Luke Osburn will play at the University of Wisconsin in the upcoming season. ©2025, Micheline Veluvolu

In USHL star Luke Osburn, Sabres might have special defense prospect

BUFFALO – Rochester Americans coach Mike Leone understands talking about a prospect in the same breath as a current or former NHL star can create unrealistic expectations.

Still, he wanted to illustrate how much Luke Osburn, a high-scoring defenseman the Sabres drafted in the fourth round in 2024, has impressed him.

“It’s an unfair comparison, but you know when Duncan Keith played, he was really wiry and his skating ability,” Leone said of the former Chicago Blackhawks defenseman, who last month was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. “Just the intensity and the competitiveness, the game that he played, it was really impressive to see.”

Of course, Leone, who coached against Osburn, 18, in the junior United States Hockey League, isn’t suggesting the youngster will develop into the next Keith. He simply sees special talents in the 6-foot-1, 181-pound Michigan native.

“When you watch him skate, it’s probably not, I would say, the cleanest stride,” Leone said last Thursday following the final session of development camp in LECOM Harborcenter. “But, like, he’s hyperactive active and he’s really powerful, and his ability to close on guys was really impressive to see. Like, he’s going to be really good player.”

Last season, Osburn established himself as one of junior hockey’s most dynamic players with the Youngstown Phantoms, earning honors as the USHL’s top defenseman and a first team all-star.

Phantoms coach Ryan Ward said Osburn, who registered 10 goals and 41 points in 55 games in his second season, is “kind of a modern-tool, triple-threat defenseman.”

“He can score, he can make plays and he can score and extend possession with his feet and his brain,” he told the Times Herald.

Ward said Osburn possesses quick feet that help him escape trouble and superb vision and passing ability. He said in addition to the defender’s skating, his elusiveness and ability to protect the puck are his best attributes.

“He’s an extremely smart player that has a ton of poise and does not panic under any type of pressure,” he said.

Osburn said the Phantoms cast him as a two-way defenseman.

“I tried to up my offensive game a lot last year and keep progressing on the defensive side, winning puck battles, being better on the net front and stuff like that,” he said.

Ward believes wherever Osburn played in last season he would’ve been the top defenseman.

“I think that says a lot about him,” he said. “And he’s not done. He’s not done developing. He’s not done growing as a leader and a player.

“I think Luke, when you look where he was drafted, is probably going to be looked back upon as one of the biggest steals of that NHL Draft last year.”

Osburn lasted until the 104th selection. In the past four years, the Sabres have found some intriguing defense prospects in the mid or late rounds.

They grabbed Nikita Novikov in the sixth round in 2021, 188th overall, and Vsevolod Komarov in the fifth round in 2022, 134th overall.

Both Russians have acclimated well to North American hockey in Rochester.

An entry-level NHL contract and development time in the AHL could certainly be in Osburn’s future. In the meantime, he will play at the University of Wisconsin in the upcoming season.

“I think Luke is a very committed player that’s extremely serious about his development,” Ward said. “I think when you see a kid like Luke and the way he works, it’s no surprise to anybody that he developed the way that he did. …

“I think when you’re constantly pushing yourself to that degree, it makes it a lot easier to exponentially develop.”

Osburn and two other Sabres prospects – defenseman Adam Kleber and forward Brodie Ziemer – have been invited to Team USA’s World Junior Summer Showcase later this month in Minneapolis.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *