PROSPECTS NOTEBOOK: NYLANDER IMPRESSES LAMBERT AT PRACTICE

Hockey was back at HarborCenter on Friday morning with prospects hitting the ice for a two-hour practice to kick off the 2016 Prospects Challenge. Much like when we last saw the group at development camp in July, the young players got another taste of the fast-paced system the Sabres are looking to employ throughout their organization.

“What we’re trying to do is help their details and habits of their game,” Rochester Americans coach Dan Lambert said. “What we’re trying to teach them, they can bring back to wherever they’re playing and hopefully do a job there. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel. It is ice hockey, there’s no doubt, but we are trying to incorporate how we want to play in Buffalo and Rochester.”

The difference between the Prospects Challenge and development camp is the early chance it offers young players to face actual competition from other NHL organizations rather than competing against their own teammates in scrimmages. The added intensity, Lambert said, gives some players a better chance to put their games on full display.

Among the players who impressed Lambert at practice was 2016 first-round draft pick Alexander Nylander, fresh off a summer spent training with his father and brother in Sweden. Nylander said his goal for the offseason was to become stronger and more explosive, but it was his practice habits that caught his coach’s attention on Friday.

“I really liked his pace …

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