Buffalo Sabres prospect Arttu Ruotsalainen had the game of his life in the Rochester Americans series-clinching win against Belleville.
The Buffalo Sabres need to find a way to re-sign Arttu Ruotsalainen. An unsung hero in the Rochester Americans playoff win over the Belleville Senators in which he logged four points, Ruotsalainen continues to dominate at the AHL level, having also scored the winning goal during a 4-3 overtime win in Game 1.
Problem is, the Finnish standout is rumored to be returning to Europe following the Amerks playoff run. Ruotsalainen, 24, had 51 points in 57 games this season. He also has 35 games of NHL experience in which he scored seven goals and 10 points.
Obviously, Ruotsalainen is, at worst, a valuable puzzle piece on the Sabres lower lines with the potential to grow into something more. And general manager Kevyn Adams must find a way to keep him in the system.
Buffalo Sabres must find a way to keep Arttu Ruotsalainen
The forward also comes at a bargain price, costing the team just $832,000 in base salary for an overall cap hit of $925,000. He also doesn’t need to step back onto an NHL rink right away, but to continue his dominance with the Amerks as he had shown this season.
Or, if general manager Kevyn Adams wants to keep getting younger with the Sabres, Ruotsalainen makes for a perfect puzzle piece as opposed to Cody Eakin and Anders Bjork. What I’m getting to is, there may already be a place at the NHL level for Ruotsalainen, and if that’s the case, Adams needs to let the versatile forward know this in an effort to keep him around.
The Amerks will head into Utica to face the North Division-winning Comets on May 10th to start off a five-game series. All eyes will be on prominent prospects like Jack Quinn, J.J. Peterka, and Peyton Krebs (if you can really call him a prospect). But the Sabres need to keep tabs on how Arttu Ruotsalainen performs.
(Statistics provided by Hockey Database)