The Buffalo Sabres prioritized size under previous general manager Kevyn Adams and Jarmo Kekalainen, who took over the front office in December, continued the trend by acquiring 6-foot-7 defenseman Logan Stanley at the NHL trade deadline.
Kekalainen will have an opportunity to continue building a roster riddled with players who could pass as NBA small forwards in the 2026 NHL Draft, which is scheduled to take place beginning June 26 at the KeyBank Center in downtown Buffalo.
Adam Kimelman and Mike G. Morreale of NHL.com both projected the Sabres to choose 6-foot-7 center Brooks Rogowski with the No. 27 overall pick. It was one of just two selections the draft analysts agreed on outside the top five.
"The Sabres could use some size in the middle of the ice, and Rogowski (6-7, 235 pounds) is among the biggest players in this draft class," Kimelman wrote. "His skating is good for his size, and he certainly knows how to use his big frame in board battles and to protect the puck."
Morreale added: "The right-shot center uses his impressive size and reach to his advantage, making him difficult to defend down low and tough to handle around the net."
Rogowski made an impressive jump during second season with the OHL's Oshawa Generals, tallying 42 points (15 goals and 27 assists) across 46 appearances. He recorded just 23 points in 66 games during his first campaign in Oshawa.
The 17-year-old power forward is committed to play college hockey at Michigan State in 2026-27.
Buffalo Sabres would need to give Brooks Rogowski a long development runway as a Round 1 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft
It often takes bigger, lankier players longer to find their strides at hockey's highest levels. Sabres superstar is Tage Thompson is a perfect example.
Thompson, selected by the St. Louis Blues with the No. 26 pick in the 2016 draft, was trending toward bust territory early in his career. He scored only 35 points and posted a minus-40 rating in 145 games across his first four NHL seasons.
Then, almost out of nowhere in 2021-22, the 6-foot-6 forward put together a breakthrough campaign in his age-24 season with Buffalo, compiling 68 points in 78 outings. It came after people questioned why the Sabres even bothered to protect him in the 2021 NHL expansion draft.
The Blue and Gold will likely need a similar amount of patience if they select Rogowski.
He's shown a promising development trend line, but he's still learning how to maximize the impact of his size and his defensive involvement has so far been underwhelming. Playing against older, stronger opponents in college hockey will present a key learning curve.
Thompson averaged a shade under a point per game across two years at UConn, and he started to become more physical engaged defensively in his sophomore season. Yet, it still took him a handful more years to fully find his game at the pro level.
It'd at least give the Sabres a barometer to measure Rogowski against as he starts his collegiate career with the Spartans in the fall.
As it stands, HockeyStats.com gives the Michigan native a 62% chance to eventually develop into a full-time NHL player (16th-best mark in the draft class) but far more modest 4% odds of becoming a star-level contributor in the league (30th in the class).
Those figures suggest he'd be a worthwhile prospect to take a chance on late in the first round, especially since the Sabres' young core would allow them to remain patient with the center.
Rogowski will probably need at least two seasons with Michigan State and a year in the AHL before he'd enter the NHL conversation, and even that's an aggressive timetable based on his all-around production to date. It's going to take some time.
His long-term upside would make him worth the risk for any team outside the top 20 picks, though.
