With the 2025 NHL Entry Draft order now mostly set, we can predict where some players might land. Of course, there are always outliers where a team goes off the board and drafts a player no one expected (like the Anaheim Ducks, who selected right winger Bennett Sennecke third overall in 2024.)
The 2025 Draft is a little over a month away, and the Buffalo Sabres hold the ninth-overall pick. I’ve written about the Sabres’ needs heading into the offseason and their priorities heading into the draft. The organization has one of the strongest forward prospect pools in the league. Players like Isak Rosen, Noah Ostlund, and Konsta Helenius are on the verge of becoming full-time NHLers, so it wouldn’t make much sense to draft a forward that won’t be ready to compete for a roster spot for at least two seasons.
Sabres Must Draft Defense
The Sabres’ defensive prospect pool does not jump off the page. Vsevolod Komarov is their top prospect on the blue line, partially because management has a long track record of drafting forwards over defensemen in the first round, drafting just three since 2018. However, two were selected first overall, Rasmus Dahlin (2018) and Owen Power (2021). The third was Ryan Johnson, 31st overall in 2019.
The 2025 Draft is heavy on talented forwards, so it might be hard to pass up on a player like Victor Eklund or Jake O’Brien if they fall to the Sabres. However, the Sabres do not have room to add another forward prospect. If they don’t feel they should take a defenseman with their draft pick, they should trade it to move back or get an NHL-ready defenseman as part of the return. Luckily, though, there are three defensemen whom they could select at ninth overall if they decide to keep their pick. TSN’s Bob McKenzie has Jackson Smith ranked 10th, Logan Hensler 11th, and Radim Mrtka 12th, which means the Sabres could easily select one of them.
Selecting a player like Mrtka, for example, would help deepen their defensive prospect pool right away. He isn’t NHL-ready and should stay another year in the Western Hockey League, but adding a player of his size who can skate and move the puck well, might be what the Sabres will need in two seasons when he could be ready to make the jump. With players like Dahlin, Power, and Bowen Byram (a restricted free agent this offseason) already on the blue line, Buffalo needs a big, physical, and disciplined player. Mrtka is all those things.
Related: Grading Buffalo Sabres’ First-Round Picks in the Pegula Era
There is an unlikely-but-possible scenario that could warrant taking another forward within the top 10: General manager Kevyn Adams trades for a top-four defenseman before the draft or on draft day before they’re on the clock.
Hensler is a right-handed defenseman, the Sabres’ most prominent position of need. His offensive stats don’t jump off the page (12 points in 32 games for the University of Wisconsin.) What impresses me about him is his skating ability, his puck movement, his poise in his zone, and his ability to get his stick in shooting and passing lanes. He’s one of the more-overlooked prospects in the Draft and he’s my second choice if he’s available at ninth overall and Mrtka is off the board.
Overall, the Sabres passing up on a defenseman would inexcusable. If the organization does not feel like the value is there at 9th overall to draft a defenseman, they should work out a trade to trade back and get assets back, even if it’s a third-round draft pick as a throw-in.
What do you think the Sabres should do with their ninth-overall draft pick?
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