Konsta Helenius, Brodie Ziemer were Sabres' top performers at World Juniors

A pair of Sabres draft picks helped Team USA win a second consecutive gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship.

Brodie Ziemer, a third-round draft pick of the Sabres last June, assisted on Teddy Stiga's goal 8:04 into overtime Sunday in Ottawa that gave Team USA the gold medal and 4-3 victory over Finland. Adam Kleber, whom Buffalo selected one round earlier, skated 9:58 on defense.

Team USA's rally from a 3-1 deficit was a disappointing finish for Finland center Konsta Helenius, the Sabres' first-round draft pick in June. Helenius' 21:06 of ice time led Finland forwards, but he did not have a point or shot on goal. He did not score a goal and totaled six assists in seven games to help Finland medal for the first time since 2022. Helenius will re-join the Rochester Americans, who are first in the American Hockey League's North Division with a 21-9-3 record.

Helenius isn't a typical 18-year-old prospect. He played in Finland's top pro league, Liiga, at 16 and he produced at a point-per-game pace in their playoffs last spring. Only three other players have reached that mark at his age: Aleksander Barkov, Kaapo Kakko and Mikael Granlund.

Helenius averaged 16:57 of ice time per game and won 50% of his faceoffs with Jukurit last season. He also averaged 18:32 of ice time while producing six points in six playoff games. His 36 points in 51 games for Jukurit was the second-highest total by an Under-18 skater in Liiga history, and he became the youngest Finnish player to represent the country at the IIHF Men’s World Championship. 

The 5-foot-11 center was a standout during the Sabres' development camp and Prospects Challenge. Lindy Ruff wasn't evaluate prospects during training camp because of Buffalo's involvement in the Global Series games in Prague, but Helenius was one of their best players in the preseason games that were played while the NHL roster was in Europe.

Helenius scored in overtime to send Buffalo to a win in its exhibition finale and totaled 11 shots on goal through four games while leading all of the team's forwards in 5-on-5 ice time. His transition to the AHL has also been seamless. The youngest player in the league has six goals and 17 points in 28 games for the Amerks. Their next game is Friday at home against the Utica Comets.

Brodie Ziemer, winger, United States: The 18-year-old finished the tournament with three goals and seven points in seven games. He was one of six forwards used in overtime Sunday.

The U.S. received two goals from Ziemer in a 10-4 win over Germany to begin the tournament. He also had two assists in a 7-2 win against Switzerland, and he scored the tying goal in the third period of a game that Team USA lost in overtime to Finland. Ziemer was mostly used in a third-line role and skated at right wing next to Blackhawks prospect Oliver Moore, a 2023 first-round draft pick.

Ziemer was captain of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program and held the title for Team USA at the IIHF Under-18 World Championship in May. The Sabres traded up in the third round of the 2024 draft to select Ziemer, who earned silver at the Under-18s with 12 points in seven days. His right-handed shot and skill impressed at the Sabres' development camp in July.

A freshman winger for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Ziemer had eight goals and 11 points in 20 games before he left for world juniors. He's scored two game-winning goals for the No. 3-ranked team in Division I men's hockey.

Adam Kleber, defenseman, United States: Kleber's ice time was lower Sunday because Team USA fell behind early in the game. He's a reliable defender who's effective breaking the puck out of his zone, but he isn't going to be on the ice as often when his team is trailing.

Kleber had an assist in the 7-2 win over Switzerland, but he was a penalty-killer and skated on the third defense pair. 

A 6-foot-6 defenseman, Kleber has one assist in 15 games as a freshman for Minnesota-Duluth. He has 33 shots on goal and he has blocked 10 shots for the Bulldogs. Previously, the 18-year-old played two seasons with United States Hockey League's Lincoln Stars. He was a second-round pick of the Sabres last June.

Anton Wahlberg, winger, Sweden: A shootout loss to Czechia on Sunday prevented Wahlberg from winning a medal at the tournament for a second year in a row. 

His performance through seven games showed the progress that he's made since joining the Sabres on draft day in 2023. Wahlberg's four goals were tied for the team lead and he added four assists for eight points. He had an assist in the loss to Czechia, and his 23:51 was third among Sweden's forwards. Wahlberg wasn't used in the 14-round shootout but led the team with six shots on goal in regulation and overtime. 

Wahlberg wasn't on the radar of the Swedish National Team until the 2022-23 season, when the 6-foot-3 power forward's breakthrough earned him a promotion from the country's Under-20 junior league to Malmo of the Swedish Hockey League. Wahlberg was only 17 years old, yet he earned a prominent role as the club staved off relegation.

The Sabres drafted Wahlberg with the seventh pick of the second round in 2023, and he joined the Amerks after one more season in Sweden. Wahlberg was in the lineup for each of their five playoff games against the Syracuse Crunch, and he's been one of Rochester's go-to players over the past three months. Wahlberg has four goals and 10 points in 25 games under first-year coach Mike Leone.

Maxim Strbak, defenseman Slovakia: The 2023 second-round draft pick's 16 points in 19 career games at the tournament are tied for sixth-most all-time. The 19-year-old had one goal with six points in five games as an alternate captain for Slovakia at this tournament. 

Strbak used his right-handed shot to score the game-winning goal against Kazakhstan. He was Slovakia's top defenseman at the tournament and led its position group in ice time (23:13) during a 5-3 loss to Finland on Thursday. Strbak will resume his sophomore season at Michigan State, where he has one goal with nine points in 15 games for the Spartans, who are currently the top-raked team in Division I men's college hockey. The Sabres will try to sign Strbak to an entry-level contract this spring.

Norwin Panocha, defenseman, Germany: The 2023 seventh-round draft pick had one assist and a minus-5 rating in six games as an alternate captain during the tournament. His only point occurred in an overtime loss to Latvia, when Panocha had one shot on goal in 20:58 of ice time.

Panocha, 19, will return to the United States Hockey League's Green Bay Gamblers, with whom he's produced three assists in 15 games. He's played in three different North American junior leagues over the past two seasons because he wasn't able to hold his export roster spot in the QMJHL and WHL. Slender and left-handed, Panocha will need to become stronger and show more ability offensively if he's going to earn an entry-level contract from the Sabres.