SABRES 2023 DEVELOPMENT CAMP: DAY ONE NOTEBOOK
More than 35 Buffalo Sabres took the ice Sunday afternoon at LECOM Harborcenter for the start of the team’s annual Development Camp
Jul 2, 2023By Ryan Harr
More than 35 Buffalo Sabres took the ice Sunday afternoon at LECOM Harborcenter for the start of the team’s annual Development Camp.
The camp, now in its ninth year and fifth at LECOM Harborcenter, is designed to introduce prospective players to the Sabres’ playing system while providing them with the necessary tools and conditioning programs 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 eight selected in last week’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, Sunday’s hour-long practice session served as an unofficial introduction to the organization. The players were divided up into two groups and were put through a series of drills that emphasized skill development and further exposed them to NHL rules. 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.
APPERT PLEASED WITH DAY ONE EFFORT
Seth Appert, who is entering his fourth season behind the bench as head coach of the Rochester Americans, was pleased with the overall effort after Day One, but like much of the front office staff, wants the players to work hard and evolve their game during the week-long camp.
Appert was quite pleased with the overall effort after the first session. This year, though, he was without his assistant coaches from years past in Mike Weber and Michael Peca, who both landed NHL assistant coaching jobs with the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers, respectively, after helping Appert lead the Amerks to an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Rochester’s bench boss said the organization is “narrowing down its search” for their replacements.
Joining Appert on the ice were Sabres assistant coach and former Amerk Matt Ellis, goaltending coach Seamus Kotyk, player development coaches Nathan Paetsch and Tim Kennedy and skating coach Mike Ansell.
Dartmouth College men’s ice hockey coach Troy Thibodeau, Colgate University women’s ice hockey assistant coach Chelsea Walkland and Long Island University women’s ice hockey assistant coach Shelly Picard all are as guests coaches for the week.
AMERKS IN CAMP
With the Amerks making a deep playoff run lasting through early June, many of the regulars that normally would be in attendance were given the opportunity to forego camp with a focus on recovering from the grind of this past season.
Of the 35 players comprising this year’s roster, only five saw spent time in Rochester, either as a player or as a development opportunity with Aleksandr Kisakov highlighting the list.
As a rookie, the Solikamsk, Russia native enjoyed an up-and-down season, his first in North America, with the Amerks. He posted six goals and two assists in 48 games with Rochester in 2022-23.
Chris Jandric joined the Amerks on a Professional Tryout (PTO) with Rochester near the end of March before making his debut at Utica less than two weeks later. The Prince George, British Columbia, native helped the Amerks to a 5-1 win over the Comets while also providing the secondary assist on Isak Rosen’s game-winning goal in the third period.
Ryan Johnson, who joined Rochester just prior to its fourth-round series with the Hershey Bears, is in camp for the second straight year, but this time under contract with the team that drafted him in the first round in back in 2019. Johnson signed his entry-level contract with the Sabres in May and is projected to join the Amerks blueline in the fall after leading the University of Minnesota to an appearance in the NCAA National Championship game.
Noah Ostlund, who is sidelined with an injury, and Olivier Nadeau both had non-playing stints in Rochester to become better acclimated to the organization’s culture and other prospects.
Newly signed Nicolas Savoie and Riley Fiddler-Schultz are attending their first and second development camps with the Sabres. Fiddler-Schultz, who is also being held off the ice as a precautionary reason, attended the 2021 summer session.
HOMECOMING FOR McCARTHY
Among the participants in this year’s camp in Clarence’s Gavin McCarthy, who was selected by his hometown Sabres in the third round (86th overall) in last week’s NHL Draft.
McCarthy, who was one of two USHL players taken by the Sabres, completed his second season with the Muskegon Lumberjacks with 27 points (8+19) in 42 games. He led all team defensemen in power-play goals (4) and ranked second in points during the 2022-23 season.
He played AAA junior hockey for the Buffalo Jr. Sabres from 2018-19 to 2020-21 and is committed to play collegiately at Boston University.
“I called him over and said, ‘are all these people here for you?’,” joked Appert of the few hundred fans that piled into LECOM Harborcenter.
Internationally, he appeared in four games with Team USA at the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, notching one assist in the tournament.
McCarthy is the first Buffalo native to be drafted by the Sabres since Austin Osmanski in 2016.
LOOKING AT THE WEEK AHEAD
Days 2 and 3 of Development Camp feature on-ice sessions beginning at 12:00 p.m. on Monday and 11:45 a.m. Wednesday before the three-on-three competition, which will be highlight the camp on Thursday, July 6 at 9:15 a.m. The on-ice sessions takes place in downtown Buffalo at LECOM Harborcenter throughout the week are free and open to the public.