The Top 25 Under 25 is a collaboration by members of the Die By The Blade community. 117 readers ranked Buffalo Sabres players under the age of 25 as of August 1, 2025. Each participant used their own metric of current ability and production to rank each player.

Anton Wahlberg

Drafted: 2023, BUF (39th overall), 2nd round, 7th pick

Position: Center

Born: 7/4/2005 (Age: 20) Malmo, SWE

2024-2025 stats: GP 63 G11 A 19 PTS 30

2024 T25U25 Ranking: Wahlberg moved up 2 spots, he ranked 17th last year

Anton Wahlberg was a mixed bag last season, and his game could even be classified as odd. He was wildly inconsistent with Rochester, with several ups and downs. Anton has great size at 6’5″ but has not filled out yet at just 198 pounds. In fact, he has a slight stringbean appearance out there on the ice. Yet, he was known to be physical and strong on the forecheck while in Sweden. He doesn’t necessarily look the part right now. Somehow, in that style of game, he only amassed 6 minutes in penalties with the Amerks last season? In 63 games, mind you.

A few years back, on his team in Malmo, he picked up 53 PIM in just 32 games. Another time, he had 16 PIM in just 7 games during the U18 for Sweden. For an outside observer, that seems a little off. He mixed it up and was more involved in the physical game with his previous teams. Or did he suddenly learn how to engage in hard or excessive contact without drawing the ire of the officials? To me, it feels like he forgot that part of his game when he turned pro. Maybe I am wrong, a Rochester regular viewer should answer that better than I. For now, it remains a little perplexing.

Wahlberg’s final offensive numbers looked decent enough in his rookie season. He finished with 11 goals and 30 points, but it was marred by inconsistency. He had several dry spells of zero points scored for long stretches at a time. Then he would bust out for a few games, picking up a quick 3 points, before going silent again. He had a nice start, but often went cold when the Amerks needed him. In the playoffs, he went scoreless in the six games he dressed for. I suppose being a young player away from his home in Sweden factored into that. He is also still developing his game with room for growth. For me I’m not sure what this player is yet. He has many strong qualities, but seemingly can be frustrating to watch. Below is a highlight video of Wahlberg from this past season with Rochester and with Sweden. Just the good stuff, obviously!

What do the Buffalo Sabres have with this prospect? Well, Anton is a solid skater, but still looks a little clunky doing it. He is a very good puck carrier and has the skills to score goals. He is better than average defensively with a decent backcheck. He sometimes flashes moments of strong intensity, especially at the other team’s end of the ice. As I said above, he is good on the forecheck and uses his body to his advantage. But it was disappointing that his physicality seemed to drop off with Rochester. Wahlberg also seemed to disengage at times or outright disappear. An impressive shift will be followed by invisibility for the rest of the game. No steady offensive pressure or consistent bump and grind. That is an issue he needs to resolve. He also comes across as top-heavy, getting knocked down easier than a player of his height should. He needs to bulk up and fill out more. A nice combination of weight room work and plates of garbage fries would aid in that.

I think it is safe to say that this young prospect has at least a few more seasons in Rochester to help refine his game. He has good traits to work with and a few he needs to overcome. If everything comes together for Mr. Wahlberg, he has middle-six NHL upside. But it is a slim margin of error if a player doesn’t bring it every shift while in the AHL. It was his rookie year in a new country, so we can cut him SOME slack. His game time mindset and intensity must improve, though, and he has to become more consistent. NHL success will elude him without it.