We’ll be rolling out voting for the annual Top 25 Under 25 list soon. While you wait, and prep your list, here’s a look at the history behind the list. As far as I can tell, Die By The Blade has compiled such a list annually since 2018. There was no list in 2017, but there were also lists in 2014 through 2016.
Lots of interesting names have come through this list. It’s fun (well, sort of) to look back and see how many of these players panned out – and how many didn’t, either with Buffalo or in general.
#1.
2022: Rasmus Dahlin
2015-2021: Jack Eichel
2014: Tyler Ennis
#2.
2022: Owen Power
2021: Dylan Cozens
2018-2020: Rasmus Dahlin
2016: Sam Reinhart
2015: Ryan O’Reilly
2014: Cody Hodgson
#3.
2022: Tage Thompson
2021: Rasmus Dahlin
2019-2020: Sam Reinhart
2018: Casey Mittelstadt
2016: Rasmus Ristolainen
2015: Evander Kane
2014: Zemgus Girgensons
#4.
2022: Jack Quinn
2021: Owen Power
2020: Victor Olofsson
2019: Casey Mittelstadt
2018: Sam Reinhart
2016: Alex Nylander
2015: Rasmus Ristolainen
2014: Sam Reinhart
#5.
2022: Dylan Cozens
2021: Casey Mittelstadt
2020: Henri Jokiharju
2018-2019: Rasmus Ristolainen
2016: Jake McCabe
2015: Sam Reinhart
2014: Rasmus Ristolainen
#6.
2022: Peyton Krebs
2021: Henri Jokiharju
2020: Dylan Cozens
2019: Victor Olofsson
2018: Linus Ullmark
2016: Johan Larsson
2015: Zemgus Girgensons
2014: Tyler Myers
#7.
2022: JJ Peterka
2021: Arttu Ruotsalinen
2020: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
2019: Lawrence Pilut
2018: Brendan Guhle
2016: Zemgus Girgensons
2015: Zach Bogosian
2014: Tyler Myers
#8.
2022: Mattias Samuelsson
2021: Rasmus Asplund
2020: Casey Mittelstadt
2019: Henri Jokiharju
2018: Evan Rodrigues
2016: Justin Bailey
2015: Mark Pysyk
2014: Mikhail Grigorenko
#9.
2022: Devon Levi
2021: Jack Quinn
2020: Tage Thompson
2019: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
2018: Jake McCabe
2016: Hudson Fasching
2015: Robin Lehner
2014: Nikita Zadorov
#10.
2022: Matthew Savoie
2021: JJ Peterka
2020: Will Borgen
2019: Dylan Cozens
2018: Tage Thompson
2016: Brendan Guhle
2015: Johan Larsson
2014: Marcus Foligno
#11.
2022: Rasmus Asplund
2021: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
2020: Jacob Bryson
2019: Tage Thompson
2018: Alex Nylander
2016: Linus Ullmark
2014-2015: Jake McCabe
#12.
2022: Casey Mittelstadt
2021: Tage Thompson
2020: Arttu Ruotsalainen
2018-2019: Rasmus Asplund
2016: Will Borgen
2015: Justin Bailey
2014: Joel Armia
#13.
2022: Brett Murray
2021: Mattias Samuelsson
2020: Matej Pekar
2019: C.J. Smith
2018: Victor Olofsson
2016: Casey Nelson
2015: Marcus Foligno
2014: Johan Larsson
#14.
2022: Erik Portillo
2021: Ryan Johnson
2020: Rasmus Asplund
2019: Will Borgen
2018: Lawrence Pilut
2016: Evan Rodrigues
2015: Hudson Fasching
2014: Chad Ruhwedel
#15.
2022: Arttu Ruotsalainen
2021: Jacob Bryson
2020: Mattias Samuelsson
2019: Arttu Ruotsalainen
2018: Zemgus Girgensons
2016: Rasmus Asplund
2015: Nick Baptiste
2014: JT Compher
#16.
2022: Henri Jokiharju
2021: Isak Rosen
2020: Erik Portillo
2019: Oskari Laaksonen
2018: Nick Baptiste
2016: Will Carrier
2015: Nicolas Deslauriers & Brendan Guhle
2014: Brendan Lemieux
#17.
2022: Jiri Kulich
2021: Oskari Laaksonen
2020: Ryan Johnson
2019: Mattias Samuelsson
2018: C.J. Smith
2015-2016: Cal Petersen
2014: Nicolas Deslauriers
#18.
2022: Ryan Johnson
2021: Matej Pekar
2020: Oskari Laaksonen
2019: Ryan Johnson
2018: Justin Bailey
2016: Nick Baptiste
2015: Will Carrier
2014: Hudson Fasching
#19.
2022: Isak Rosen
2021: Devon Levi
2020: Marcus Davidsson
2019: Matej Pekar
2018: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
2016: Eric Cornel
2014-2015: Linus Ullmark
#20.
2022: Noah Ostlund
2021: Erik Portillo
2020: Jonas Johansson
2019: Marcus Davidsson
2018: Mattias Samuelsson
2016: Giorgio Estephan
2015: Vaclav Karabacek
2014: Nick Baptiste
#21.
2022: Jacob Bryson
2021: Albert Lyckasen
2020: Linus Cronholm
2019: Casey Fitzgerald
2018: Will Borgen
2016: Dan Catenacci
2015: Eric Cornell
2014: Dan Catenacci
#22.
2022: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
2021: Alexander Kisakov
2020: Lawrence Pilut
2019: Jacob Bryson
2018: Danny O’Regan
2016: Casey Fitzgerald
2015: Anthony Florentino
2014: Matt Hackett
#23.
2022: Lukas Rousek
2021: Linus Weissbach
2020: Miska Kukkonen
2019: Andrew Oglevile
2018: Marcus Davidsson
2016: Anthony Florentino
2015: Evan Rodrigues
2014: Nathan Lieuwen
#24.
2022: Alexander Kisakov
2020-2021: Aaron Huglen
2019: Linus Weissbach
2018: Brandon Hickey
2016: Cliff Pu
2015: Tim Schaller
2014: Eric Cornel
#25.
2022: Mats Lindgren
2021: Casey Fitzgerald
2020: Linus Weissbach
2019: Miska Kukkonen
2018: Sean Malone
2016: Jason Kasdorf
2014-2015: Gustav Possler
Players currently in the Sabres organization who have made the list:
- Aaron Huglen: 24th (2020), 24th (2021)
- Albert Lyckasen: 21st (2021)
- Alexander Kisakov: 22nd (2021), 24th (2022)
- Brett Murray: 13th (2022)
- Casey Mittelstadt: 3rd (2018), 4th (2019), 8th (2020), 5th (2021), 12th (2022)
- Devon Levi: 19th (2021), 9th (2022)
- Dylan Cozens: 10th (2019), 6th (2020), 2nd (2021), 5th (2022)
- Henri Jokiharju: 8th (2019), 5th (2020), 6th (2021), 16th (2022)
- Isak Rosen: 16th (2021), 17th (2022)
- Jack Quinn: 9th (2021), 4th (2022)
- Jacob Bryson: 22nd (2019), 11th (2020), 15th (2021), 20th (2022)
- Jiri Kulich: 17th (2022)
- JJ Peterka: 10th (2021), 7th (2022)
- Linus Weissbach: 25th (2020), 23rd (2021)
- Lukas Rousek: 23rd (2022)
- Mats Lindgren: 25th (2022)
- Matt Savoie: 10th (2022)
- Mattias Samuelsson: 20th (2018), 17th (2019), 15th (2020), 13th (2021), 8th (2022)
- Noah Ostlund: 20th (2022)
- Owen Power: 4th (2021), 1st (2022)
- Peyton Krebs: 5th (2022)
- Rasmus Dahlin: 2nd (2018), 2nd (2019),2nd (2020), 3rd (2021), 1st (2022)
- Ryan Johnson: 18th (2019), 17th (2020), 14th (2021), 17th (2022)
- Sean Malone: 25th (2018)
- Tage Thompson: 10th (2018), 11th (2019), 9th (2020), 12th (2021), 3rd (2022)
- Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen: 19th (2018), 9th (2019), 7th (2020), 11th (2021), 22nd (2022)
- Victor Olofsson: 13th (2018), 6th (2019), 4th (2020)
- Zemgus Girgensons: 3rd (2014), 6th (2015), 7th (2016), 15th (2018)