The Top 25 Under 25 is a collaboration by members of the Die By The Blade community. 117 readers ranked Buffalo Sabres players under the age of 25 as of August 1, 2025. Each participant used their own metric of current ability and production to rank each player.
Adam Kleber
Drafted: 2024, BUF (42nd overall), 2nd round, 10th pick
Position: Defense
Born: 3/24/2006 (Age: 19) Chaska, Minnesota, USA
2024-2025 stats: GP 33 G 2 A 3 PTS 5
2024 T25U25 Ranking: Kleber was ranked 25th one year ago
Adam Kleber has the elite size and defensive savvy to become a physical, shut-down player in the NHL. Standing at a massive 6’6″ and 225 pounds, the Minnesota native is a valued right-handed shot. A position the Sabres suddenly have an abundance of. Not all those prospects will make it, so top right-handed talent is still coveted. Kleber just finished his first college season with the University of Minnesota-Duluth. He scored 2 goals and 5 points in 33 games. He is a prototypical defensive defender and plays his role well. With his long reach, he covers a wide area, helping him defend against small and faster players. (keeping them to the outside) However, he can also close the gap quickly. He is a strong skater for his immense size and has good mobility. His physical play is more about bumping players off the puck and using his superior strength. He can and does take the body when needed, but his game is not blasting players into the boards. Here is Adam’s presser from about a month back at the Sabres’ Development Camp.
Kleber’s team, a young Minnesota-Duluth squad, is low on promising pro-level talent. That makes him one of the top dogs there with an actual pathway to the NHL. This should help him become a more important and responsible player for his team. He should fill that leadership role, which is beneficial for him at this stage. Adam’s offense showed improvement in his last season in the USHL, scoring 26 points in 56 games. Up from only 8 the year before. But it was DEFENSE FIRST again in his rookie college season, and that is how he projects for Buffalo. He will chip in here and there, but his role remains being a defensive rock.
This solid Buffalo prospect will fly under the radar for some, mostly for his underwhelming offense. But he will eventually make a name for himself by PREVENTING offense from others. Kleber’s size, positioning, and defensive intelligence will carry him to the pros soon enough. I imagine he plays at least one more year of college before making the jump to Rochester. We don’t know his actual college plans yet, but hopefully the Buffalo brass does. Two years in college and another two in an Amerks jersey sounds good to me.
I’m foreseeing Kleber as a Jay McKee-type player. Dependable, determined, and hard-working. Nothing flashy, just a player committed to his role. Or maybe he has higher aspirations, something in the mold of Sabres’ legend Bill Hajt? Wouldn’t that be something. One thing is for certain: the team has another BIG, right-shot defender in the prospect wings. He is not to be forgotten with the shiny new toy, Radim Mrtka, recently drafted by Buffalo. A shutdown player with toughness and conviction who sure would look good on the Buffalo blue line someday.
Here is another video on Adam Kleber that is a year old, but shows some nice clips of him on the ice. We also hear some good perspective of those who saw him play often. He is coming off his big offensive jump in his last season in the USHL at this point. From 8 points to 26. So you will hear some offensive optimism from his coach and an analyst. While it was good to see him level up, I don’t think that surge will translate to his pro game. He is not devoid of some skill, but it is certainly not his forte. Defense is the name of Kleber’s game.