Roughly two and a half years after the Buffalo Sabres drafted him, forward Justin Bailey made his professional hockey debut.
Now, some six months later, the Buffalo Sabres prospect has completed his first season in the AHL, also getting a chance to dabble in the NHL world.
Bailey impressed many during his first season in Rochester, and seemed promising in the small sample size of NHL action he got.
The 20-year-old made his American Hockey League debut on October 9, when the Rochester Americans hosted the Lake Erie Monsters.
He recorded his first professioanl point just one day later, an assist on Jerry D’Amigo‘s first goal of the season.
It would be seven games later when Bailey would register his first AHL goal, on October 31 against Portland’s Mike McKenna.
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The Buffalo Sabres prospect finished his first month of professional hockey with three ponts, 11 shots and a plus-2 in nine games.
That Halloween game would kick off a three-game point streak for the young forward. He’d top that with a four-game point streak that saw him notch a goal and four assists between January 18 and January 27.
The Buffalo Sabres prospect’s best stretch of the season, however, came between February 20 and March 25. During that time, Bailey registered a point or more in 10 of 11 games, with two separate five-game point streaks.
He notched eight points (2-6) between February 20 and March 12, then added eight more points (3-5) between March 16 and March 25.
Bailey finished his first AHL season with the Buffalo Sabres’ affiliate with a total of 20 goals, 25 assists and 186 shots on goal in 70 games, including a season-high eight shots on goal on January 22 against Grand Rapids.
He also earned the first NHL call-up of his young career, playing eight games with the Buffalo Sabres between February 11 and February 27.
Bailey’s first NHL game saw him play 11:54 and earn a minus-2 in the Buffalo Sabres’ 5-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on February 11. He also had a team-high seven shots. Here’s his pregame comments:
Through eight games, he faced Philadelphia, Montreal, Colorado, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Anaheim, San Jose and Los Angeles.
Though he didn’t earn his first NHL point with the Buffalo Sabres, this stint gave the team a chance to see what Bailey could do at the NHL level, and gave the Williamsville native a chance to play for his hometown team.
He was impressive at times, and was given a chance to play with many different Sabres forwards, including Evander Kane, Sam Reinhart and Ryan O’Reilly – and all of that in his first game alone!
The 20-year-old spent most of the season in Rochester, and it was there that he earned the team’s title for “Rookie of the Year.” He became a top offensive threat for the team, and was third overall in scoring, behind only Cole Schneider and Eric O’Dell – both of whom spent most of the season in Binghamton.
Overall, Bailey was 12th in the AHL in rookie scoring (Providence’s Austin Czarnik led the league, with 61 points (20-41) in 68 games) and led all Amerks rookies. The next-best rookie in Rochester was Evan Rodrigues, with 30 points (9-21) in 72 games.
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As for what lies ahead for Bailey, well, it’s too early to tell, but his future seems bright. Many Buffalo Sabres fans are hoping he’ll make the NHL squad next season (though that may realistically be farther off).
He’s currently signed through the 2017-18 season.