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2022 NHL Draft Recap | How did the Buffalo Sabres do?

Posted on by Calvin

So the dust has settled from the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, and the Buffalo Sabres leave Montreal having made eleven selections with their eleven picks going into the draft.

  • Round 1-9 (9): Matthew Savoie, C, WINNIPEG (WHL) January 1, 2004 | 5′ 9″ | 170 pounds Article
  • Round 1-16 (16): Noah Ostlund, C, DJURGARDEN JR. (SWEDEN-JR.) March 11, 2004 | 5′ 10″ | 164 pounds Article
  • Round 1-28 (28): Jiri Kulich, C, KARLOVY VARY (CZREP) April 14, 2004 | 5′ 11″ | 178 pounds Article
  • Round 2-9 (41): Topias Leinonen, G, JYP JR. (FINLAND-JR.) January 25, 2004 | 6′ 5″ | 233 pounds Article
  • Round 3-9 (74) Viktor Neuchev, LW, YEKATERINBURG 2 (RUSSIA-JR.) October 25, 2003 | 6′ 2″ | 165 pounds Article
  • Round 4-9 (106) Mats Lindgren, LHD, KAMLOOPS (WHL) August 26, 2004 | 5′ 11″ | 173 pounds Article
  • Round 5-5 (134) Vsevolod Komarov, RHD, QUEBEC (QMJHL) January 11, 2004 | 6′ 2″ | 182 pounds Article
  • Round 6-9 (170) Jake Richard, RW, MUSKEGON (USHL) August 15, 2004 | 6′ 1″ | 171 pounds Article
  • Round 6-26 (187) Gustav Karlsson, C, OREBRO JR. (SWEDEN-JR.) October 31, 2003 | 6′ 1″ | 165 pounds Article
  • Round 7-9 (202) Joel Ratkovic Berndtsson, RW, FROLUNDA JR. (SWEDEN-JR.) October 18, 2003 | 6′ 0″ | 178 pounds Article
  • Round 7-18 (211) Linus Sjodin, C, ROGLE (SWEDEN) October 2, 2002 | 6′ 0″ | 167 pounds Article/

General Manager Kevyn Adams is being widely commended for the Sabres draft especially the first round as the Sabres went a long way towards growing the center depth in the prospect pool with their selections, picking up three skilled forwards. The franchise selecting goalie Topias Leinonen in Round 2 is also a smart move considering how highly they thought of the youngster.

Plenty of fans expected the Sabres to make a couple of trades, whether it was to get a goalie or a package of players and prospects, during the Draft, but were surprised to see Adams go ahead and make all eleven selections for players. This makes it the second straight draft that they have picked eleven prospects.

Corey Pronman in The Athletic gave the Sabres the third highest grade, the A- was only behind the Montreal Canadiens (A+) and Seattle Krakens (A), with the Arizona Coyotes and Columbus Blue Jackets also getting an A-.

I was a big fan of how Buffalo approached this draft. They acquired a lot of skill, hockey sense and scoring touch in the top four rounds to go with a top goalie prospect in Topias Leinonen. I could quibble with a few things — Noah Ostlund at 16 was a tad high for me personally, even though the NHL industry roughly had him there.

That said, I like a lot of the players they brought in and can envision several quality regulars coming out of this draft, including a projected good top-six forward in Matthew Savoie.

With that in mind, how do you think Buffalo did during the 2022 NHL Draft? Did they get what they needed, and were the picks they made good value? Which ones would you call reaches, and who was a steal? Grade the Sabres draft below.

How did the Buffalo Sabres do in the 2022 NHL Draft?

A 828
B 421
C 48
D 8
F 14

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