The first weekend of the NFL season will also be the last weekend that hockey will not be played until next June, as the Buffalo Sabres will host four other clubs in the 2025 Prospects Challenge at LECOM HarborCenter starting Thursday. Buffalo prospects will take on the New Jersey Devils youngsters on Friday at 7pm, the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday at 7pm, and the Pittsburgh Penguins next Monday at Noon.
Many of the club’s prospects who are playing in the NCAA, such as 2024 draftees Adam Kleber, Brodie Ziemer, and Luke Osburn, along with U. Conn winger Jake Richard will not participate, as they are not under contract. Another player who will also not be there is WNY native Gavin McCarthy. The 20-year-old, who is entering his junior season at Boston University, was named the Terriers captain on Monday.
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The centers of attention for the Sabres on the weekend will likely be their last two first-round picks, center Konsta Helenius, and defenseman Madim Mrtka. Both players are long shots to make the big club, but Buffalo management will be looking for signs of improvement in the 19-year-old Helenius, who was named to the AHL All-Rookie squad last season, and the big right-handed Mrtka, who was selected ninth overall in 2025, at training camp and at the upcoming World Junior Championships in Minneapolis in December.
In other news, former Sabres goalie Aaron Dell officially announced his retirement after 13 seasons. The 36-year-old netminder played for 130 NHL games for San Jose, New Jersey and Buffalo, and had a record of 50-50-13, with a 2.92 GAA, and .905 career save %. Dell went 1-8-1 in 12 games for the Sabres during the 2021-22 season.
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