Zelenov gambles on Green Bay

The Sabres’ seventh round pick this past June, Vasili Zelenov, is poised to make his full-time transfer to North American hockey this season.

After posting 14 goals and 27 assists in 40 games with Austria’s Red Bull Academy, Zelenov was selected this past May in the seventh round (94th overall) of the USHL Phase II Draft by the Green Bay Gamblers. Zelenov is one of 18 forwards included on the Gamblers’ training camp roster, and he could see immediate action this week when Green Bay hosts Buffalo’s 2024 fourth-rounder Luke Osburn and the Youngstown Phantoms for a three-game set at the Cornerstone Community Center Sept. 4-6.

Zelenov arrives in Gamblers camp on the heels of a mid-August stint with Austria’s Under-20 squad, where he notched three goals and an assist in three games at The President’s Cup in Riga, Latvia.

This offseason provided an interesting sequence of events for those interested in compelling connections. Zelenov was drafted by the Gamblers in May. A month later, Michael Leone leaves Green Bay after two seasons to join the Sabres organization as head coach of the Rochester Americans. The Sabres then select Zelenov 204th overall a few weeks later.

Previous Sabres prospects to play for the Gamblers include Connor Hurley (2013, second round) and Christopher Brown (2014, sixth round). Casey Mittelstadt (24 games) and Brendan Lemieux (11 games) both spent time in Green Bay prior to being drafted by the Sabres.