The Buffalo Sabres are considered one of the best deepest prospect pools in the NHL, not only because of their selecting high in recent drafts but also due to their eye for talent and their organizational choices of either leaving players to develop in their home countries or bringing them to North America. Leading up to the opening of training camp in mid-September, we will look at the club’s top 40 prospects. All are 25 years old or younger, whose rights are currently held by the Sabres or are on AHL or NHL deals and have played less than 40 NHL games.
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READ ABOUT OTHER SABRES PROSPECTS
30. VASILI ZELENOV
29. AARON HUGLEN
28. MATTEO COSTANTINI
27. Ryerson Leenders – Goalie (Mississauga – OHL)
Leenders was the Sabres final selection at the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas in the seventh round (219th overall). A slightly above-average goalie at 6’2”, 179 lb., the 18-year-old has played two seasons for the OHL’s Mississauga (now Brampton) Steelheads, splitting duties in 2022-23 as a 16-year-old and serving as the primary starter last season, going 24-17-4, with a 3.12 GAA, and .909 save % last season.
Hockey Prospect’s Black Book found Leenders and fellow OHL goaltender Carter George(selected by the LA Kings in the second round) comparable and said “Leenders presents a wider set stance and butterfly to the ice, which makes him considerably bigger looking than George at times, despite them having similarly listed heights. He has better kicking reflexes than George and we think he’s actually just as good if not better at reactionary positional saves in tight to the net.”
The Elite Prospects Draft Guide said Leenders “displays a high-end ability to read how plays are going to develop, and knows exactly where to place rebounds, away from the threat.”
Buffalo will have two years to evaluate Leenders in the OHL before having to make a decision on whether to offer him a pro contract, but the Sabres have young goaltenders at the NHL level in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Devon Levi, and developmental goalies in the CHL (Scott Ratzlaff) and in Europe (Topias Leinonen).
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