Power to join Sabres on road trip, could debut Tuesday in Toronto

SUNRISE, Fla. -Owen Power will join the Sabres in Tampa on Saturday and will likely make his NHL debut Tuesday night in Toronto, Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said Friday.
The Sabres signed Power, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, to a three-year, entry-level contract on Friday afternoon.
"That's kind of the tentative plan," Adams said. "I think it'd be good for him to get on the ice a couple days, be around the guys, he'll watch the game in Tampa and then be ready to go, so we're excited."

The Sabres are in the midst of a four-game road trip that continues Sunday against the Lightning and concludes Tuesday in Toronto.
Power was raised about 15 miles outside of Toronto in Mississauga, Ont.
"I hope we see a lot of Power Sabres jerseys," Adams said.
A debut in Toronto would leave eight games for Power's introduction to the NHL, including four at KeyBank Center: Thursday, April 14 vs. St. Louis; Saturday, April 16 vs. Philadelphia; Saturday, April 23 vs. the New York Islanders; and Friday, April 29 vs. Chicago.
"I really believe this stretch of games until the end of the season is so critical for him because you feel the NHL game, you get a good understanding of what you need to do to prepare yourself to play, the speed of the game, physicality, all of it," Adams said.
"He'll take that into his offseason and just the way he's wired. he's the type of kid who processes things very quickly and he'll learn quickly."
Power has excelled with each step in his development. He was USHL Defenseman of the Year in his final season with the Chicago Steel in 2019-20. He earned Big Ten All-Rookie honors as a freshman last season at the University of Michigan.
He tallied 32 points in 33 games as a sophomore this past season - an average of 0.97, which ranked third among NCAA defensemen. He was named a Second Team All-American selection on Friday.

"He's got an incredible amount of attributes to go with the size, and obviously the size is his height now but it's going to continue to become strength, even more strength," Sabres coach Don Granato said.
"He's a great athlete, so the athleticism is there, but the feel, he's got an unbelievable calm to his game. He can slow the pace down and dictate a pace."
The 6-foot-6 defenseman played against men - including current and former NHL players - as a member of Team Canada at the World Championship last May and at the Beijing Olympics in February. His performance garnered him top-pair minutes at both events.
"He does have the advantage of having been to World Championships and playing with men but, you know, it's a different ice sheet," Granato said, referring to the 100-foot-wide international rink. "It's a different game. The NHL is the highest level. It's gonna be fun to watch him go through that process."
Power will join a Sabres roster that already includes 12 players aged 25 or under, including seven first-round picks: Dylan Cozens, Peyton Krebs, Rasmus Dahlin, Henri Jokiharju, Casey Mittelstadt, Tage Thompson, and Alex Tuch.
That group will include four left-shot defensemen with the addition of Power, who joins Dahlin, Mattias Samuelsson, and Jacob Bryson. Adams said Power could potentially see time on the right side during these final games, as Bryson often has this season.

"We want to set Owen up for success," Adams said. "You want to put him in a position that he feels comfortable. We'll have some conversations over the next two, three days, myself, and Owen and the coaching staff, and just make sure that we're putting him in a position to succeed and also helping him take a breath and just realize that he can just go be himself.
"He doesn't have to feel the weight of the world or anything extra stress or pressure. He can just go be part of a group and just play. I think it'll kind of shake itself out, honestly."