2025 Sabres Draft Guide: 5th Round Options

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 5th round.

Dream Scenarios

1. Philippe Veilleux, W, QMJHL

DOB: 3/26/07

5’9, 165 lbs

64gp, 40g, 87pts

Philippe Veilleux was second in the QMJHL amongst draft-eligible forwards in points as he sat ahead of Desnoyers and behind Carbonneau in total points, and was third in points per game as well. The diminutive winger was a driving force of Val-d’Or’s offense this past year, and it showed in the dataset as well. He was third in total shot attempts per game and drove a lot of his offense through his shot and through sending 16.7% of his passes to dangerous areas of the ice. He was extremely efficient in his offensive transitions, but the play didn’t run through him in the neutral zone as they looked to get him in space in the offensive zone to create their offense.

Despite the microstats and gaudy point production, I don’t think that Veilleux will crack into the top half of the draft. He’s a good skater but isn’t blazing fast, and his puck skill is good for the class, but he doesn’t break open a shift with his ability to drive everything on his stick. He’s a goal scorer who plays very well off the puck and who can get to areas of the ice to take a shot. He utilizes screens and quick moves before he shoots to be deceptive with his shot, but the shot by itself isn’t high-end, and his production was a lot of volume.

Size is the biggest issue when projecting Veilleux. He’s going to be a prolific scorer in the QMJHL, but there has to be another gear he can get to, or he’ll have to develop a more puck-dominant game as a playmaker to hit a scoring role in the NHL. In the fifth round, there aren’t many players with his offensive skill set.

2. Will Sharpe, LHD, WHL

DOB: 3/7/07

6’1, 194 lbs

66gp, 9g, 46pts

I’m just going to be honest: I freaking love Will Sharpe. Every year, there’s a defenseman who throws caution to the wind and plays the position in a very unique way that the public scouting sphere will inevitably turn the debate into a “But will the way he plays work in the NHL?” While I have some questions regarding the defensive intensity, I one hundred percent believe his offensive game is going to translate.

What makes Will Sharpe so unique is that normal defensive positioning and structure simply do not apply to the way he plays. Just look at the first clip below. He sends a D-to-D pass and then FLYS up the ice for a stretch pass and ends up with a breakaway, I mean, WHAT?!?! How often do you see that in any level of hockey? In the offensive zone, he has complete freedom to roam and go where he pleases. He gets an assist in the second clip that 99% of defensemen aren’t ever going to get because he’s heading backdoor deep in the zone to pick up and up picking up the deflected pass. He’s the 6th best passer in my dataset in terms of total passes per 60, second in high danger passes per 60, 1st in total shots per 60, and one of the top transition players and completing passes.

How does he fall this late in the draft? The big reason is that his aggressive nature naturally will have people on edge, on giving up odd-man rushes back the other way, and he was a minus 41 once he was traded to Kelowna. However, I watched a lot of Sharpe, and some of those odd-man rushes were not his fault. I counted 7 of them through 3 games, and 4 of them were really poor plays by the forwards, two were bad shots that rimmed out of the zone, and one was a really bad activation from Sharpe.

Defensively, he has a bit of a way to go. His skating is good, and he’s able to match feet with oncoming transitions. However, he can be way too passive in the cycle game and allow players to move up-and-down the wall without opposition. He has to become a more consistently engaged and intense player in the defensive zone if he’s going to develop into the player I think he could be (#10 in teal in all clips)

Realistic Scenarios

3. William Belle, W, USNTDP

DOB: 1/14/08

6’4, 218 lbs

55gp, 4g, 16pts

I, personally, would be way more excited if we took who I have in the Wildcard section than taking Belle. However, the purpose of this section is to think like the Sabres draft team, and this one feels like it’s a possibility given that they could use some diversification of skillsets in the forward prospect pool, and Belle has flashes that he could be something more than what he was for USNTDP this past year.

I watch an unhealthy amount of hockey and have done so for a long time. Within the first few shifts in a game I can point out who’s going to be real good, who’s not worth watching, and then there’s the middle ground of players that look the part but will find out throughout the game whether or not they can do anything with their skating/skill/size/aggressiveness. Belle fell into the middle ground camp when I started this year, and he never progressed to showing what he can do with his flashes, which has soured me on him as a 2025 NHL prospect.

However, there’s no denying that there are things about him that catch your eye. He moves well for his large frame. When he has space with the puck on his stick, he has quick hands and can move a puck across his body on a crossover with speed, and even makes some noteworthy passes. He plays physical, but he pulls up on hits that could’ve been a sticking point in a scout’s mind when watching him play. Too often, he would get himself into a positive opportunity to make a play and then would turn the wrong way or be oblivious to how the play was developing and throw a pass that I wouldn’t want him to make.

It’s the fifth round, and there is something there with Belle that, if you trust your developmental process, I think it’s worth a lottery ticket 5th-7th round draft pick. He’ll fit right in with Notre Dame’s grind and pound game they play next year, and perhaps he becomes a bigger and better version of Trevor Janicke for the Irish.

4. Anthony Allain-Samake, LHD, USHL

DOB: 9/10/07

6’0, 165 lbs

61gp, 0g, 14pts

Allain-Samake plays a simple, effective, and consistent brand of hockey that I think would translate well as he goes to the University of Connecticut in the fall. He’s a good skater who plays a very defensively responsible game. He doesn’t move up in the zone unless there’s a clear lane and never below the top of the circle. He will move up to take a shot if space is given to him, and he moves the puck well with good vision and in spots where the recipient can do something with the puck upon reception.

I think he is worth a draft pick, given how well he operates under pressure when retrieving pucks. He is very quick to move the puck to a place to get a pass off and doesn’t just chip the puck along the boards or hard rim the puck out of the zone. When given time, he’s great at connecting on stretch passes and at giving forwards the puck with space to be able to try to enter the zone.

He’s an average defender where nothing sticks out positively or negatively. He reads play well in transition that he’s able to gap opponents well before they can get going and, while he isn’t going to be able to gap purely off his speed, the space he does give up doesn’t allow opponents the inside of the ice and he’s able to angle to the outside. He’s not overly physical, given his slight frame, but he’s also not afraid to take a hit or engage in a physical board battle.

I don’t think there’s an offensive defenseman in Allain-Samake, but I do think there is a solid defender who will be able to spring the offensive rush with his passing (#26 in white).

Wildcard Scenario

1. Gustav Hillstrom, C, J20 Nationell

DOB: 1/20/07

6’2, 176 lbs

43gp, 16g, 38pts

Hillstrom is a player who does all the right details within a hockey game, flashes skill, and has a clear developmental path to how he gets better and can be a bigger force in the offensive end. Through a three-game sample, the biggest takeaway from Hillstrom is that he is going to stick down the middle if he makes it to the professional ranks in North America. He rarely lost a faceoff in my viewings, was so good defensively on the puck and in support of his teammates, and was able to move the puck in transition when asked to through his skating or through a pass.

He was an ancillary offensive driver in my viewings, as Viktor Eriksson was the primary engine in transition and at whom the puck went through in the offensive end at the J20 level. However, he was great at finding spaces to be involved in a chain-linked play, whether through a connecting role or as a finisher. His skating was fluid, and able to do things with the puck on his stick and wasn’t just a one-touch passenger. There’s a lot of room for him to grow offensively as his role expands on Brynas.

He may not have the offensive excitement to draw attention in the first four rounds, but he’s a high-floor player who could easily project to a bottom-six role.