Sabres pick defenseman Radim Mrtka at No. 9 in NHL draft
The Sabres picked defenseman Radim Mrtka of the Seattle Thunderbirds at No. 9 in the first round of the NHL draft.
Radim Mrtka came to North America on a leap of faith and made a move of purpose.
He left Czechia, where he played against some of the country’s top professional hockey players, and joined the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League.
He came to the United States not knowing conversational English, but broke the language barrier. He became one of the WHL’s top right-handed defensemen and shaped himself into a first-round NHL draft selection.
Radim Mrtka, left, stands with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman after being drafted by the Sabres on Friday in Los Angeles.Associated Press
“I was kind of prepared for it,” Mrkta said of making a trans-Atlantic move. “I used to live with a family in Czechia for the last two years. Then, I played in a small rink and I played with men, and this way, I was prepared. But English was hard for me.”
The 6-foot-6 native of Havlickuv Brod, Czechia, spent a season with Seattle and scored three goals and 32 assists in 43 games. Now, he’s joining the Buffalo Sabres, who selected Mrtka at No. 9 of the first round of the NHL draft on Friday in Los Angeles.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Mrtka said Friday night on a video conference. “I’m so excited to move to a new city and a new team.”
Mrtka, 18, only got serious about playing hockey and pursuing a professional career in the last three years, but he became a playmaker for Seattle. He joined the Thunderbirds in December 2024 after playing the first 10 games of the season with HC Ocelari Trinec of the Czech Extraliga. He led Seattle’s defensemen in points and was fifth among rookie defensemen in the WHL in points.
Instead of trading the pick, as many speculated, the Sabres stood firm, making a top-10 selection, the first of 10 picks they have in this year’s draft. Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said the Sabres explored the possibility of trading the No. 9 pick.
“Ultimately, we didn’t feel like we were comfortable with anything that was presented,” Adams said. “And then, we were excited to make the pick.”
The New York Islanders selected Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman from Erie of the Ontario Hockey League, with the No. 1 pick in the draft.
In selecting Mrtka, the Sabres filled a depth need in the organization by taking a right-handed defenseman, and a player who prides himself on his two-way game. He’s been touted for his physical game and for his ability to make quick decisions in the flow of a game, and was ranked fifth among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting.
“I’ll bring my heart, and I will just leave everything for a team, to bring the team forward,” Mrtka said. “I’m a two-way player and I’m going to try to help the team as much as I can.”
Adams didn’t map out a concrete plan for Mrtka.
“These young players, they take time, and you don’t want to rush them,” Adams said. “Philosophically, I always feel like they’ll tell us when they’re ready, and then you make room. If that means right away, it’s great. If it means two years, three years, you just don’t know.
“We project him as a top-four, right-shot defenseman, whenever that time comes.”
Being drafted by the Sabres also gets Mrtka one spot closer to a player he tries to emulate: Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin.
Radim Mrtka, shown during the NHL scouting combine at LECOM Harborcenter on June 7, was drafted by the Sabres in the first round on Friday. Joed Viera, Buffalo News
“He’s one of the idols, who I’m trying to look up (to) and play like him,” Mrtka said. “It’s going to be great to learn from him and play with him. I like his calmness, and I like his two-way game. His ability to do everything for a team. He’s good. He’s just so good.”
Mrtka also gave some self-assessment as to what he needs to improve to prepare for professional hockey in North America: Improving his skating.
Mrtka already played against NHL-level talent in Czechia, having once played against the great Jaromir Jagr.
“That was special,” Mrtka said at the NHL scouting combine earlier this month at LECOM Harborcenter. “He’s just the best hockey player in Czechia and it was great to be against him. Last year, when I played against him, he was on the bench, and he didn’t play, but I (took) a look on the bench. There was Jaromir Jagr. It just looked like God from the bench. It was incredible.
“You can’t really play against him, physical, because he’s that strong. There was no chance to hit him. You don’t really want to play physical against him because if you would injure him, probably the whole nation would be mad at you.”
Mrtka never had to worry about that.
Now, about his season-long improvement in English? He had a foundation of sorts, which helped him acclimate.
“We learned it in Czechia, and I always felt good about English,” Mrtka said. “But then I arrived (in North America) and I couldn’t even understand it. I couldn’t even speak. It just came to me. I listened and learned, and I get so much better during the year. Just learning by listening.”
The draft continues at noon Saturday with rounds 2-7.
More on trade with Utah
Nearly two days after the late-night/early-morning trade of forward JJ Peterka to Utah for forward Josh Doan and defenseman Michael Kesselring, Adams opened up about what brought the Sabres to that point.Adams said the team’s intention after the season was to sign Peterka, who would have become a restricted free agent Tuesday.
But in those discussions, Adams said, “It became apparent, to me and to our group, it wasn’t going to work. For me, then, the focus was, this isn’t going to work, but how do we make sure we’re helping the Buffalo Sabres improve?”
Acquire role players who have an identity. Identify the attributes that will help the mission.
In Kesselring, the Sabres get a right-handed defenseman with size (6-5) and can skate well.
“That was a critical piece we needed to fill,” Adams said. “We’d been working on it for a long time and hadn’t found the right fit.”
In Doan, the Sabres acquire a two-way player who is young (23) and who can make an impact as well as still have a high ceiling.
The Sabres have to find a way to fill the offensive void left by Peterka, who scored 55 goals over the previous two seasons, including 27 last season.
Adams said the focus is on creating a better defensive team. The Sabres tied with Pittsburgh at 29th of 32 teams in goals against last season (287), and 27th in 5-on-5 goals against (184).
“Can we be a team that’s harder to play against?” Adams said. “Defensively, plays the game more responsible, would be a better way to say it.
“Both these players (Kesselring and Doan), that’s why we focused so much on them, and they’ll help in that regard.”
Sabres sign Quinn
The Sabres announced Friday afternoon, prior to the start of the NHL draft, that Jack Quinn has agreed to a two-year extension with an average annual value of $3.375 million a year.Quinn, 23, scored 15 goals with 24 assists in 74 games in 2024-25, and was set to become a restricted free agent on Tuesday. His contract extension runs through the 2026-27 season. Quinn’s previous salary cap hit was $863,000.
The trade of Peterka gives Quinn an opportunity to take on more of an offensive role with the Sabres, particularly after he scored a career-best 15 goals last season.
Quinn sustained a ruptured Achilles in his left leg during off-ice training, which required surgery, in June 2023. Then, he sustained a broken fibula in his left leg in a collision with San Jose’s Tomas Hertl in January 2024. The mid-season injury also required surgery and ultimately limited his 2023-24 season to 27 games.
“There’s so much upside there,” Adams said. “Coming out of his entry-level contract, if you look at the path since when we drafted him, he’s had some challenges. With the health and adversity. Physically, he wasn’t where he needed to be last year, and some of that was out of unfortunate circumstance. But what I do know about Jack Quinn is that there is not a player that I’ve been around, in my time here, that can assess his own game as honestly as he does.”
Still, Quinn scored nine goals with 10 assists, including two game-winning goals, in 27 games that season.
The former 2020 first-round draft pick enters his fourth full NHL season, and has scored 39 goals with 58 assists in 159 games, and even in an injury-riddled season, became key on the Sabres’ penalty kill before he sustained the ankle injury against San Jose. However, Quinn is minus-26 in his three full seasons.
Buffalo’s notable remaining restricted free agents are center Ryan McLeod, defenseman Bowen Byram, defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker, center Tyson Kozak, goalie Devon Levi and defenseman Ryan Johnson.
