Sabres news: Sabres prospect undergoes ACL surgery

The Buffalo Sabres left prospect Lukas Rousek off their Prospect Challenge roster for good reason. The Sabres forward prospect recently underwent successful ACL surgery, a league source told The Buffalo News earlier this week. Rousek would have definitely been on the Prospect Challenge team if he was healthy and able to play.

Rousek signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Sabres back in April of this year. He was a sixth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, pick 160 overall to Buffalo. He was expected to be on the opening day roster for the Rochester Americans this season, the AHL affiliate to the Buffalo Sabres.

This past season on Sparta Praha, a team in the Czech League, Rousek set career highs in assists and points. He scored 14 goals and tallied 24 assists in 49 games. In his four seasons in the Czech League, he has 78 points with 32 goals scored and 46 assists in 161 games.

Rousek has shown the potential to be an effective pro player. The stats he has put up in his time in the Czech League has proven that the Sabres may have gotten a steal in the 2019 Draft with the 160th overall pick. Once he is ready to go again, he will likely be another young member of the Sabres organization that the team has very high hopes for.

But the Sabres will likely have to wait longer than they would have hoped before Rousek will make his professional hockey debut. Lukas is still very young, at only 22 years old. So he has plenty of years of pro hockey ahead of him, but rehab from ACL injuries could be a long and difficult road, and we wish Lukas all the best in his recovery and rehab and look forward to him being back on the ice.