Sabres sign 2024 first-round draft pick Konsta Helenius

Helenius, 18, the Buffalo center drafted with the 14th pick in the first round by Las Vegas, signed a three-year, entry-level contract Monday that will see him join the Sabres’ American Hockey League affiliate in Rochester in the fall.

Helenius was a standout last week at the Sabres’ post-draft development camp, where he showed the creative play and mature two-way game that convinced general manager Kevyn Adams to select him after Buffalo traded up from the 11th pick to the 14th to acquire an extra second-round pick.

Helenius is the first player among the Sabres’ eight-member 2024 draft class to sign with the club.

“He’s a very competitive player with a skill set that we think will translate very well to the National Hockey League,” Adams said of Helenius. “You never know when a player like that is going to be ready to come out and help you, but when you have the experience that he’s had in the men’s league, through the world championships, it certainly speeds things up. So he’s a really nice player.”

Tappara, which plays in the Finnish Liiga, signed Helenius through the 2024-25 season, but the Sabres intend to try to bring him to the United States. There are no more NHL roster spots after Buffalo acquired third-line center Ryan McLeod from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for top prospect Matt Savoie. There is ice time and development potential in Rochester, where Helenius can skate with recent first-round draft picks Jiri Kulich, Isak Rosen and Noah Ostlund, among others.

Helenius’ 36 points in 51 games with Jukurit in Liiga last season were the fourth-highest single-season total by a player under the age of 18, behind only current NHL forwards Aleksander Barkov, Mikael Granlund and Kaapo Kakko. Helenius has represented Finland at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship, the World Junior Championship and the Men’s World Championship. At the latter tournament, Helenius recorded an assist and a plus-2 rating in four games as the youngest participant.

Helenius showed signs of growth during his three seasons in Liiga, which he joined as a 16-year-old. He averaged 16 minutes, 57 seconds of ice time per game while winning 50 percent of his faceoffs this season, then averaged 18 minutes, 32 seconds while producing six points in six playoff games.

The Sabres also saw him excel at the under-17 and under-18 tournaments last year, when he won 62.2 percent of his faceoffs in the latter.