5 players to keep a close eye on as the Sabres begin rookie camp

Take a look at the Sabres' roster of rookie players and you'll find a few names that jump out at you. One of them is Konsta Helenius, a 2024 first-round pick who will make an impact early and often both in practice with the Sabres and at the Prospects Challenge.

Since Helenius is a player that pretty much every fan of the Blue and Gold will be excited to see, I won't include him in the top 5 players to keep a close eye on during rookie camp, as there are a whole host of other names, starting with a fan favorite from the last few seasons.

Jiri Kulich is someone fans have been paying attention to for a long time, and if this wasn't definitely a pivotal year for the Sabres, I'd love to see him signed as a member of the big club. Not that that's not possible, especially with a dominant camp, but the Sabres should be beyond looking for high-level talent to add to the lineup at this point.

Still, the kid who scored 27 goals in 57 games last season is, along with Helenius, the player fans most want to see play this week. He's a great backup if the Sabres suffer an injury or two early in the year. But until he's brought back, you can watch Kulich destroy the competition this week and at the Prospects Challenge afterward.

The 2023 second-round pick has only scored 10 points in 43 games for Malmo in the SHL, but don't let Anton Wahlberg's lack of productivity fool you. He came to North America last season and played well, with four points in nine games, and he'll look to build on that starting this week in training camp.

At 6'3″ and 200 pounds, Wahlberg has the size to take on opponents at the professional level, and that could help him in the upcoming Prospects Challenge.

I've been looking forward to seeing Vsevolod Komarov for a while, and his performance in the QMJHL last season was better than expected. In case you missed it, Komarov finished the regular season with 14 goals, 55 assists and 69 points in 60 regular season games, all despite his 105 penalty minutes.

This season he will finally join the Rochester Americans in the AHL, and I wouldn't be surprised if, like the next player on my list, he doesn't need much of an adjustment period. If that's the case, we're looking at a defenseman who can play both ways and, at worst, be someone's future organizational backup. But I also wouldn't be surprised if we see him in a Sabres uniform in a few years.

Some players have a hard time adjusting to the North American game, but from the second the puck dropped last season, Nikita Novikov looked like he had been playing here for years. He appeared in 65 regular season games for the Rochester Americans and finished the season with a solid three goals and 20 assists, giving him 23 points on the year.

Novikov is big and isn't afraid to use that to his advantage on the ice, so if he can continue to develop his game and maintain his dominance, I'm excited to see what he ultimately brings to the NHL. That won't happen this season, but if Novikov has another good training camp, he'll be one of the few young players to keep an eye on all year long.

If there's one goalie I'm excited to see back in rookie camp, it's Scott Ratzlaff, who will be in town along with Ryerson Leenders. One reason I'm excited to see Ratzlaff more often is the fact that he finished his first full season as a goalie in the WHL and did a respectable job considering how the Seattle Thunderbirds have regressed as a team.

It was supposed to be a long season for Ratzlaff, but he lasted 52 games and finished with a .905 save percentage, a 3.33 goals-against average, and 21 wins. Not the best numbers, but he made the most of last year's bad Thunderbirds team, and he can take that experience into his sophomore year.