Always a step ahead, Sabres’ Morozov has impressed at every stop

Three eventful years ago, Ilia Morozov made a decision that kick-started his journey to the Buffalo Sabres. At age 14, the Moscow native took his budding hockey talents overseas to North America.

“We just saw a good path playing in North America,” Morozov told Sabres.com. “If I want to play in this country for the next 20 years, I need to feel comfortable here, and it’s easier to learn the language when you’re a little younger, and to get this culture. It’s a good chance to get an American education, which is pretty valuable around the world.”

With that move, this year’s NHL Draft and everything in between, Morozov has always seemed to be one step ahead. That’s part of why the Sabres targeted the powerful center, now 17, with the 20th-overall pick, making him one of the brightest prospects in an organization full of them.

“It’s a pretty impressive story,” said general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen. “… Hardly spoke any English, and now he’s an A student. Works on his game. They have to kick him out of the rink and gym before games.

“… The results are there for the work that he’s done so far, and he’s just getting started. So, we’re really, really excited about him.”

• 2026 Development Camp | Notes on Kleber, Rudolph, Ziemer

‘He was unbelievably impressive’

Morozov’s first stop was Chicago with the Windy City Storm, a renowned youth program. The U.S. required plenty of adjustment but Morozov had a strong foundation from studying English since second grade. That first year, he simultaneously completed ninth grade (online in Russia) and 10th grade in person.

A futures camp in Chicago was where the 14-year-old first met Anthony Noreen.

“He was unbelievably impressive at the time,” reflected Noreen, then head coach of the USHL’s Tri-City Storm. “… I think we had an all-star game at the futures camp. His team won 6-0, he had five of the goals, and the most excited he was was for the guy that scored the other goal, the sixth one. You just started seeing what this kid was.”

Noreen had seen enough to tender Morozov, using a first-round pick to secure his rights for the 2024-25 season. For the meantime, in 2023-24, Morozov scored 74 points in 49 games for Windy City while frequently driving to/from Kearney, Neb., to train with Tri-City.

But in April 2024, Noreen left Tri-City for Miami University. So, while he wouldn’t be coaching Morozov in the USHL, he recruited the forward to eventually join him in Ohio. Morozov, eager to start his college career, completed both 11th and 12th grades in one year. Soon enough, with his coach’s permission, he moved into a dorm at Miami.

“Our answer was yes, if we feel like you are physically, mentally, emotionally ready to do this,” Noreen said. “It’s massive step to not just be playing college hockey, but be on a college campus as a 17-year-old, in a locker room with 24-, 25-year-olds.

“… At the end of the day, we felt it was the right thing for all parties to go ahead and bring him in as an accelerated freshman.”

‘Wouldn’t put it past this kid’

Morozov shared his perspective on life as NCAA hockey’s youngest player.

“I didn’t really feel that I was younger,” he said. “My team, they treated me like a guy who’s the same age, with the same respect and everything. That was pretty challenging to play against the guys four, five years older than I am, but I like challenges, and I think I was ready for that.”

He raced out of the gates with 11 points in his first nine games and finished the 2025-26 season with 20 in 36, fifth most on the RedHawks. As Sabres assistant general manager Jerry Forton observed, Morozov handled first- and second-line matchups, took defensive-zone faceoffs and killed penalties, among other responsibilities.

“I think there’s a lot more offense there than maybe we all give him credit for at times,” Noreen said. “Again, I just wouldn’t put it past this kid for that side of his game to continue to grow. I know he’s gonna continue to work at it and learn how to use his physical tools.”

Morozov’s impressive build – 6-foot-3, 200 pounds – has been evident during Sabres Development Camp at LECOM Harborcenter. He’s already one of the organization’s bigger prospects and uses his strength to protect pucks and box out defenders near the net.

The student has drawn similarly rave reviews. Those at Miami consider the business program, particularly finance, to be one of the school’s hardest majors. Yet, one year in, balancing that courseload with a hockey career hasn’t proven to be an issue.

“The schedule is pretty packed. It’s not the easiest thing to do it all together, but that’s what I’ve got to do,” said Morozov, who’ll return to Miami as a sophomore this fall. “I think my grades are pretty good. Probably better than average on the team.”

Echoed Noreen: “Not only is he in finance, he’s excelling in finance."

Morozov has always been a student. He took mixed martial arts lessons as a kid before focusing on hockey. Currently, he’s learning French as a third language, with a Duolingo streak hitting 75 days during draft weekend. Whatever he needs to do to become an impactful NHLer – Morozov expects to be ready in a year or two – he’ll do.

“Troy Thibodeau, who works with our forwards, says it all the time: He kind of has that Kobe Bryant ‘Mamba Mentality,’ where he’s just going to stack up little wins, put in more work than anyone else and continue to do that over time,” Noreen said. “We feel like that’s why he taken such a big jump. … There’s just not that many people on Earth that work as intentional as Ilia, day in and day out.”

‘Makes everything you do worthwhile’

Internally, the Sabres were higher on Morozov than some of the public draft rankings, and they had him in mind when trading up to the 20th pick (from the 27th).

“We thought the world of the player and the person,” Forton said, “so it was exciting for us that he was still there.”

“That was unreal,” Morozov said the next day. “I’ve been waiting for that for a really long time.”

As the pick was announced inside KeyBank Center, Morozov celebrated with a group including his parents and sister – visiting from Russia, and whom he’s seen infrequently since moving to the U.S. – and Noreen. All the flights, drives, work, classes and attention are beginning to pay off, and the Sabres stand to benefit in the not-too-distant future.

“This is a kid that makes you absolutely just love to do what you do every day, and you feel lucky to be around him,” Noreen said. “To experience that with him and his family, and see the joy and the smiles and the hugs, it makes everything you do worthwhile.

“… This kid is deserving of everything he’s gotten. But you know that he’s going to continue to work to get even more.”