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Multiple Sabres prospects will be featured in the NCAA Men’s Hockey Tournament

by Chad DeDominicis - 0

End of March into early April is one of my favorite times of the hockey calendar. The playoff races in the NHL are heating up, and the NCAA Men’s hockey tournament gets underway.

The Sabres will have six prospects featured in the tournament this year. The selection show will take place at 3 PM EST. today on ESPNU, but we likely know the 16 teams that will be in. Those 16 are:

  • Michigan
  • Michigan State
  • North Dakota
  • Western Michigan
  • Denver University
  • Minnesota Duluth
  • Providence
  • Dartmouth
  • Penn State
  • Quinnipiac
  • Cornell
  • Wisconsin
  • Minnesota State
  • UConn
  • Bentley
  • Merrimack

The tournament will begin on Thursday, March 26th. The Frozen Four will be in Las Vegas this year on Thursday, April 9th. The national championship will take place on Saturday, April 11th.

Sabres Prospects

Michigan State

Two Sabres prospects will be playing for one of the favorites in the tournament, Michigan State. The top prospect on that team is 2023 second-round pick Maxim Strbak. The right-shot defenseman had a fine junior campaign for the Spartans. He registered three goals and 18 points in 35 games. It’s expected that the Sabres will want to sign him after his collegiate season ends. He’ll ideally be part of a transitioning blue line in the AHL next season.

Buffalo native Patrick Geary is the other Sabres prospect at this club. He was a sixth-round pick of the Sabres in 2024. I would anticipate he’ll return for his senior year. We’ll see if he can work his way into getting a contract from the organization when he finishes his collegiate career.

Wisconsin

Luke Osburn will be featured on the Badgers’ blue line in this tournament. He was a fourth-round pick of the Sabres in 2024. You’re probably familiar with him from when he was a Sabres prospect we kept an eye on during the 2026 World Junior Championship on Team USA.

Osburn is a fun player to watch. He had a strong first year on the production side. He scored 5 goals and 20 points in 29 games.

Osburn isn’t the only Sabres prospect playing at the University of Wisconsin. Vasily Zelenov, a 2024 seventh-round pick, is also on that roster. The 20-year-old winger put together a good freshman season on the scoresheet with five goals and 16 points in 24 games.

Minnesota Duluth

The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs feature arguably one of the best Sabres prospects in the NCAA, Adam Kleber. The big right-shot defenseman had a good sophomore year. He’s not a high-production player, but I thought he stood out for the Americans during the World Junior Championship.

Kleber was the Sabres’ 42nd overall pick in the 2024 draft class. He’s another one I’d keep an eye on approaching about signing to an entry-level contract when his season ends.

UConn

The last prospect to keep in mind during the tournament is 2022 sixth-round pick Jake Richard. After an excellent sophomore season where he scored 15 goals and 43 points in 34 games, his junior season wasn’t as strong. He registered 10 goals and 27 points in 37 games for the Huskies.

It’s worth noting that he dealt with injuries and mono this season.

Richard has been one of my favorite prospects for a few years, but his down year dropped him a bit for me. He has good skills and still has the potential to be a solid late-round pick. The Sabres tried to sign him after last season. We’ll see if they do again after this year under Jarmo Kekalainen.

If they don’t, he could become an unrestricted free agent if he decides to leave UConn. If he remains for his senior season, the Sabres will hold his exclusive rights.

Brodie Ziemer

In terms of non-tournament collegiate prospects, Brodie Ziemer is someone to keep an eye on. He’s arguably one of the top forward prospects in the Sabres system. The 20-year-old had an excellent sophomore season at the University of Minnesota with 23 goals and 36 points in 36 games.

He was also the captain for the Team USA World Junior club, where he performed well against his peers. The 2024 third-round pick could return to his junior season with the Gophers. However, that decision may be up in the air following Minnesota’s announcement that it is moving on from longtime head coach Bob Motzko.

Ziemer has three options in front of him. He can remain with the Gophers once he finds out who will be the next head coach. He can enter the transfer portal or sign with the Sabres if both sides believe that is the best path.

As I said, this will likely wait to see who the Gophers hire.

Update – Official Bracket

The 2026 Men’s Hockey bracket has now been announced. Michigan State will be a 1 seed in the Worcester region. They’ll face UConn in the first round at 1:30 PM on Thursday to open the tournament.

Wisconsin and Dartmouth will be the other two teams in that region. They’ll play at 5 PM on Thursday.

The Sabres will have five of their six prospects in this region.

The remaining prospect, Adam Kleber, will play in the Albany region for Minnesota Duluth. They drew Gavin McKenna and Penn State in the first round. They’ll play on Friday at 9 PM.

Top seed Michigan and Bentley are the other two teams in that region.

The full bracket can be seen here.

Photo Credit: Lansing State Journal
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