The Sabres drafted Strbak in the second round of the 2023 NHL Draft
The Buffalo Sabres are considered one of the best deepest prospect pools in the NHL, not only because of their selecting high in recent drafts but also due to their eye for talent and their organizational choices of either leaving players to develop in their home countries or bringing them to North America. Leading up to the opening of training camp in mid-September, we will look at the club’s top 40 prospects. All are 25 years old or younger, whose rights are currently held by the Sabres or are on AHL or NHL deals and have played less than 40 NHL games.
READ ABOUT OTHER SABRES PROSPECTS
10. SCOTT RATZLAFF
9. BRODIE ZIEMER
8. ANTON WAHLBERG
7. VSEVOLOD KOMAROV
6. – MAXIM STRBAK - D (MICHIGAN STATE – NCAA)
Strbak was the Sabres second-round pick at the 2023 NHL Draft in Nashville, a draft in which the club’s scouting strategy seemed to shift from high skill to players with size. After selecting big Swedish forward Anton Wahlberg earlier in the second, the club chose the Slovakian blueliner 45th overall.
The 6’2″, 205 lb. defenseman played his youth hockey in Finland for Jokerit and has played internationally for his home country at the Under-18s and in three straight World Juniors, starting at age 16 in 2022. Strbak shifted to North America prior to his draft year and played for Sioux Falls in the USHL.
Last season, the 19-year-old made his mark internationally with seven points (1 goal, 6 assists) in just five games at the 2024 IIHF World Junior in Sweden. In his freshman year at Michigan State, the 18-year-old finished with nine points (2 goals, 7 assists) in 32 games.
Hockey Prospect’s Black Book believes there is room for growth and improvement with the big blueliner, indicating that “Strbak is just a really inconsistent player”, who is “sometimes aggressively physical, sometimes not. Sometimes good at body positioning, sometimes not. Sometimes good shoulder squared-ness, sometimes not. It’s bizarre that it’s persisted and he’s existed like this all season…but it has.”
The Sabres over the last three drafts have selected four right-handed blueline prospects (Adam Kleber, Strbak, Gavin McCarthy, and Vsevolod Komarov), which is likely to compliment their predominantly left-handed defensive corps of Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Bowen Byram, and Mattias Samuelsson down the line.
