Topias Leinonen wants to bounce back after a “really difficult season”

Leinonen, a 6-foot-5, 227-pound goalie selected in the second round by the Buffalo Sabres in 2022, appeared to be first in line to suit up for his home country as the team prepared to travel to Michigan for the World Junior Summer Showcase last August.

As Leinonen prepared, he suffered a minor injury that ultimately cost him a spot on the team and sent him down a tortuous path that negatively impacted his development.

“It’s been a really, really tough season,” Leinonen said bluntly after one of the Sabres’ development camp practices this week at LECOM Harborcenter.

Leinonen has played just 52 games since the Sabres selected him 41st overall in the draft due to various minor injuries. The team wanted him to get more pro hockey experience last season, but most of his 19 games came in junior hockey. He hasn’t played well either. Leinonen posted an .871 save percentage in four regular-season games with JYP’s under-20 team. That percentage has jumped to .892 in seven playoff appearances.

The Sabres needed Leinonen to shed the extra weight that was slowing him down. He returned to Buffalo this week looking leaner and healthier. His movements in the net were less choppy and more precise. Leinonen was injured in his first practice of development camp two years ago, which marked the beginning of a tumultuous season that exposed him to some of the challenges his father, Taro, faced as a professional goalie in Finland.

The young Leinonen still has time to realize his potential. He will soon move to Sweden to play in the second-tier professional league, HockeyAllsvenskan, with Mora IK, where he should gain the playing experience he lacked in Finland. The Sabres’ goaltending depth is established in Buffalo and Rochester with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Devon Levi, James Reimer and Felix Sandstrom, but developing depth at that position will be critical to the organization’s long-term success.

Scott Ratzlaff, a fifth-round pick in the 2023 draft, thrived in Seattle in his first season as a starter with the Western Hockey League’s Thunderbirds in 2022-23, and the Sabres used a seventh-round pick last week on Ryerson Leenders, a 6-foot-2 prospect who showed promise with the Mississauga Steelheads of the Ontario Hockey League.

“I worked for two years,” Leinonen said of his disappointment at not being able to compete at the junior worlds. “It was an important goal for me. But that’s how it is. Now I’m trying to move on. New season and have a good summer with my coach. My body feels good and everything is fine.”

Prokhor Poltapov, 21, hasn’t set foot in Buffalo since the Sabres drafted the Russian winger in the second round three years ago.

The situation has posed challenges as the Sabres’ development staff, led by Adam Mair, works with Poltapov to help the winger improve on the ice, but they’ve managed the situation with the help of their Russia-based scout, Ruslan Pechonkin, who, in addition to his talent evaluation duties for the organization, serves as a liaison to communicate with draft picks. Mair and his staff also communicate with Poltapov via messaging apps and video conferences.

Poltapov is under contract with his Russian club, CSKA, for one more season and could sign with the Sabres as early as the spring. He has played 154 professional games between the regular season and the playoffs, including a standout performance during CSKA’s run to the championship in 2022-23.

“There are challenges, for sure, but his game is improving,” Mair said. “He’s gaining weight. He looks strong on the ice. He had a really good playoff run two years ago, so he’s got a lot of promise. … He protects the puck extremely well deep, he gets the puck to the net. He’s a bull, first on the forecheck. I would say he’s a gutsy player who has the skills and the game sense to complement the talented players.”

Adam Kleber is unlike any other prospect in the Sabres’ pipeline.

The second-round pick in the 2024 draft is a 6-foot-6 right-shot defenseman who is an excellent skater and shows a willingness to contribute offensively. There’s no point in trying to evaluate a player like him in development camp because he can’t use some of his most notable tools, like detail checking and stick positioning, but he bolsters an organizational structure that added Max Strbak and Gavin McCarthy in last year’s draft.

Kleber will play as a freshman at Minnesota Duluth next season after an impressive year in which he made the team at the World Junior A Challenge, where Sabres assistant general manager Jerry Forton said Kleber was the best player in the United States.

“They have a lot of offensive defensemen on their team,” Kleber said of the Sabres. “That’s something I can learn from them and add to my game. I think I’m a really good defensive defenseman, and I’m just trying to become a more complete player and be a little more offensive, so I think watching those guys will help me a lot.”

Max Strbak’s role at Michigan State could depend on how the Chicago Blackhawks handle the development of his teammate, Artyom Levshunov, who was selected second overall last week. If Levshunov turns pro, Strbak could be asked to step up offensively, an opportunity he would welcome.

The second-round pick in the 2023 draft was used to neutralize Spartans opponents last season, though the 19-year-old still managed to score two goals with nine points in 32 games. He scored seven goals in five games for Slovakia at the IIHF World Junior Championship.

“I think this year I was more of a defensive defenceman,” Strbak said. “I was more of a stay-at-home type of player. But I think I have two-way ability. So I think I’m going to try to produce more and be a more versatile player.”

The Sabres are thrilled to have selected winger Brodie Ziemer in the third round of the 2018 draft. The 18-year-old was captain of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program and played that leadership role for Team USA at the IIHF Under-18 World Championship.

Scouts rate the future Minnesota Golden Gopher as high upside, meaning they believe he has the intangibles and talent to become at least a bottom-of-the-line forward in the NHL. Ziemer is excellent defensively, tenacious on the forecheck and willing to play a physical game. He also has a great right-handed shot that has impressed throughout development camp.

“What a competitive player,” Mair said. “What a shot. He’s accurate in his game and quick. A very likeable player. I know our scouts were really excited to call him by his name.”