The Buffalo Sabres have been considered to have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL, which is in part due to them selecting high in recent drafts because of their not qualifying for the playoffs. The Sabres have displayed an eye for talent, but the organization’s developmental model has not yielded enough results.
Leading up to the opening of training camp in mid-September, we will look at the club’s top 40 prospects. All are 25 years old or younger, whose rights are currently held by the Sabres or are on AHL or NHL deals, and have played less than 40 NHL games.
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#4 – Noah Ostlund – Center (Rochester – AHL, Buffalo – NHL)
Ostlund was the Sabres second first-round pick (16th overall) at the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal after scoring 42 points for the Djurgardens junior-level club, 10 points for Sweden at the Under-18s, and a brief stint in the SHL. The following season, he had 26 points (8 goals, 18 assists) in 37 regular-season games in the second-level pro league Allsvenskan and four points (1 goal, 3 assists) for Team Sweden at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championships.
He travelled to North America after his season in Sweden and joined the Rochester Americans for their Calder Cup Playoff run, but did not play. The Stockholm native chose not to come over to start the 2023-24 season, instead returning to Sweden to play for Vaxjo and play again for his country at the 2024 World Junior in Gothenburg.
The 20-year-old thrived at the WJC, scoring 10 points (3 goals, 7 assists) in seven games and earning a silver medal. Ostlund was also a solid contributor for Vaxjo, with 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists) in 38 games, and joined Rochester at the end of the AHL season, earning an assist in two regular-season games and one goal in three playoff games.
In his first full season in North America, Ostlund missed nearly two months with a hand injury, but returned just before Christmas and went goalless in his first 10 games, but the 21-year-old began to produce at a high rate since the middle of February, scoring 11 goals in a 15-game stretch, earning an NHL recall and playing the final eight games with the Sabres. In 45 games with the Amerks, he scored 36 points (19 goals, 17 assists) in 45 games in the regular season.
Similar to countryman Isak Rosen, Ostlund is a player with talent, but it is unknown whether he will get a legitimate NHL opportunity. Being a year younger than Rosen, the young center has more time to develop his game and will need to put up big numbers in Rochester this season to earn a chance with the Sabres.
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