Welcome to the 2024 xB Buffalo Sabres Draft Guide! For the 2024 edition, I took feedback from last year, and have broken this up into multiple parts so that it 1.) Can load on your mobile device and 2.) Can be consumed in multiple readings and doesn’t take you an hour to get through.

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 in 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 my studying of the Sabres past draft philosophies or the current needs of the team.

– Realistic Scenarios are based on where I believe players may go in the draft, and are based on studying the Sabres’ previous draft philosophies, current prospect pool depth needs, and players, that if I were a part of the Sabres draft team, I would be okay signing off on the selection.

– 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), but I believe 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, Tanner Adams was eligible for the draft last year but was not drafted. He will appear in the draft guide as ‘Tanner Adams*”.

Last year this draft guide included Zach Benson in a Dream Scenario, Anton Wahlberg/Maxim Strbak in the Realistic Scenarios, and Gavin McCarthy in a Wildcard Scenario. Hopefully, this guide will get lucky again and provide insight to some of the players in the Sabres draft as they draft them. 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.

Pick 204

Dream Scenario #1: Alexandre Blais, LW, QMJHL

5’10, 154 lbs

68gp, 24g, 84pts

Alexandre Blais was my favorite player in the QMJHL last year, so his sudden boom in production didn’t come to a surprise at all to me. Despite his smaller frame and slightly undersized height, he was a player who dictated the offense for Rimouski whenever he was on the ice. Even last year, despite lackluster production, he was finding ways to get to dangerous areas of the ice to get his shot off (#22 in all clips shown).

When you watch Blais play, the first thing that is going to pop off the screen is just how quick and smart he is. This shift below is just a randomly selected shift from a game from Blais. Notice that he’s always moving and moving into space off the puck to either receive a pass or cut off the opposition. At the beginning of the clip he’ll make a stick-lift and then put the puck in deep. He’ll cut off the outlet pass by realizing his teammate had lost the board battle, and then get the puck to a dangerous area. At the end, he’s right on the forward as they fall and are just able to clear the puck. Despite his size, and despite being more well-known for his play creation, it’s all these small details in his game that endear me to him as an NHL prospect (#22 in white).

His pace of play is very good for a player who is just slightly below the ideal size of an NHL prospect, and his brain and skill more than makeup for any deficiencies in my estimation. His slight frame gets him knocked around more than I’d like for a prospect, but as this next clip shows, it’s not often that he isn’t able to get through the physical contact to make the play he wants to make.

However, qualitatively, it’s his ability to manipulate multiple players at once that makes him one of the more exciting players I watched this year. He’s able to use his feet and hands to manipulate and create space to make plays that aren’t there when he first enters the zone or enters an area of the ice. His ability to change direction, use fakes and dekes, and then slide pucks accurately and under duress, makes him my favorite late-round prospect, and this year’s winner of the Trey Fix-Wolansky Award.

Blais’ microstat profile is equally impressive, if not absurd. He’s top 10 in shots per game and high danger shots per game, 3rd in total pass attempts, 4th in completion percentage, and sports over a 57% (!) offensive transition involvement percentage. I’m in the minority that believes there is so much in the details of his offensive and defensive game that he’s not destined to be a boom-or-bust offensive-only forward draft prospect, but rather that he can find a way to fit in a multitude of ways into a potential NHL lineup if development continues to takes the leaps it has these past two years.

Dream Scenario #2: Mac Swanson, LW, USHL

5’7, 159 lbs

55gp, 26g, 77pts

It’s easy to write off Swanson when you look at his height, and that one factor may see him go undrafted in the 2024 NHL draft. However, when you watch Swanson play, it’s hard not to like everything the player does. He has a fantastic vision of the ice and can thread passes to teammates that very few in this draft class can. He plays with pace but does not have the blazing speed that is expected of a sub-5’10 player coming out in the NHL draft. He does a great job at getting into the middle of the ice in the offensive zone to get his shot off and is primarily parked alongside the blue line on the left-wing side during breakouts where he’s able to fend off pressure to make great outlet passes to spring offensive transitions. However, it’s his vision in the offensive zone to set up teammates for prime scoring chances that stands out above the rest (#27 in all video clips).

He’s small, but he’s not afraid of contact. While he’s not overly effective using physical contact to separate players from the puck; he is very good at absorbing physical contact to make sure he can facilitate the next play or scoring chance that his size doesn’t keep him to the outside in the offensive zone.

His microstat profile in my data collection was very impressive as well. He attempted the most passes at forward in the entire dataset, and 21% of them went to dangerous areas of the ice. In total, he was third in the entire dataset in terms of total dangerous passing attempts behind only Trevor Connelly and Berkley Catton. He was involved in over 48% of all successful offensive transitions for the Fargo Force, as well as was the MVP of the playoffs as Fargo ended up winning the Clark Cup.

Next year Swanson will go to the University of North Dakota, and despite his size, I find it hard to pass up on a player that has looked this good in the USHL and internationally at the Hlinka as well.

Realistic Scenario #1: Ben Robertson*, LHD, NCAA (Cornell)

5’11, 181 lbs

35gp, 5g, 23pts

Ben Robertson was born three days after the cutoff for the 2023 draft which made him one of the oldest draft-eligible players last year, and given his September 18th birthday you have to bake that into his evaluation. However, Robertson outperformed other draft-eligible defensemen on Cornell (Hoyt Stanley and George Fegaras) to the point where he was the PP1 quarterback and led the defensive group in average ice time throughout the season and in the college playoffs.

Robertson, in a word, is smooth. He’s a fluid skater in all four directions who excels at being able to turn away from pressure and deliver pin-point passes in defensive exits or for stretch passes to gain the offensive zone. He eats space in the offensive zone well and keeps his head up to make cross-ice passes.

Defensively, he keeps a good gap against the rush and can direct players where he wants them to go. He possesses a decent stick to separate players from the puck but does get a bit manhandled in the corners by bigger offensive wingers. He does a good job tying up sticks in the front of the net and is able to fight for rebound control against players of all sizes. His best asset is his ability to get the puck out of the zone with possession and his ability to use his mobility and smart, simple passing skills to advance the puck.

I thought of the prospect pool when I heard Kevyn Adams talk about adding defensive depth to the roster in a recent press conference. With Sean Keohane struggling to stick in the USHL and moving to the BCHL, and Norwin Panocha struggling in his move to North America, there’s a lack of depth on the LHD. Robertson could serve as a valuable tweener between the AHL/NHL and there’s plenty of ice time to earn in Rochester.

Realistic Scenario #2: Joona Vaisanen**, RHD, USHL

6’0, 176 lbs

53gp, 9g, 40pts

Watching James Reeder throughout the year, and watching the majority of the Clark Cup final, one player that I kept coming back to was Joona Vaisanen. The 2004-born, right-handed defenseman continued to impress me with his manipulation at the blue line and offensive instincts by occupying space in the offensive zone like this clip below.

His lateral agility makes him an NHL prospect, but he needs another step in his north/south speed to be effective in his puck retrievals. Too often, when there wasn’t an immediate passing option open, his lack of speed put him under duress led to turnovers or pucks being cleared out of the zone instead of with possession.

There’s a lot of talent and skill that flashes, and when a player flashes that type of puck manipulation and skill from the blue line I can see an NHL team betting on development to get them another step. I’m not sure what his plans are for next season, but a move to the men’s division in Finland or the NCAA could see him make that leap.

Wildcard: Francesco Dell’Elce*, LHD, BCHL

6’0, 174lbs

54gp, 9g, 38pts

I faux-drafted Dell’Elce to the Sabres with my seventh-round selection last year based on his absurd offensive profile in the high school prep circuit and the cannon of a wrist shot he possessed. Dell’Elce started the year on a tear and was over a point per game well into the mid-point of the season. His point totals began to slow down in the second half of the year, and a lot of that can be attributed to the fact that he became a volume shooter when he went to the BCHL.

Dell’Elce showed that his speed, offensive acumen to use space, and defensive ability all translated at a high end to the BCHL. However, he didn’t progress in terms of making and creating plays that got him past an oncoming defender to then feed passes to teammates in dangerous areas of the ice.

I still believe that Dell’Elce has the tools to become a very good NCAA offensive defender, and his defending this year showed he’s going to be able to hold his own (possibly even excel) as he moves to UMass next year. His ceiling doesn’t look as sparkling as it did a year ago, but his floor has improved tremendously.

Five Quick Players In Case Edmonton Wins the Stanley Cup and we get pick 223

Dream #1: Anthony Cristoforo, RHD, OHL: Offensively I always liked watching him play when watching Greentree, but defensively he has a lot of work. His feet were too inactive and his gaps were too big which let opponents walk into Windsor’s defensive zone. He was asked to do too much on a bad team, but there was enough there that I would bet on him in the seventh.

Dream #2: Cole Davis, C/LW, OHL: Another Windsor player! When Greentree became a bit less puck-dominant the last two months of the year, it was Cole Davis and his speed transporting the puck for the Spitfires. His skating pops off the screen and his skill has its moments. He battles hard, and he’s a candidate for a big jump in production for his D+1 year.

Realistic #1: Finn Mclaughlin, LHD, USHL: The points never materialized for Mclaughlin, but there is a lot depth to his offensive game. He’s able to move defenders off their spots to make plays, his skating could use some work though as he’s not able to get by defenders with his feet and he struggles to defend top skaters in the USHL. However, going to the University of Denver next year, I would take a three-year waiting period to see what one of the top programs in collegiate hockey can get out of him.

Realistic #2: Karl Sterner, W, J20 Nationell: A big, Swedish winger just screams someone that Adams may pick. He had moments in the u18s where I thought he could be something, but he was very inconsistent. He’s a project, and with the four-year development curve Swedish projects get, he’s someone that would be stashed away in hopes that he develops his foot speed and a power forward type game in the SHL.

Wildcard: Brayden Edwards*, C/W, WHL: Simply put: I just love watching Brayden Edwards play hockey. He was a water-bug on the ice this year for Lethbridge. He suffocates space in the forecheck, motors back into the neutral zone for the back-check, grinds in the defensive zone, and then wants the puck in the offensive transition. He is everywhere when you watch Lethbridge play and constantly makes things happen. He won me over this year, and I think the late 2004 prospect could find a role in the AHL and endear himself to get a chance at the NHL possibly.