Sabres Draft Weekend: What We Learned

Buffalo went big on defense to address what's lacking organizationally.

Kevyn Adams and Jerry Forton address the media following the conclusion of the 2025 NHL Draft. (Photo: Joe Yerdon)

ORCHARD PARK, NY — Heading into the 2025 NHL Draft, the Buffalo Sabres were a bit of a wild card when it came to what they would do, who they would pick, and just where they would pick in the first round.

The big trade(s) that were expected during Friday night and Saturday didn’t happen, although there was a trade of note on Saturday. They didn’t trade their first-round pick, but did move a second-round pick for the second straight year.

General manager Kevyn Adams said at the end of the night on Friday that if there’s an area they wanted to absolutely improve it was to become a better team defensively and be harder to play against, period. Cliché? Yeah, a bit, but they weren’t empty words.

“I think we want to be harder to play against, from our team, just our Sabres teams now, so you're looking at those type of opportunities to change that and work on that, which I felt that we were able to do through these couple of trades,” Adams said. “And, yeah, organizationally, I think I laid this out the other day, you're certainly, especially in the top of the draft, going the best available player. It just so happened that our first couple picks we got some pretty good size and physicality.”

There were a lot of things we learned about the mindset of the front office and how they’re looking to shape and reshape the build of the team and the player pool of the organization.

We learned:

• J-J Peterka, indeed, did not want to be in Buffalo

• Reconfiguring the defense corps was the top priority for the offseason

• Bo Byram is still a member of the Sabres. For now. He may stay one. Maybe.

• Radim Mrtka was, perhaps, a little higher on their board than some may believe

If the picks get lost in the shuffle thanks to the J-J Peterka trade that unofficially kicked off the weekend, it’s understandable. Drafting defensemen, unless they’re No. 1 overall types, aren’t generally “exciting” picks. It’s also understandable to be skeptical of the choices made because the NHL results over the years, despite the strong drafting, haven’t reflected that.

Embrace the cynicism or park it for a little while, there are a few things worth digging in on from the weekend.