2025 DEVELOPMENT CAMP: DAY ONE NOTEBOOK
Sabres prospects take center stage as annual Development Camp gets underway in Buffalo
Jun 30, 2025
By Warren Kosel
The future of the Buffalo Sabres was on full display Monday afternoon as 25 of the organization’s top prospects took the ice at LECOM Harborcenter for the start of the team’s annual Development Camp.
The camp, now in its 11th year and seventh at LECOM Harborcenter, is designed to introduce prospective players to the Sabres’ playing system, expose them to conditioning programs and provide them with the necessary tools – both on and off the ice – in order to be successful at hockey’s highest level.
Like years past, the roster for the annual camp features a balanced mix of young players, most of whom have been drafted by Buffalo in recent years, including the nine selected in this past weekend’s NHL Draft. Some have already turned pro, others are getting ready to make the jump to the professional ranks and a few will return to their respective college or junior teams in the fall. But the objective for all of them is the same: make an impression on the coaches and front office staff while improving their game.
For many, today’s hour-long practice session served as an unofficial introduction to the organization. The players were put through a series of drills that emphasized conditioning and skill development. Most importantly, though, it was an opportunity to acclimatize themselves with the Sabres specific style of play and make a positive first impression on those who were watching nearby.
HIGH INTENSITY, HIGH PRAISE FOR DAY ONE
The first half of the practice featured a grueling, no-puck power-skating session, led by skating coach Mike Ansell. The prospects endured an intense half hour of skating drills emphasizing footwork and conditioning with each repetition being more rigorous than the one before it.
The final 30 minutes saw the prospects rotate through a series of stations designed to test all five goaltenders in attendance.
“I thought it was a great first day,” said second-year Amerks head coach Michael Leone, who along with the Sabres development staff, is overseeing the on-ice instruction over the week-long camp. “They got pushed pretty hard earlier this morning with some of the fitness testing before even stepping on the ice and we skated them hard to start practice. It was a long skate, and they were pretty tired, but I was really happy with the overall effort.”
WELCOME TO BUFFALO
All nine picks from the year’s draft class will be on the ice week, most notably defenseman Radim Mrtka, who the Sabres claimed with the ninth overall pick over this past weekend.
All eyes were undoubtedly on the first-round pick, mainly because he’s hard to miss. The newest Sabre stands at 6-foot-6, but it’s his puck-moving skills and ability to lead the transition out of his own zone which made him such a desirable asset.
“Size is what first comes to mind,” said Leone on his early impressions of the defenseman. “He’s a good skater with puck-moving skills. It was just really impressive to see his skating ability with his size and the puck skills.”
Mrtka, a native Havlicuv Brod, Czechia, played this past season with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League (WHL), accumulating 35 points (3+32) and a plus-10 rating in 43 regular season games. His 0.81 points per game ranked third among the WHL’s rookie defensemen. His international experience includes back-to-back years representing Czechia at the Under-18 World Junior Championship, as well as a silver medal at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
The 6-foot-6, 218-pound blueliner has been lauded for his defensive stickwork, reach and skating ability, plus a knack for jumping into the play and generating offense.
“It’s one of your dreams to be drafted, and especially that high,” said Mrtka.
It remains to be seen where Mrtka fits within the organization’s depth, but for now he will use this week to showcase his skillset and validate his selection at ninth overall.
LONE AMERK AT CAMP
Among the 25 skaters comprising this year’s camp roster includes is 22-year-old forward Tyler Kopff, who signed a two-year, entry-level NHL contract with the Buffalo Sabres on March 25 following the conclusion of his sophomore season at Brown University.
The undrafted Kopff joined the Amerks for the remainder of the 2024-25 season on an amateur tryout, recording an assist while appearing in six games. Excluding goaltenders Scott Ratzlaff and Topias Leinonen, both of whom are under contract for the upcoming season and joined Rochester for the team’s extended playoff run this past spring, Kopff is the only player participating in this year’s camp to have played at least one game for the Amerks.
The reason is rather simple as well. The Amerks are coming off their second extended playoff run in three years, and with Rochester’s season ending a little over a month ago, Leone and others thought it was necessary – and deserving – to give players more time to recuperate from the grind of an 80-game season.
“We played really late in the season. We played to the end of May, and it was a grind of a season when you look at it,” said Leone when asked why other prospects were given the opportunity to stay home. “Even when you look at some of the younger guys like ‘Hele’ (Konsta Helenius) and ‘Wahly’ (Anton Wahlberg) who played World Juniors, you’re looking at close to 80-plus games. They both played a lot of valuable minutes for us and they’re at a point in their careers where they’re training on their own back home during a crucial time of their development, which is really important.”
This past season at Brown, Kopff led the team with 19 assists and finished second in scoring with 28 points (9+19) in 32 games for the Brown Bears. For his efforts, he earned Third Team All-ECAC honors and was one of only two players to garner First Team All-Ivy accolades for the 2024-25 season.
In ECAC conference games, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound forward compiled 22 points in 22 games to rank fifth in the conference in scoring. His 15 league assists also ranked fifth in the ECAC. He was also tied for the conference lead with five power-play goals.
His 28 points finished tied for 17th in the ECAC and his 0.90 points per game ranked 11th in the ECAC and 70th in the NCAA.
In two seasons with the Brown Bears, Kopff has amassed 46 points (15+31) in 62 career collegiate games.
Prior to joining Brown, the Ridgewood, New Jersey, native played two seasons of junior hockey with the Coquitlam Express of the British Columbia Hockey League. In 107 games with the Express, he totaled 93 points on 42 goals and 51 assists while leading the team in scoring during the 2022-23 campaign.
Leone tasked Kopff with ‘building an identity’ over these next few days to really distinguish himself amongst other draft picks within the organization.
“In college, he probably played a little bit more freely and played some big minutes as one of the best players. Making the jump to the pro level, he’s got a lot of good traits, he can be a really good forechecker, has a really long stick and I think establishing that kind of game is going to be really important for him at the pro level.”
