Sabres to utilize Buffalo Bills’ facilities for decentralized NHL Draft

The Buffalo Sabres are relocating to Orchard Park for two days in June.

The Sabres will operate from the state-of-the-art draft room at One Bills Drive during the 2025 NHL Draft on June 27 and 28.

For the first time outside of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHL is holding a decentralized draft – meaning each of the league’s 32 clubs will operate from their home markets rather than convene in a single host city.

The decentralized format will closely resemble the NFL Draft, which made a partnership with the Buffalo Bills an advantageous opportunity in the eyes of the Sabres organization. The Sabres and Bills are the only NHL and NFL teams that share ownership in the same market.

“The synergies between the Sabres and Bills are genuine and we are well positioned for the new NHL draft process by utilizing the space and experience at One Bills Drive for our Sabres draft this season,” Sabres and Bills Chief Operating Officer Pete Guelli said.

“There’s a strong relationship between both staffs which has made the process seamless and we are grateful to be able to take advantage of an environment that’s been tested and proven on a large scale. Utilizing the Bills' draft room will also allow us to see what works best and what we can implement to enhance our capabilities even more for future drafts.”

With the exception of 2020 and 2021 – when COVID-19 limited the number of staff members present within teams’ draft rooms – the NHL has historically held centralized drafts. Teams operated from tables on the floor of the host arena, with seating limited to management and select staff members.

This year, the Sabres will have upwards of 40 individuals in their draft room at One Bills Drive. That group will include general manager Kevyn Adams and his front office staff; the NHL and AHL coaching staffs; and members of the analytics, scouting, and development departments.

“The Bills have years of experience with this style of draft and once Brandon offered for us to use their facility, it was a no-brainer to utilize their space and existing infrastructure,” Adams said.

“The Bills have optimized and refined their space for years and their setup offers everything we need – from expansive room for our hockey operations staff to the technology that will allow for streamlined communication.”

Within the room, the Sabres will have use of four 85-inch monitors plus four additional 75-inch monitors. Those screens can be used to project scouting or analytical reports to the staff as a whole.

A whiteboard that stretches across the entirety of one wall in the draft room will be used to track the draft itself. The names of every prospect will be printed onto magnets and arranged in order of the Sabres’ draft list – the same method used by the Bills.

“This room gives us a lot bigger visuals to see all the tools and the resources that we use, from our scouting systems to our analytics systems,” said Kyle Kiebzak, Sabres manager of hockey technologies and team operations.

Stay tuned to Sabres.com and the team’s social channels for coverage of the NHL Draft throughout the month of June.