The Buffalo Sabres have inked prospect Cliff Pu to a three-year, entry-level contract. Pu is currently playing for the London Knights of the OHL, where he has six points in 11 games.
Selected in the third round of the 2016 draft, Pu is the latest player to sign out of the NHL factory that is London. The junior program churns out high draft picks every year, including three first rounders (Olli Juolevi, Matthew Tkachuk and Max Jones) in 2016. Pu played with all of them, racking up 86 points a year ago.
Pu was part of the Team Canada roster at the recent World Junior Summer Showcase, and has a good chance at representing his country again this winter at the U20 tournament. He is a big, strong center that can score goals on the rush and in tight, and plays a responsible two-way game. Even in 2015-16, when the London roster was loaded with talent like Mitch Marner, Christian Dvorak and Tkachuk, the Knights relied heavily on Pu as a matchup player against some tough competition. He’s continued to progress, and should have a legitimate shot at a full-time middle-six role in the NHL.
Buffalo, who are still struggling to find an identity in the NHL look like they struck gold with Pu in the third round. They picked him coming off just a 31-point season, relying on his skill, strength and role with the Knights to project him forward. As the team continues to build towards contention with Jack Eichel and company, there are several intriguing prospects in the system. It might not be this year, but there will be some debuts before long.