The Top 25 Under 25 is a collaboration of members of the Die By The Blade community. It was a combination of editors and over 200 readers who rated buffalo saber Players under the age of 25 (as of August 1, 2024). Each participant used their own measures of current skill and performance to rate each player. Staff votes counted as much as readers’ votes.

Nikita Novikov

Draft: 2021 – 6^th Round (188^th In total)

Position: Defense

Born: July 25^th2003 – 21 years old

Statistics 2023-2024: AHL – 65 games – 3-20-23, Playoffs – 4 games – 0-2-2

2023 T25U25 Ranking: 20

After 94 games in the KHL, 4^th Novikov was ready to begin his professional career in North America after scoring the most by a KHL defenseman before the age of 20. After signing him to his entry-level contract in May 2023, the Sabres were excited to see how he would transition to the AHL, and they were not disappointed. Novikov’s size and strength (6’4″, 195 lbs. according to EliteProspects.com) were a perfect fit for the AHL game.

The most surprising part of Novikov’s season was his offensive performance. In his previous two seasons in the KHL, he only collected 5 points in 62 games and 4 points in 32 games in the 2022-2023 and 2021-2022 seasons. However, he surpassed those numbers with an impressive 23 points in 65 games for the Amerks.

He was active in the attacking zone and used his size to bring down the net, leading to several goals.

Rochester Americans on X: “🚨 FIRST GOAL AS AMERICS FOR NIKITA NOVIKOV! 2-1 AMERICS! 🥹 https://t.co/boZAg0uZS7“ / X

Kris Baker on X: “Nikita Novikov comes to the doorstep and scores his third goal of the year to put the Amerks on the scoreboard. Minutes later, he assists on a goal by Graham Slaggert for his 20th point and third multi-point game of the season. https://t.co/0PzaWCBlNd” / X

The presence of a defender in front of the goal is usually reserved for defending one’s own goal, but Novikov flipped the script last season. He also showed the ability to step in on an attack and easily beat a goalie.

Rochester Americans on X: “Brandon Biro ➡️ Nikita Novikov ➡️ 🥅🚨 The rookie scored his second goal of the season and gave us the lead in the first period! https://t.co/ZI5ogYjgQd” / X

Although Novikov showcased a new offensive side to his game, he did not shy away from the physical side of the game that he is more known for. The AHL is known as a more physical league than the NHL, where there is significantly more fighting. Novikov showed no inhibitions about defending his teammates when called upon to do so.

Rochester Americans at X: “Nikita Novikov stands up for Mason Jobst without hesitation 💪 https://t.co/G26bv4qGR5“ / X

Like many great defensemen, Novikov will need to improve his skating to play at the NHL level. Recent success with fellow great defenseman Mattias Samuelsson bodes well for Novikov’s development in Rochester. Time will tell if he can build on this promising start in the Sabres organization.

2024 Buffalo Sabres Top 25 under 25

25th place: Adam Kleber
24th place: Tyson Kozak
23rd place: Maxim Strbák
22nd place: Prokhor Poltapov
21st place: Alexander Kisakow
20th place: Viktor Neuchev
19th place: Vsevolod Komarov