in the fall (he’s the team’s starting quarterback) before committing to hockey full-time and joining the Fargo Force. Afterwards, he’ll go to Michigan State for the 2026/27 season.

Mason West is 6’6 but has the skill level of a player who is 5’11. He can dangle pucks through defenders and doesn’t play a power forward game at all. He’s all skill. He played on the right wing in the USHL but played center in high school, and his defensive details reflect those of a center. He is very engaged with play in the defensive zone and supports his teammates well. I think the move to the USHL went very smoothly considering the circumstances, and he was able to simplify his game to making quick moves and facilitating play in the offensive end.

As he became more comfortable, he started to attempt more risky plays, jumped up into transition more, and started to create multiple scoring chances at even strength. I thought he played well with Lansing in the two viewings I saw of him.

He has a lot of details that need to be put into his game. He puck watches too much in both zones and misses opportunities to move into spaces off-puck that would put him in situations where his skill can shine. He handles defensive pressure well, but he didn’t comfortably eliminate one opponent’s pressure to then pressure the defensive structure afterwards. He needs to learn that by beating that first defender, he can create odd-man advantages on the ice. Some skating mechanics issues will make him an even better skater once he gets to playing hockey full-time.

He’s not going to be available in the third round, but it’s a bit of a gamble to take this high and bet that he can hit his ceiling. He’s a longer-term project than a lot of players you could take in the second round, but this might be the gamble that would be worth it.