Konsta Helenius, center, poses after being selected by the Buffalo Sabres during the first round of the NHL draft on Friday in Las Vegas.
AP photo
VEGAS — According to the ESPN broadcast, Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams was trying to trade back when his team was ready to pick in the 2024 NHL Draft on Friday night. However, Adams had to make the selection and the Sabres grabbed the 5-foot-11 and 181-pound center out of Finland, Konsta Helenius. It marks another year when the Sabres landed a player held in high regard that fell to their spot.
Helenius played the entire season in the top Finnish men’s league for Jukurit and as a teenager scored 36 points in 51 games as he potted 14 goals and 22 assists. He is regarded as a two-way pivot that processes the game very quickly and makes the best decision most of the time.
Finland is regarded for pumping out defensively responsible players and Helenius receiving full service time in Liiga is a stamp of approval in that aspect of his game. However, that’s not to say he does not display elite puck skills with an underrated snap shot and when not ripping the puck himself he has the capability to protect the puck long enough before dishing it off to a teammate.
Despite being selected at No. 14, Buffalo finds itself in another situation where the first round pick is pretty close to being ready for NHL service time. Coming from Finland, Helenius is still under contract with his Finnish club Tappara as he was loaned to Jukurit last year, but it would not be surprising to see him sign very early and perhaps join the Rochester Americans next spring in the AHL.
Coming into the year, Helenius was talked about as high as a top-three pick in this draft, but for reasons out of his control he fell to Buffalo at No. 14. Some scouts project him as high as a No. 1 center in the NHL, but in Buffalo there will not be that immediate pressure as Tage Thompson and Dylan Cozens are signed long term and Noah Ostlund is two years ahead on the development path.