Sabres mailbag: 3 prospects generating buzz
I’m Lance lski the Sabers beat writer for the Buffalo News coming to you with something new we’re going to try something different here rather than me just talking about a specific subject I’m not anybody who’s listening watching however you’re consuming this I’m sure you’ve you’ve read our mailbags in the
Buffalo News Jay skerski does a excellent one on the bills I put together as Sabers one not as often as Jay does but collect questions from readers through Twitter also known as X these days or email I collect those I answer them you can view the story in
Print and online and I just collected quite a few this week actually from readers uh folks on social media Sabers fans so thank you to everyone who submitted and for now on each time I write a mailbag I’m also going to do a little video with one right hey take one
Of the questions I’ll answer it on here a different way to to you just give people a different option on how they want to consume their Sabers content give them um and hey and it gives me more of an opportunity to expand on a topic and for this particular question
Rather than going too long on answering it for this particular reader I thought this is a a great opportunity to speak about uh maybe a topic that hasn’t well is not going to be um spoken about as much just given the way the SE the Sab season has gone on so
Let’s get into it got to have a Java that is the reader Twitter handle thank you again for submitting the question is what prospects do you sense have the have generated the most Buzz among the saber staff I’m going to completely ignore the uh all the prospects in
Rochester for this one that would be too easy we all know isuk rosan you know Nikita novakov of course Yuri Kulik those are the guys that management and everybody in in Rochester development staff they’re thrilled about the progress those guys have made you know both in Rochester at International
Tournaments noob’s case over at the KHL before he came to Rochester this season Matt Sao we all know he’s in Moosejaw having another great year he’s me missed the last couple of games I’m not exactly sure why something to keep an eye on looks like he may be dealing with an
Injury I’m going to go overseas for my answer Europe specifically and there are three prospects that I hear about more than any anyone else in the pipeline when it comes to the guys that you know you don’t think about every day or you don’t hear about as often because
They’re not playing in the NCAA they’re not in Rochester they’re not in Canadian Juniors and you know of course they’re on the Sabers roster since the sabes have a few of those on their team this year as well so three players two of whom are in Sweden this season Noah
Osland and Anton Wahlberg I’m sure those don’t surprise uh my listeners viewers readers who really follow saber prospects uh especially at this point in the season Austin and Wahlberg have played prominent roles over in the Swedish Hockey League this season Wahlberg played both played at the IH IIHF world junior Championship standouts
Osen is a true Center and a really good one an exciting young player a first round pick only a couple of years ago hasn’t been over to Rochester yet we know that he spent a few weeks with the amicks during their playoff run had an injury so he couldn’t get in the lineup
Couldn’t practice with the team but he’s really a dynamic two-way player if you see the sabes decide to move Casey midad at some point it’s with Noah osland in mind he’s somebody that once he does come over I always recommend having a player spend time in Rochester I think especially
Where the sabras are at and they plan to win use Rochester as your development tool don’t use buffalo as that I think rosin’s going to need time in Rochester he should receive a good chunk of time play a prominent role but he’s got a very he’s got a lot of potential he’s
Somebody that I’m sure other teams are going to be asking about when Kevin Adams is having trade talks leading up to the March 8th deadline Noah oand yeah he’s somebody that you could see playing in a middle six role once he does break into the NHL he’s a great
Playmaker superb vision and really starting to add a scoring touch there’s always you know the questions about production in the shl how’s that going to translate to North America but very good player continues to take steps in the right direction and uh one guy to keep an eye
On especially as we we get closer to you know the the spring season here because atin’s somebody as is Walberg who can come over and join the amks you know and possibly you know help that group once they reach the playoffs or even beforehand and wallberg second round
Pick in this pass draft I if you didn’t follow that you know that time period somebody the sabes loved they tried to trade back into the first round to get him late couldn’t pull it off and you know they were lucky that he felt to them a big strong power forward with
Skill he’s already playing a really big role for Malmo in this in the shl somebody that he’s not built like you know a lot of people focus on the this the more slight forward prospects in this group at least slight at their age Zack Benson for example I think is going
To be built like Jeff skanner once he physical maturity takes time you can’t rush that that point but walberg’s a bigger guy he’s a power forward with skill and somebody that has a mature game to the point where he can be in Rochester next season he’s a late
Bloomer which is really surprising I mean this is a guy who and I sound like Chris Collins with that so I should apologize but no Anton Walberg is somebody who was really ignored by the Swedish Hockey Federation when it came to them picking their national teams throughout his teenage years it wasn’t
Until about a year and a half ago where he really started to to earn the attention that he was deserving he hit a growth spurt started to become the player that we’re seeing now with a great skating stride mature game you know and his his team last year was
Fighting off relegation and trying to stay in the shl for another season he was on the ice late in the game to try to preserve a lead he was somebody that the coach turned to to play in those big situations now he’s he’s been able to play center at times it’s a position
They’ve used him in but more likely to be a Winger at the next level and that’s fine with where this organization is at if they move osland that that’s going to read to me that they’re going to sign middle stats and then you’re looking at Thompson Cousins Middle stat is your
Your top three Payton Krebs is is somebody that again like osland teams are going to be asking about Krebs so how is Kevin Adams going to handle his Center depth and osland is somebody to keep an eye on when it comes to that story line but Walberg big forward and
Somebody that I’m really interested to see how he takes the next step in his game I know the the saber staff really excited about everything they’ve seen those two guys have really popped uh again this season which hey development isn’t linear you’re going to have guys
Who who hit rough patches you know and some of those are longer than others but it’s all about how players work through that process and these guys so far have avoided that some injuries of course you know a was dealing with a a concussion situation you really can’t avoid before
World Juniors but he’s come back healthy playing well and the last of the three that I’m going to mention here is pro cour P toov Russian Winger big strong physical guy with a scoring touch has not been able to have that consistent role in the Continental hockey league in
Russia this season but he’s he’s made an impact when he’s been up there when he’s dropped down to that second tier League the vhl really really good player now the Sabres had time on their side with Popov he’s under contract in Russia for another season so they can’t even sign
Him until the summer of 2025 but he is somebody if he continues this trik and if he ends up in a bigger role in the KHL next year and and gets that 18 to 20 minutes a game he’s somebody it’s reasonable to to believe that if the sabes are able to sign him
He’s somebody who might actually be ready at that point to to step in the NHL He he’ll have been what at 2025 he’ll be almost 5 years you know 23 24 years old of course as I’ve said Rochester is such an uh invaluable de development tool it’s really become that since Seth
Apert was hired since the Sabers have really refocused and reshaped their development plan but it’s somebody somebody to keep keep an eye on he might he might be at the point where he’s not only physically immature enough to be in the National Hockey League in
2025 but he also he might have the skill and all all of the other intangibles on nice you know attributes you’re looking for for somebody who’s able to step in at such a young age so to to summarize for you guys Noah osen Anton Wahlberg and pro pro cour potapov potapov it I
Don’t like making comparisons but you just think around the league of those big power forwards who have skill who can really disrupt the front of the net the type of gritty competitive players that you really want to surround your your core with um you know you think
About Zach Benson and then you think about guys like Matt savvo or Jack Quinn JJ petka imagine adding two other power forwards to that mix and then you got Noah aand who’s a really promising Young Center that gives Kevin Adams as a general manager more flexibility when it
Comes to shaping this roster along long term well would you feel comfortable moving one of the centers on your NHL roster knowing full well that Noah atin somebody really believe in uh a young Center who’s not that far a you know not far removed from you know possibly being
Able to help you in the NHL so those are my three I’m Lance lowki from the Buffalo news we’re going to continue this this exercise this little experiment to to pull out a mailbag question and really take more time in in putting it together gives me more time
To answer the question give a more thorough explanation I thought this was a good opportunity a good question to pick if you ever have any for a written mailbag I I might end up picking it for a video we’ll see how it goes but you could submit your question to me via
Email l l Ys o wski buff news.com or on X formerly known as Twitter my handle there is ly s o wski if I didn’t get to your question this time I’m sorry I ran out of room or there was some overlap I do try to keep
A file for for next time some of those get end up getting outdated I understand that it just it’s tough to always find room to to be able to write uh a mailbag just given the the NHL schedule so we’re going to try to see how we can make this
Work moving forward um try to give you give you well Sabers content in different ways and just to meet your needs I know podcasts are such a an easy way for people to absorb information and although um don’t deliver that through the Buffalo News I think that hey 12
Minute video on a a really specific topic that is relevant not only to the current conversation but those that we’re going to be having in the months and years moving forward so thank you again I’m Lance lowski until next time see you soon
Sabres beat writer Lance Lysowski answers a reader’s question about the team’s prospects.
