The 2024 first-rounder averaged a point per game in 63 games with AHL Rochester last season
The Buffalo Sabres have been considered to have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL, which is in part due to them selecting high in recent drafts because of their not qualifying for the playoffs. The Sabres have displayed an eye for talent, and the organization’s developmental model has begun to yield results, with 2023 first rounder Zach Benson making an impact in the playoffs, and 2024 top pick Konsta Helenius appearing as one of the AHL’s top prospects the last two seasons.
Leading up to the opening of training camp in mid-September, we will look at the club's top 40 prospects. These players are all 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 82 NHL games.
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1. Konsta Helenius – C (Rochester - AHL, Buffalo - NHL)
As we complete our look at the Sabres prospects on the opening day of the Sabres Prospects Showcase at LECOM Harborcenter, the most immediate and potential upside comes from Helenius, who likely was held back from playing more in the NHL last season by the club not wanting to burn the first year of his three-year entry-level contract.
The young Finn was the Sabres first-round pick (14th overall) at the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas after an impressive season in the SM-Liiga and internationally for his country at three levels. Helenius excelled at the junior level at the age of 16 and played 33 games against adult competition, and played at the Under-18’s in 2023.
At 17, he had 36 points (14 goals, 22 assists) in 51 games for Jukurit, seven points in five games at the Under-18’s, played seven games at the IIHF World Juniors in Sweden, and saw limited action at the World Championships in May 2024. The Sabres were fortunate to have Helenius fall to them at 14th overall after many draft analysts labeled him nearly pro-ready after playing in Liiga, for Finland at the Under-18’s, World Junior Championships, and World Championships.
Helenius adjusted well in his first season in North America, with 35 points (14 goals, 21 assists) in 65 games with the Rochester Americans, and six points (3 goals, 3 assists) in eight playoff games, earning him a spot on the AHL’s Top Prospects Team.
At the 2025 World Junior, he posted six assists in seven games, as Finland won the silver medal. Last season, the 20-year-old nearly doubled his offensive output in Rochester, earning a second straight Top Prospects nod by averaging a point-per-game (21 goals, 42 assists in 63 games) with the Amerks.
He was so valuable to Rochester that GM Jarmo Kekalainen did not release him to his country for the 2026 World Juniors, and in January, he was called up to make his NHL debut in mid-January. Helenius played nine games before the NHL Olympic break, when he was sent back to the AHL, and he was not recalled until after the Amerks were eliminated from the Calder Cup Playoffs in April. In the second round series against Montreal, the youngster replaced injured veteran Sam Carrick for Game 4, and in the final four games of the series scored a pair of goals and seemed unfazed by the high-pressure situation.
It is expected that Helenius will start the season in the NHL, and is being depended on to pick up some of the scoring slack created by the departure of Alex Tuch.
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