The Top 25 Under 25 is a collaboration by members of the Die By The Blade community. It was a combination of staff writers and over 200 readers that ranked Buffalo Sabres players under the age of 25 as of August 1, 2024. Each participant used their own metric of current ability and production to rank each player. Staff votes counted equally with reader votes.
Maxim Štrbák
Drafted: 2023 – 2nd Round (45th overall)
Position: Defense
Born: April 13, 2005 (19 years old)
2023-2024 stats: Michigan State, NCAA: 2-7-9 + 17 PIM in 32 GP
2023 T25U25 Ranking: N/A
2023 draft pick Maxim Štrbák makes his debut on the T25U25 list following his first season playing Division I hockey at Michigan State. Štrbák had 27 blocked shots over the course of the season (fourth-most among his teammates), and recorded his first collegiate goal against none other than Canisius. In Big Ten conference play, he finished the season a plus-10, tied for 8th in the conference.
He had an impressive showing at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championships, where he was named one of Slovakia’s top three players. He had seven points, including six assists, in five games. He had one assist and three shots on goal while leading all skaters with 25:59 TOI in Slovakia’s quarterfinal matchup against Finland. (Finland won 4-3 in OT.)
Here’s a great video from Michigan State about the Sabres draft pick and how the help he received during the year helped him, on and off the ice:
And here’s what he had to say during this summer’s development camp:
Since he is a collegiate player, Štrbák will almost certainly not be at the Sabres’ upcoming Prospects Challenge in mid-September. But if you’re in Buffalo & interested, you can see Štrbák (and fellow Sabres draft pick Patrick Geary) when Michigan State comes to town to play a pair of games against Canisius. They’ll face off on Friday, October 25 and Saturday, October 26 at LECOM Harborcenter.