The Buffalo Sabres are considered to have one of the best 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. 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.
11. – NIKITA NOVIKOV - D (ROCHESTER - AHL)
Novikov was the Sabres sixth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft after playing in the junior level MHL in the Moscow Dynamo system and an impressive performance for Russia at the 2021 IIHF Under-18s. The 6’4″, 218 lb. blueliner is physical and plays well positionally, which enabled him to play 94 KHL games over two seasons as a teenager.
After signing his entry-level deal with the Sabres, the 21-year-old came to North America and adjusted to the AHL game fairly quickly, putting up 23 points (3 goals, 20 assists) in 65 games as a rookie. This season, the big lefty has 15 points (5 goals, 10 assists) in 39 games for the Amerks.
Sabres assistant coach Seth Appert believes that Novikov’s offensive instincts are underrated, but that he will have to build on his large frame and get stronger to make the NHL down the road. One challenge that he will have to overcome is as a left-handed defenseman, he is at an organizational disadvantage because the Sabres top-four blueliners (Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Bowen Byram, and Mattias Samuelsson) and ad another defensive prospect (Ryan Johnson) all shoot from the left side.
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