The Buffalo Sabres have announced a star-studded roster for their summer development camp, which begins Wednesday in LECOM Harborcenter.
There will be eight first-round picks on hand – seven made by the Sabres plus Peyton Krebs, Vegas' top choice in 2019. That group includes all three made by Buffalo last week at the NHL draft in Montreal. The club will have 10 of last week's 11 choices in camp overall, although top choice Matthew Savoie may not skate in the wake of a shoulder injury he suffered during the Western Hockey League playoffs.
Savoie told reporters in Bell Centre his rehab work on the shoulder is progressing well and said he could potentially skate in noncontact drills. Meanwhile, 2022 first-rounders Noah Ostlund and Juri Kulich are expected to be on the ice. The only 2022 draftee not on the camp roster is third-round winger Viktor Neuchev of Russia.
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With the club holding a development camp for the first time since 2019 because of the pandemic, five players with NHL experience are on the camp list in Krebs, JJ Peterka, Jack Quinn, Owen Power and Mattias Samuelsson.
It's uncertain how many of them will skate this week as they were invited largely because only Samuelsson has previously attended a development camp. Peterka, Quinn and Power have not yet had a chance to attend one due to the pandemic and Krebs was acquired from Vegas in November.
Minnesota defenseman Ryan Johnson and Michigan goalie Erik Portillo are both scheduled to attend. Neither has signed an entry-level contract with the Sabres and they could become free agents in 2023 if they choose not to make a deal with the club.
In addition to the 2022 draftees, the camp will be the first look Buffalo fans will have at 2021 first-rounder Isak Rosen of Sweden, taken No. 14 overall with a pick acquired from Philadelphia for Rasmus Ristolainen; and top goaltending prospect Devon Levi, acquired last year from Florida for Sam Reinhart.
In addition to the three 2022 choices, the eight first-rounders on hand are Johnson and Krebs (2019), Quinn (2020), and Power and Rosen (2021).
There are two practice sessions Wednesday, Thursday and Friday that are free and open to the public. Wednesday's practices run from 2:30 to 5 p.m., Thursday's go from 9:30 a.m. to noon and Friday's run from 9:15 to 11:45 a.m.
Saturday's French Connection Tournament, a ticketed event for Sabres season ticket members on a first-come, first-serve basis, also starts at 9:15 a.m.
Development camp includes several off-ice sessions to introduce or reinforce concepts of being a professional athlete to the players, as well as allowing them to familiarize themselves with multiple aspects of an NHL organization.
The club's four Russian draft choices in 2021 – forwards Prokhor Poltapov, Aleksandr Kisakov, Stiven Sardarian and defenseman Nikita Novikov – are not on the roster but the other seven picks made last year will attend. All five 2020 picks, led by Quinn and Peterka, will be on hand as well.
Defenseman Vselvod Komarov, taken last week in the fifth round, is the only Russian that Buffalo has drafted the last two years who is slated to attend. He plays for the Quebec Remparts.
Joining Levi and Portillo among the goaltenders at camp will be 6-foot-5 Topias Leinonen, taken in the second round at No. 41 overall last week.
There are two players with Buffalo Jr. Sabres connections on the roster in forward Matteo Costantini of the University of North Dakota, a St. Catharines, Ont., native who was the Sabres' fifth-round pick in 2020; and camp invitee Declan McDonnell of Lake View, who was a 2020 seventh-round pick of Tampa Bay but did not sign and was not taken in this year's draft. McDonnell, 20, split last season between Barrie and Kitchener in the OHL.
The alphabetical list of camp attendees by position, with nonorganizational players marked by asterisks:
Goalies: Chase Coward*, Topias Leinonen, Devon Levi, Erik Portillo, Zach Stejskal*.
Forwards: Josh Bloom, Brock Caufield*, Matteo Costantini, Aaron Huglen, Gustav Karlsson, Jakub Konecny, Tyson Kozak, Peyton Krebs, Jiri Kulich, Viliami Marjala, Declan McDonnell*, Olivier Nadeau, Kohen Olischefski*, Noah Ostlund, Josh Passolt*, Matej Pekar, JJ Peterka, Jack Quinn, Joel Ratkovic Berndtsson, Jake Richard, Isak Rosen, Lukas Rousek, Matt Savoie, Linus Sjodin, William Von Barnekow Lofberg, Linus Weissbach.
Defensemen: Francois-James Buteau*, Ryan Johnson, Anthony Kehrer*, Vsevolod Komarov, Oskari Laaksonen, Mats Lindgren, Albert Lyckasen, Nathan McBrayer*, Zach Metsa*, Owen Power, Mattias Samuelsson, Spencer Sova*.
