Buffalo, NY (WGR 550) – Many of the Sabres college players that are in their system came to Development Camp last week.

Patrick Geary of Hamburg was taken in the sixth-round of the 2024 Draft as an overage junior player while Clarence Center’s Gavin McCarthy was a third-round pick in 2023.

Geary had a disappointing end to the season at Michigan State where the Spartans were upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament by Cornell. Michigan State was either ranked first or second for 14-of-16 weeks in the national polls.

McCarthy will be entering his junior season at Boston University. This is his third Development Camp and he said,

“It means something that you can just come here and show yourself, so it’s a great feeling to be back here.”

In April, BU went to the Frozen Four in St. Louis and lost in the championship game to Western Michigan. McCarthy said it was a bit of a ride this year,

“It was up and down for our whole team. We came into the season pretty highly touted and then fell off the edge a little bit, so we had to get back on track and I’m really proud of our group for going on that run that we did and I think everyone in our room knew we were capable of that and it just took the whole season to get there.”

The Terriers were on a streak of 7-1-1 going into the Championship game.

I wanted to know what the Sabres development staff wanted from the defenseman. He said,

“It’s everything, keep getting bigger, keep getting stronger, focusing on my foot speed, closing plays quicker which I think is one of the biggest things for me.”

McCarthy did say he stepped into a bigger role last season playing more minutes.

McCarthy just turned 20, but he goes up against guys quite a bit older than him. Last year he played with his brother Case who went on to play with the Hartford Wolfpack of the AHL and the Bloomington Bison of the ECHL. Case McCarthy was a fourth-round pick of the New Jersey Devils in 2019. Gavin McCarthy said he’s a better player playing against more mature competition,

“I think just playing against older guys. In college it’s a lot different than juniors or even the CHL. There’s 23 and 24-year-olds with the average age up there at 21, 22, so they’re bigger, stronger and more mature.”

McCarthy played his junior hockey in the USHL with the Muskegon Lumberjacks.

McCarthy thinks the biggest thing for him being at Development Camp is working with different coaches that have been where he wants to be,

“Every time we’re able to work with these coaches and I’ve worked with a lot of them. Throughout the years, even with the Junior Sabres, just picking their brain, seeing what they’re thinking on the ice, off the ice, they have so much to offer and taking that back with me, it’s a gift.”

Geary is a 21-year-old going into his junior season. He said he’s not as nervous at camp after being here last year,

“Definitely more comfortable around the rinks and around all the staff and all the guys that you see again for the second year, so you feel more comfortable, more relaxed and it helps you be yourself.”

Geary knew what to expect from camp and he also knew what he’d get from it,

“You see all these guys, first and second round picks and all really good players, so it’s growing every day because that’s all you can do and take it wherever you go whether it’s next season or next development camp.”

Both the Sabres staff and Michigan State’s coaching staff have goals for Geary. He said,

“Getting more mature, that was the big thing with the staff at Michigan State and it’s something I took serious over the summer. Maturing the body and getting bigger, you’ve got to be stronger, especially as a defenseman because I’m a little undersized as a D.”

Geary would also like to become a better skater

One of the Sabres second round picks in 2023 was Maxim Strbak who also plays at Michigan State. Geary has enjoyed getting to know him,

“Zach Redmond (Sabres development coach) comes up to Michigan State a lot and takes me and ‘Strabach’ out to dinner so it’s a lot of fun having Strabach out there with me.

“He couldn’t make this camp, he had some injuries over summer that he had to take care of, so he’s back at school trying to get back into the grind a little bit.”

Both Geary and McCarthy grew up watching and cheering for the Sabres. Geary said he’s thankful to be wearing the emblem right now,

“It’s still super special, you see this jersey and it has the last name on it, it’s kind of hard to believe to be honest and I’ve been fortunate to workout here this summer with Ray, he was great with us in the workout room and be with Gavin, Matteo (Costantini) and Jake Richard, they were all with us, so it was great.”

Neither one of these players will be back in September because classes and workouts with their college teams will already be going.