BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — After four days of work, Buffalo Sabres development camp has come to an end. On Thursday, camp concluded with the annual 3-on-3 tournament in front of a good crowd at LECOM Harborcenter. But who stood out as the Sabres start to piece together their pipeline?
5 Observations from Thursday's scrimmage:
Strong out from Jake Richard:
After a strong sophomore season with the UConn Huskies, forward Jake Richard had an impressive week in Buffalo. He was the most impactful player on the ice in the three-on-three tournament, finishing with four total goals and a handful of scoring chances.
After watching this shootout goal live today...I'm in#Sabres https://t.co/ZtNKNu6m2p pic.twitter.com/jpzycrhmN4
— Dom Tibbetts (@DomTibbettsTV) July 3, 2025
In the second half of Thursday's game, Richard helped his team erase a four-goal deficit en route to a two-goal win. The Sabres' sixth-round pick in 2022 had an impressive 43 points in 34 games this past season with UConn and is a player trending up the ranks within the Sabres pipeline.
Homegrown talent:
I was impressed by defenseman Gavin McCarthy's performance on Thursday and his ability to seamlessly move up and down the ice. The 6'2" defenseman almost looked small compared to some of his bigger peers on the blueline, but jumped into several rushes and distributed the puck well. McCarthy saw his offensive production more than triple in his second season at Boston University, so another step forward going into his junior year with the Terriers feels like a safe bet.
Brodie Ziemer's shot:
During Ziemer's press conference on Wednesday, he was asked a few questions about his shot, and I thought to myself, okay, how impressive can it be? Then I watched him fire home a snap shot on a two-on-one, and it jumped off his blade like a missile. It's not the perfect comparison, but it reminded me a bit of Victor Olofsson. Both players have almost the same height and weight, but Ziemer is a right-handed shot and Olofsson is left-handed.
Ziemer's not the biggest or fastest player, but his shot always makes him a threat with the puck on his stick. The 2024 third-round pick had a strong season with the University of Minnesota and averaged a point per game for Team USA at the World Juniors, and is a player fans should be excited about.
Initial Mrtka thoughts:
The Sabres' top selection in the 2025 NHL Draft didn't do anything during the tournament to make me feel more or less encouraged about his game. Rochester Americans head coach Michael Leone described his game as "raw," which feels like the perfect way to describe the young defenseman.
After the game had ended, I looked into my notes and had two things written down about Mrkta, and they said:
"He loves drop passes" and "holy Tyler Myers."
Mrtka, who is 6'6", was wearing No. 57 this week, and as someone who remembers watching Tyler Myers early in his career, it's hard not to make the obvious comparisons. I'll be interested to see what the Sabres plan for Mrtka is moving forward, but with more development, it's clear the intangibles the Sabres fell in love with.
Not enough offense:
Next year, the Sabres need to have more forwards at development camp. This year, they only had eight forwards, and that was painfully obvious during the three-on-three tournament. I understand a lot of the Sabres' higher-end forward prospects are coming off a long season, but I still think it would've been more valuable to have them on the ice in Buffalo this week.
