Noah Ostlund

Buffalo keeps leaning into youth, and the next wave looks like it is getting a little more crowded. Hamilton reports that Helenius is set to join Ostlund and Kulich in the Sabres lineup next year, which tells you the organization is not hiding from the rebuild math. When a team starts stacking prospects together, the message usually goes beyond patience and into accountability, because young players either grow up fast or get swallowed by the schedule.

Buffalo keeps waiting for its next wave to stop being a promise and start being a problem for opponents. Helenius, Ostlund and Kulich are the kinds of young centers front offices dream about when they talk about depth down the middle, because the league always notices teams that can roll real centers and not just hope for the best. The Sabres are at the stage where these players need to turn draft-night optimism into actual NHL minutes.