Melvin Novotny was at his home in Taby, Sweden, when he watched his name flash next to a Buffalo Sabres logo in the seventh round of the 2025 NHL Draft.
The 18-year-old received a congratulatory text from Sabre and fellow Sweden product Noah Ostlund shortly after, igniting a friendship.
Novotny was part of Sabres development camp days after being drafted in late June and was nervous about his first experience with an NHL organization until Ostlund showed Novotny around the facility and Buffalo.
Novotny was comforted by being able to speak in his natural language and connected with other Sweden natives Isak Rosen and Anton Wahlberg. It was this group that helped Novotny launch a successful first season in North America with the Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL).
“I enjoyed having three Swedes there being able to talk to them in my own language and them just almost making the same journey as me, getting drafted to Buffalo and then playing in North America," he said. “... It's cool to see what kind of pathway I want to make, too. And I want to make the AHL team, and I want to play in the NHL soon too.”
Novotny’s first North American campaign has come with an inherit adjustment period. Novotny had to reconfigure his playing style from the Olympic size rink (200-by-98.4) in Sweden to the American style sheet (200-by-85), which is narrower and allows for less time and space.
Novotny and Rosen played for the same junior team (Leksands IF) and grew up just over nine miles apart from Taby to Stockholm. The duo previously skated and trained together during the summer in Sweden.
Rosen – who kickstarted his career with the Rochester Americans (AHL) at 19 - said Novotny was ready to make the jump to North America and was impressed with how Novotny used his 6-foot-1, 187-pound frame to create offense.
The pair spent time together during Sabres’ Prospects Challenge in September and Rosen offered advice about how Novotny needed to tailor his finesse game despite a more physical North American style.
“He obviously told me about the more physical game,” Novotny said. “First time at the Prospect Cchallenge, he told me that there was going to be people hitting you all the time. You got to look around, have your head up all the time. ... He just showed me what it looks like over here. He taught me a lot about the AHL and NHL, what the process is working up and always trying to take the next step.”
Shortly after the 2025 IIHF U-18 World Championship in late April and early May, Novotny expressed interest to his agent about wanting to play college hockey.
Novotny – who committed to the University of Massachusetts in July – wanted to make that transition easier and was between going back to Sweden for one more year or playing in the USHL.
Novotny’s agent contacted Muskegon president Steve Lowe and he signed with the Lumberjacks on June 13. Muskegon head coach Colten St. Clair had a conversation with Novotny in the summer about what it takes to be successful in the USHL and said Novotny has made a seamless transition.
“He's just a really good human being and fun to be around,” St. Clair said. “He's got a confidence of no matter where you're from, it's still life, and it's still the game of hockey. ... Just how hard he works, and the willingness to want to really dig in.
“He's an NHL draft pick, so within that, he's got even more pressure on him. It's his first time in North America, and now you just got drafted, so it's a double whammy. If you ask me, it's just a day-to-day process, but I think he feels pretty comfortable now, and that's why his game's taken off.”
Novotny has thrived in Muskegon with seven goals and eight assists in 13 games. He is the Lumberjacks team leader in points (15) and is tied for eighth in the USHL in scoring.
