Sabres giving Owen Power plenty of support ahead of NHL debut

The Sabres have had to wait but Owen Power might be joining them at a perfect time.

Tuesday night in Toronto, Power, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, will make his debut against the Maple Leafs. Growing up in Mississauga, Ontario, the 20-year-old defenseman was no stranger to practicing on the ice at Ford Performance Centre this week ahead of his first game.

“I grew up in this building,” said Power, whose mother, Trish, works for the City of Toronto. “I think anyone’s NHL debut is a really special moment but to be able to have it in my hometown, with all my family here, I think it makes it that much better.”

Power was first No. 1 overall pick to not spend his first post-draft season with his NHL team since Erik Johnson, who played a year at the University of Minnesota after being drafted by the Blues. The defenseman wanted a shot at an NCAA title on a stacked University of Michigan team after their championship dreams ended just before the start of the 2021 tournament due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

The Wolverines fell short in 2022, losing to eventual champion Denver in the NCAA Frozen Four last week. Power used his second season in Michigan to refine his game. He ran the power play and improved his decision-making in both zones. In 33 games he scored three goals, recorded 32 points, and was named to the All-Big Ten First Team.

There are eight games remaining in Buffalo’s season, and these next two weeks will provide Power with a good introduction to the NHL game. The Sabres are planning to ease him in and help him gain confidence heading into the summer.

“We haven’t thrown a lot of information at Owen,” said Sabres head coach Don Granato. “I don’t want information overload. Even systems, you look through the National Hockey League, we’re all playing 85 percent the same system. These guys know how to play games, so we don’t want to throw a lot at him. We haven’t.

“We’ll let him absorb it at his own rate. … But it’s all…