Buffalo Sabres Top Prospects – #6: Noah Ostlund

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:

#6 Noah Ostlund

The Sabres appear to have hit gold with each of their 2022 first-round picks, as top pick Matthew Savoie is challenging for an NHL job after a 95-point season in the WHL, and Jiri Kulich scored 24 goals as an 18-year-old in the American Hockey League. The middle pick was Swedish center Noah Ostlund, who has top-end ability but chose to stay home for one more year.

The 19-year-old center was selected 16^th overall at the draft in Montreal after scoring 10 points at the World Junior Under-18s and seeing spot duty in the SHL. He quickly signed an entry-level contract but was loaned back to Djurgarden, where he scored 26 points (8 goals, 18 assists) in 37 regular season games and five points (2 goals, 3 assists) in 12 playoff games. The Stockholm native battled a foot injury during the season, but that did prevent him from playing for Team Sweden at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championships.

Impressive shootout goal by Sabres prospect Noah Ostlund in Växjö’s win

pic.twitter.com/Q90MwEVpM9

— Lance Lysowski (@LLysowski) September 2, 2023

Ostlund came to North America after his season was complete and joined the Rochester Americans, but did not play during the Calder Cup Playoffs. After the season, the 19-year-old chose to return to Sweden to play for Vaxjo instead of staying with the Amerks. After attending the World Junior Summer Showcase in Michigan this July, it is expected that Ostlund will be a big part of Team Sweden’s club as they host the World Junior this December.

Elite Prospects Draft Guide describes Ostlund as  “a dynamic, shifty playmaker who takes full advantage of the width of the ice to build passing sequences. A dextrous distributor with a full array of reach-adjusted passes and the keen eye to find options through traffic, he was the most prolific setup man in the entire Swedish junior circuit.”