Every team has been able to find a few gems in the later rounds of the NHL Draft. The Buffalo Sabres are no different and have had some outstanding late-round picks that produced a potential Hockey Hall of Famer and a Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender. Ahead of the 2024 NHL Draft, let’s take a look at the top five picks the Sabres have hit on in the fifth round and beyond.
5. Donald Audette, Right Wing: 1989 9th round (183rd overall)
Donald Audette was a victim of the bigger-is-better thinking of the 1980s. The Canadian put up 76 goals, 85 assists and 161 points in 70 games in his final season of juniors with the Quebec Major Junior League (QMJHL)’s Laval Titan. Still, he fell to the ninth round because he was only 5-foot-8.
Even after falling in the draft, Audette proved that he was capable of playing at the next level and finished as over a point-per-game player in his first season with 88 points on 42 goals and 46 assists in only 70 games. This stat line won him the Dudley Garret Memorial Trophy for best rookie in the American Hockey League (AHL).
The next season he was called up after five AHL games, but was injured in his eighth NHL game when he tore ligaments in his knee and missed the remainder of the season. The following year Audette played 63 games with the Sabres and finished sixth in Calder Trophy voting.
Always an offensive weapon, Audette consistently hovered near the 25-goal mark in Buffalo. A contract holdout prior to the 1998-99 season marked the end of his time in Buffalo as he sat out for the beginning of the season and was eventually dealt to the Los Angeles Kings in December 1998.
Final stats in nine seasons with the Sabres: 421 games played, 166 goals, 131 assists, 297 points
4. Brian Campbell, Defenseman: 1997 6th round (156th overall)
One of the best players in Ottawa 67’s history, Brian Campbell was clearly not a highly-touted prospect judging by his sixth-round selection in the 1997 NHL Draft. His development in juniors could not have gone any better for the Sabres, however, as he improved year over year notching 87 points in 62 games as a defenseman in his final season in juniors as well as a Memorial Cup.
After making the leap to the NHL, Campbell was a steady player on the Sabres’ blue line before his breakout offensive season in 2005-06 when he scored his career high of 12 goals and finished with 44 points in the season where the team fell one game short of a Stanley Cup Final appearance.
In 2006-07, Campbell finished in the top 10 of Norris Trophy voting in his first season averaging over 20 minutes of ice time a night. The Sabres fell in the conference finals for the second consecutive season, and despite an even better season from Campbell that included an All-Star nod, the pending unrestricted free agent could not come to terms on an extension and was dealt near the trade deadline to the San Jose Sharks.
Final stats in eight seasons with the Sabres: 391 games played, 32 goals, 144 assists, 176 points
3. Christian Ruuttu, Center: 1983 7th Round (134th overall)
The only seventh-round pick on this list, Christian Ruuttu was selected out of the Liiga in Finland in 1983 and played three more seasons as a point-per-game player in his native land before coming over to the United States in 1986-87.
Ruuttu was the definition of consistency during his first four seasons in Buffalo scoring between 60 and 71 points every season, putting him slightly under a point-per-game average. He was also selected to the All-Star Game in 1988, his best statistical season.
Ruuttu followed these four seasons with a 50-point campaign before a disappointing 25-point season in his final year in Buffalo. Despite never contributing to a playoff series win, he was a solid player for six seasons with the Sabres and was dealt to the Winnipeg Jets after the 1991-92 season before they flipped him to the Chicago Blackhawks three months later.
Final stats in six seasons with the Sabres: 438 games played, 101 goals, 230 assists, 331 points
2. Alexander Mogilny, Right Wing: 1988 5th Round (89th overall)
Alexander Mogilny risked his and his family’s safety by leaving the 1989 World Championship to play in the NHL, and by doing so became the first Soviet Union defector (LA Times). A few years later, he recorded one of the best goal-scoring seasons in NHL history and established himself as one of the best players in the entire league.
Mogilny joined the Sabres in the 1989-90 season and began establishing himself as a reliable goal-scoring winger in his first three seasons before breaking out in 1992-93. Oddly enough, the first full season after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In that season, he exploded for 76 goals in 77 games tying him for the league lead with a young rookie for the Winnipeg Jets named Teemu Selanne.
Mogilny’s 76-goal season was paired with 51 assists which gave him a grand total of 127 points, which wasn’t even enough to lead the team because his linemate Pat LaFontaine scored 53 goals and 95 assists for 148 points in the same year. The Sabres qualified for the playoffs and won a round before being swept by the eventual-champion Montreal Canadiens.
Mogilny’s goalscoring never quite reached that level again, but he was a point-per-game player for the next two seasons with the Sabres before he was dealt to the Vancouver Canucks in the offseason of the 1995-96 season and eventually won a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 1999-00.
Final stats in six seasons with the Sabres: 381 games played, 211 goals, 233 assists, 444 points
1. Ryan Miller, Goaltender: 1999 5th Round (138th overall)
One of the best Sabres and arguably the best US-born goaltender in history, Ryan Miller was selected in the fifth round of the 1999 NHL Draft. From there he went on to have three immensely successful seasons with the Michigan State Spartans of the NCAA including two Frozen Four appearances and a Hobey Baker win in the 2000-01 season.
Miller joined the Sabres for the final 15 games of the 2002-03 NHL season and spent some time with the Rochester Americans developing his game for the next few seasons before taking over the starting role in 2005-06. From there, Miller went on a fantastic run with the Sabres that included two Eastern Conference Final appearances. His play peaked in the 2009-10 season when he led the United States to a silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and won the Vezina Trophy the same year.
Oddly enough the top goaltending prospect and projected Sabres starter for next season, Devon Levi, was also a highly-touted college hockey goalie and although he does not have the quite the same resumé as Miller, the two are widely considered to be some of the best goaltenders in college hockey history.
Miller played for the Sabres for three and a half more seasons before being dealt to the St. Louis Blues at the 2014 Trade Deadline. As a fifth-round pick, he is the best value selection the front office has ever made. His stats with the Sabres combined with playing over a decade with the team make this pick a massive home run.
Final stats in 11 seasons with the Sabres: 283 wins-186 losses-57 overtime losses, .916 save percentage, 2.60 goals-against average, 28 shutouts
Some teams will be able to find their own draft steals in the later rounds of the 2023 NHL Draft, and while they will not skate for the NHL team for multiple years, the potential from some of these players and the growth they can have from ages 18 to 23 is immense. Players like Kirill Kaprizov (2015 fifth round) and Mark Stone (2010 sixth round) have developed into superstars, individual award winners and even captains of Stanley Cup-winning teams. It will be fun to see where the next one lands.
