The Buffalo Sabres are considered one of the best deepest prospect pools in the NHL, not only because of their selecting high in recent drafts but also due to their eye for talent and their organizational choices of either leaving players to develop in their home countries or bringing them to North America. Leading up to the opening of training camp in mid-September, we will look at the club’s top 40 prospects. All are 25 years old or younger, whose rights are currently held by the Sabres or are on AHL or NHL deals and have played less than 40 NHL games.
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READ ABOUT OTHER SABRES PROSPECTS
10. SCOTT RATZLAFF
9. BRODIE ZIEMER
8. ANTON WAHLBERG
7. VSEVOLOD KOMAROV
6. MAXIM STRBAK
5. ISAK ROSEN
4. NOAH OSTLUND
3. KONSTA HELENIUS
2. – JIRI KULICH – C/W (ROCHESTER – AHL / BUFFALO – NHL)
Kulich was the third Sabres first-round pick (28th overall) at the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal after playing a full season at the pro level in Czechia with Karlovy Vary, scoring nine goals for Czechia at the 2022 IIHF Under-18’s and eight points at the World Juniors.
Based on his success internationally and his physical maturity, the Sabres chose to bring the 18-year-old to North America immediately and that proved to be a wise decision, as the youngster scored 24 goals with the AHL Rochester Americans, seven goals in his second World Junior Championships and seven goals in the Amerks run in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Jiří Kulich is on a mission to make the Sabres opening night roster. He finishes the Prospects Challenge tournament with 5 goals and 6 points in 3 games.
Here are his two goals against Pittsburgh tonight. pic.twitter.com/oSeVRe2Rwn
— Czech Prospects (@CZprospects) September 17, 2024
In his second season, the 20-year-old endured a nearly two-month-long slump after a third sparkling World junior performance but still finished as Rochester’s leader in goals (27). The Sabres have high hopes that Kulich can make the jump to the NHL this season and his five-goal performance at the 2024 Prospects Challenge last week is a good first sign, but Buffalo will need to see that the young forward can be more consistent and play responsibly at both ends of the ice. If not, he will spend more time in the AHL to round out his game.
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