Buffalo Sabres Top Prospects – #18: Brandon Biro

The Buffalo Sabres have drafted and developed a number of youngsters currently playing in the NHL (Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Dylan Cozens), and the club under former GM Jason Botterill and current GM Kevyn Adams have been able to replenish the organization with young prospects. Throughout the month of August and leading into training camp next month, we will rank the club’s top prospects over the upcoming weeks based on their progress in either the NCAA, CHL, Europe, ECHL, or AHL and their potential to make the Sabres roster and make a contribution in the future. Players are eligible for the list if they have not played more than 40 NHL games and are 25 years old or younger:

#18 Brandon Biro

The Sabres have mostly relied on the draft and acquisition through trades to feed their prospect pool but in the case of winger Brandon Biro, the club added him to the fold as an undrafted free agent. Biro played his minor-league hockey close to his home in suburban Edmonton, AB. After going undrafted and putting up good offensive totals for Spruce Grove in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), the 5’11”, 170 forward opted for the US college route, playing four years at Penn State University and scoring 116 points with the Nittany Lions over four seasons.

Biro played only 15 games for Rochester in the COVID-shortened season in 2020-21, but played well in his first full AHL season, scoring 41 points (12 goals, 29 assists) in 48 games and earning a brief NHL call-up. Last season, the 25-year-old built on that initial success, averaging over a point per game (16 goals, 35 assists) in 49 games, but his season ended in early April before the Amerks Calder Cup playoff run due to surgery on a lower-body injury.

Brandon Biro had career-highs across the board, and was our first player to reach 50 points on the season! pic.twitter.com/yfWlzR2zL3

— Rochester Americans (@AmerksHockey) June 20, 2023

Fully healthy entering his third professional season, Biro could be in the mix for a depth position on the Sabres with a good performance at training camp, but since he is no longer waiver-exempt and makes under the veteran league minimum of $775,000, he could be picked up by an NHL club like Arizona or Chicago looking for players with talent and young enough to be there when they are ready to contend.