It’s rare for an NHL forward to be found in the seventh round of an NHL Draft.
That’s where the Buffalo Sabres picked Vasily Zelenov in 2024, making him a longshot from the very beginning.
Zelenov, though, is doing his best to make a case that he might indeed have an NHL future.
Right now, Zelenov plays at college hockey powerhouse Wisconsin, and he’s off to a bright start to this season with the Badgers that is starting to add just a little bit of belief in what Zelenov’s future might look like.
Vasily Zelenov at Wisconsin
This is Zelenov’s second season with the Badgers after they made the Frozen Four last year.
As a freshman, he had put up 19 points in 28 games with 6 goals and 13 assists.
So far this season, Zelenov has seven points in four games — having scored one goal and dished out six assists.
Zelenov is a 20-year-old right winger who shoots lefty and measures at 6-feet tall and 195 pounds.
Before Wisconsin, Zelenov had played a year in the USHL with the Green Bay Gamblers, putting up 33 points in 54 games with 14 goals and 19 assists.
He had previously played for the Salzburg Red Bull Juniors in Austria. Zelenov is originally a native of Moscow, Russia.
Vasily Zelenov Praised
Zelenov recently caught the eye of Daily Faceoff prospects writer Steven Ellis. He singled Zelenov out as one of 10 players who has stood out to him early in the NCAA season.
“Zelenov’s journey has been fascinating,” Ellis writes. “He was drafted out of Austria before putting up modest numbers in the USHL. He then had a solid, yet unspectacular freshman campaign with Wisconsin, while also being one of Austria’s most dominant junior prospects. Now in his sophomore campaign with Wisconsin, Zelenov has been a man on a mission. He started the season with a three-point effort over Robert Morris (while only playing 12:24) and followed that up with a pair of multi-point efforts against Minnesota State. Zelenov is up to seven points in four games to give him the team scoring lead on a roster with eight NHL prospects.”
The big question, of course, is whether Zelenov has elevated to the point that he can eventually be an NHL player for the Sabres.
“Zelenov is still a bit of a long shot to make the NHL, but given he was drafted from a smaller league, he’s doing whatever it takes to get himself noticed,” Ellis writes.
At this point, Zelenov is really doing all the Sabres could’ve asked for from a seventh-round pick — he’s giving himself a chance.
Sabres’ 7th-Round Pick Longshot Prospect Rising at Wisconsin