The Buffalo Sabres confirmed what was expected on Monday when they reassigned AHL forwards Konsta Helenius and Anton Wahlberg to enable them to play for their respective countries at the upcoming 2025 IIHF World Junior Championships in Ottawa starting on Thursday.
Helenius was selected 14th overall by the Sabres at the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas and played for Finland last season at the Under-18s, the 2024 World Juniors in Sweden, and the World Championships. The 18-year-old has 17 points (6 goals, 11 assists) in 28 games for the Rochester Americans and is expected to center the Finns' top line.
Wahlberg, 19, played for Sweden at the WJC in Gothenburg alongside Amerks teammate Noah Ostlund and has 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) in 25 AHL games this season.
Buffalo will have six prospects participating in the tournament, as Helenius and Wahlberg are joined by Sabres draftees Adam Kleber and Brodie Ziemer (USA), Maxim Strbak (Slovakia), and Norwin Panocha (Germany).
The opening day of the tournament on Boxing Day will feature Wahlberg and Sweden going head-to-head with Slovakia and Strbak in his fourth and final World Junior, Kleber and Ziemer with the US matching up against Panocha’s Germany, and the Finns with Helenius taking on host Canada.
