ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres aren’t done yet.In the days and hours leading up to the 2026 NHL Draft, the Sabres were among the most active teams in the NHL. They traded Bowen Byram and the negotiating rights to Alex Tuch. Then they added Ducks defenseman Olen Zellweger via trade on Friday morning. The big move for a difference-making NHL player didn’t materialize, so the Sabres made all five of their scheduled picks throughout the weekend.Here’s the draft class:Round 1, pick No. 4: Daxon Rudolph, RHD, Prince Albert (WHL)
Round 1, pick No. 20: Ilia Morozov, C, Miami University (NCAA)
Round 4, Pick 124: Olivers Murnieks, C, Saint John (QMJHL)
Round 5, Pick 156: Doman Szongath, C, KooKoo Jr. (FINLAND-JR.)
Round 6, Pick 188: Dylan Dumont, W, Drummondville (QMJHL)Those names won’t impact the 2026-27 Sabres, though. And after the most exciting Sabres season in more than a decade, fans are finally done clinging to the future and are focused on the present. The prospect pool got a lot stronger this weekend. In the big picture, that matters. But the Sabres also have a competitive window they need to capitalize on.“If you ask the entire amateur scouting staff, we would have been fine if we traded all those picks away if we were making our NHL team better,” Sabres assistant general manager Jerry Forton said. “(General manager) Jarmo (Kekäläinen) and I talked about this an awful lot. If there were trades that were available to either make our team better or even move down or trade the pick outright, we would have had zero hesitation and been really excited about that. I didn’t hear anything that really helped our team in terms of making an impact and making our team better right now.”There are still some big names lingering on the trade market, so it’s still possible a move is coming. And despite an underwhelming free-agent class, there are useful players available to sign on July 1.The Sabres have $13.8 million in cap space, per Puckpedia. Here’s a look at where things stand:Forwards under contract: 13
