LEWISTON -- As Buffalo Sabres prospects go, no one has a better resume than Zack Kassian. He's been ticketed for a starring role ever since the team made him its No. 1 pick in 2009. But there's a difference now. Kassian is a pro. The days of being the Big Man on Campus in junior hockey are done.

The 20-year-old has been impressive all week at the team's development camp at Niagara University and will come to the main training camp in September looking to crack the NHL roster. Chances are he won't, since the Sabres have a pretty crowded lineup and almost universally want some AHL time for their prospects.

So that likely means Kassian will get plenty of attention as one of the marquee men in Rochester with the Sabres' return as the parent club of the Amerks.

"You have to set your goals high," Kassian said. "My main goal is to go into camp and make that team. Last year I had a good camp and got into some [NHL] exhibition games so I'm looking to build on that. Hopefully get some exhibitions again and play well enough to start the season."

Kassian is 6-foot-3, 210 pounds. He has great hands. He had 26 goals and 77 points in 56 games last year for Windsor of the Ontario Hockey League and played for Canada in the World Junior Championships in Buffalo. There is no player in the Sabres organization like him, a physical specimen more than willing to check and fight who can also fill the net.

But no discussion of him can be held without some of the issues that have left the Sabres concerned.

There was a bar fight and arrest in Windsor that angered the Sabres enough last year for them to temporarily suspend contract negotiations. And there have been suspensions for on-ice transgressions, including a 20-gamer for a head shot during the 2009-10 season.

But Kassian knows the ante is up now. He's spent several weeks in Buffalo this spring and summer working out in HSBC Arena rather than staying home in Windsor.

The Sabres have been impressed with Kassian's work ethic and the understanding he's shown about what it means to be a pro.

"We need a little more polish on the ice," said General Manager Darcy Regier. "I think it's really about in his case, not unlike others, maturity level, where you develop the professionalism and the consistency on a day-to-day basis, then bring the corresponding play with it as well."

A prevailing theory last year was that Kassian would have been better served playing in the AHL because he would not physically dominate like he did in juniors. That couldn't happen, however, because he was junior-eligible and could not play in the AHL.

"You can look at it both ways," he said. "For me it was good to go back to junior, play a lot, play in every situation and get the chance to play on the world stage. That was a dream come true and to have it in Buffalo was kind of the icing on the cake.

"You can say I was better off in the AHL being pushed more to work harder and play against men but there were positives to that. I was happy I went back to Windsor. It's my hometown and I was happy to finish off my junior career."

Kassian finally got an AHL shot for Portland in last year's playoffs, playing three scoreless games for the Pirates in their six-game loss to Binghamton.

"To get the experience of not only playing in the AHL but in a playoff series was a pretty tight series," Kassian said. "It was definitely exciting. I got to know what playoff hockey is in the pros. You just try to take as much from it into this camp and into next year."

Kassian knows the NHL is a major challenge but he felt he held his own last year during exhibition games. And he'll be going against plenty of players with even more physical gifts.

"That's exciting," he said. "It's going to work every day knowing you need to be on your game every day or else you're going to get shown up. That's a competitive side of me. I like that stuff and I'm looking forward to it."

Kassian, Luke Adam and Tyler Ennis have formed the men-against-boys line at development camp, wowing fans with their passing skills and pressure in the offensive zone.

"He's a big powerful power forward but at the same time, he's got a lot of skill," Adam said. "People like to see that. He can score goals. For a guy like that, he'll bring his work ethic day in and day out. He's going to have success at any level I think.

"He's pretty gifted for a guy that big and that strong around the net to have that finishing ability. That's what sets him apart from some others."

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The development camp wraps up today with another scrimmage at 10:30 a.m. It is once again open to the public.

mharrington@buffnews.comnull