Players to watch at the Prospects Challenge

Seth Appert put the Buffalo Sabres prospects to work right off the first whistle of practice on Wednesday, getting things started with a one-on-one battle drill.
It was much of the same over the ensuing two practices in preparation for the Prospects Challenge, a round-robin event that will pit the Sabres against young players from the Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils on Friday and Saturday. (Boston and New Jersey will play each other on Sunday.) Tickets for all three games are available here.
Both Sabres games will also be streamed on Sabres.com within the Buffalo broadcast market (per NHL rules).
For a crop of players who hope to be a part of the future in Buffalo, this was an introduction to the standard that will be expected by Sabres coach Don Granato and by Appert in Rochester.
"As an organization, we need to keep working on becoming hard to play against, demanding to play against," Appert said.
There will be proverbial battles to sort out, too - for ice time in Rochester, for first impressions, and perhaps even for NHL roster spots.
Here are three groups to watch at the Prospects Challenge.

1. The Class of 2020

Buffalo's top two draft picks in 2020 enter camp with varying levels of familiarity. Jack Quinn, the eighth overall pick, was eligible to spend 2020-21 with Rochester due to the cancellation of the OHL season. JJ Peterka, the team's second-round choice, played professionally in both Austria and Germany and had a standout performance at the World Junior Championship.
The two have practiced as linemates thus far, with Quinn playing center and Peterka on the right wing (the line is rounded out by Brett Murray). Peterka was all smiles after their first go-around on Wednesday.
"I think we had a lot of fun today," he said.
Quinn's move to center - a process that began at the end of his campaign in Rochester - will be one story to watch. Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams referenced Quinn's centerman-like qualities on the night of the 2020 Draft, traits that Appert saw firsthand during Quinn's 15-game rookie year with the Amerks.
"He's a play-driver, and there's not a ton of wingers that are play-drivers," Appert said. "… He is incredibly intelligent, and he has a cerebral intelligence to how he attacks the game, both on the ice and how he looks at the game off the ice and how much he wants to get better."
Peterka, meanwhile, is making the jump to North American hockey after impressive showings against pro competition last season. He tallied 20 points (9+11) in 30 games with EHC München in the DEL, Germany's highest-level pro league.
"J-J is one of those rare guys that has the speed and the skill and explosiveness of elite, dynamic offensive players, but also has the lurking goal-scoring ability that more of the intelligent offensive players have," Appert said. "He's shown at the younger age groups to have that really good combination of speed mixed with the cerebral goal-scoring ability that all special goal-scorers have."

2. The top pair

The Sabres will ice a veteran top defense pair in Mattias Samuelsson and Oskari Laaksonen, two players coming off rookie seasons in Rochester.
Samuelsson, a second-round pick in 2018, tallied 13 points (3+10) in 23 games with the Amerks and earned a 12-game stint with the Sabres to end the season. He figures to battle for a spot on the NHL roster at training camp, though veteran competition has been added in Robert Hagg (acquired from Philadelphia) and Will Butcher (acquired from New Jersey).
Laaksonen, a third-round pick in 2017, scored 17 points (2+15) while running Rochester's power play and was selected as an AHL All-Star.
"Me and Sammy, we want to be the two best guys on the back end," Laaksonen said of their goals for the tournament. "Defensively and offensively, be the best two guys out there."

3. Returning NHLers

The Buffalo roster features four players who played NHL games last season: Samuelsson, forwards Murray and Arttu Ruotsalainen, and goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
Ruotsalainen showed an ability to score during his stint with Buffalo, netting five goals in 17 games while finding a home on the wing alongside Dylan Cozens. He will play center during the Prospects Challenge.
Luukkonen enters camp with a chance to compete for one of two goaltending jobs in Buffalo. He will need to prove he's ready, with the team having brought in veterans Craig Anderson and Aaron Dell during the offseason.
Murray played his way to a late-season recall, appearing in Buffalo's final two games. The 6-foot-4 winger will look to use the Prospects Challenge as a springboard into main camp.