Sabres Prospect Profile - David Bedkowski

The Buffalo Sabres have been considered to have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL, which is in part due to them selecting high in recent drafts because of their not qualifying for the playoffs. The Sabres have displayed an eye for talent, but the organization’s developmental model has not yielded enough results. 

Leading up to the opening of training camp in mid-September, we will look at the club's top 40 prospects. All are 25 years old or younger, whose rights are currently held by the Sabres or are on AHL or NHL deals, and have played less than 40 NHL games. 

#21 - David Bedkowski - D - (Owen Sound - OHL)

The Sabres have drafted predominantly right-handed defensemen (Radim Mrtka, Adam Kleber, Simon-Pier Brunet, Maxim Strbak, Gavin McCarthy, and Vsevolod Komarov) in the last four drafts, with the top half of their NHL blueline all left-handers. The club continued that practice at the 2025 NHL Draft, selecting Mrtka ninth overall, and after trading their second-round pick to clear Connor Clifton’s contract and acquire righty Conor Timmins, Buffalo selected another righty in David Bedkowski. 

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The 18-year-old played his first two OHL seasons with Oshawa and was traded last season to the Owen Sound Attack. The 6’5”, 215 lb. defenseman’s skill set is purely physical, as last season he had only seven points (3 goals, 4 assists) in 35 games, but compiled 73 penalty minutes. 

Elite Prospects Draft Guide said that it would be an understatement to say Bedkowski has a mean streak. “He punishes. He hurts, retaliates, beats down, knocks, and crushes opponents with open-ice hits and bone-rattling contact along the boards.”  That mean streak is something that most of Buffalo’s blueline has been missing for years, but it will be at least a few years before the Toronto native can bring that physicality to the NHL roster.