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.
Josh Doan
Drafted: 2021, ARI 2nd round (37th overall pick)
Position: Right wing
Born: 2/1/2002 (Age: 23) Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
2024-2025 stats: GP 51 G 7 A 12 PTS 19 (Utah Hockey Club), GP 28 G 11 A 15 PTS 26 (Tucson Roadrunners)
2024 T25U25 Ranking: N/R
It’s truly unfortunate that every movement Josh Doan makes is going to be examined under the microscope of the JJ Peterka trade. In case you forgot, the 23-year-old comes to Buffalo along with defenseman Michael Kesselring from Utah Hockey Club with the young German forward going the other way. It definitely was a controversial trade that many will say the Sabres got fleeced in, while others maintain that as long as both sides get what they wanted out of it, it’s a fair hockey trade. Only time will tell.
Even if Doan sheds the baggage of that trade, there remains the weight he will always carry that comes with that last name. After all, Josh is the son of the Shane Doan, and even though he doesn’t have the prolific production or post-season success that would make him an almost-certain NHL Hall of Famer, he is certainly a Coyotes’ legend and a model power forward that brought versatility, leadership and toughness to the ice every night.
That said, Doan is still finding his role in the NHL and in many ways similar to his dad without being a replica. He’s a strong two-way skater, has good vision offensively and though his skating needs improvement, Doan has a high motor and excellent work ethic. He will bring the lunchpail-carrying blue collar work ethic that this city often prizes to the Sabres roster.
While he wasn’t the most highly-touted prospect growing up – despite, or possibly in spite of his last name? – it was at Arizona State University he made a name for himself. Drafted by the Coyotes in 2021, he spent two seasons with the Sun Devils, bagging 12 goals and 25 assists in his rookie season and then as the team captain during the 2022-23 season, he logged 16 goals and 22 assists in 39 games.
He had an up-and-down season in 2024-25. Doan made the Utah roster to start out the campaign but struggled offensively and ended up demoted to Tucson when he posted nearly a point-per-game in the AHL and came back up to the NHL in January, staying there until the end of the season.
“His 17 points in those last 42 games were still a tad on the disappointing side, but he drove possession relative to quality of competition, was one of the stronger ones on the team in fact and formed great chemistry on a shift disturber line alongside Lawson Crouse and Jack McBain. That kind of deployment would put a bit of a roof on his upside, but he’ll still provide secondary scoring.“
Dobber
Over the summer he featured for the USA in the 2025 IIHF World Championship, getting just the one goal in nine games played as the American side (starring one Tage Thompson!) went on to win gold, beating Switzerland in the final.
For the Sabres this season, Doan will get every chance to become the ‘pest’ he talks about wanting to be on the third line centered by Ryan McLeod. If he even approaches the 50-point mark that McLeod hit last season, then this will be considered a very good season for the young forward.
His PNHLe forecast points to a career middle-six forward, which is about what his career trajectory seems to be headed towards.
2025 Buffalo Sabres Top 25 Under 25
#25: Scott Ratzlaff
#24: Topias Leinonen
#23: Zac Jones
#22: Viktor Neuchev
#21: Prokhor Poltapov
#20: Adam Kleber
#19: Brodie Ziemer
#18: Maxim Strbak
#17: Vsevolod Komarov
#16: Nikita Novikov
#15: Anton Wahlberg
#14: Tyson Kozak
#13: Radim Mrtka
#12: Isak Rosen
#11: Ryan Johnson
#10: Peyton Krebs
#9: Noah Ostlund