The Top 25 Under 25 is a collaboration by members of the Die By The Blade community. It was a combination of six staff writers and over 485 fans that ranked players under the age of 25 as of August 10, 2021. Each participant used their own metric of current ability and production to rank each player.
The “Buffalo Sabres Top 25 Under 25” continues today with a new name on the list – 2021 second-round pick Aleksandr Kisakov.
As is the case with a new draft pick, there is not a plethora information that would find itself available for a player that has a few years under their belt.
With that being said, a few things we are sure of.
Kisakov is currently a small player – in terms of weight, not height. If Kisakov wants to have a NHL future, he will most certainly need to add size to his frame.
We know Kisakov can score goals.
Aleksandr Kisakov gets it done. 😤#LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/SEWMbnty8G
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) July 24, 2021
Mentioned above, Kisakov scored 36 goals in 61 minor league games last season. That ranked Kisakov second in goal scoring in the entire league.
Kisakov also ranked second in total points (73).
Some have said the Sabres drafting of a smaller Russian forward equates to a lottery ticket on a player who can develop into their goal scoring ways.
If Kisakov were able to add size and make a transition over to the NHL and average 15-20 goals a season, Buffalo would be hard pressed to find themselves upset with this draft pick.
Tracking Kisakov’s development throughout the ranks of Russian hockey over the next few years will be something that can keep Sabres fans locked in while the big club in Buffalo continues to roll through another rebuild.