Buffalo Sabres: Grading each prospect’s performance at the World Juniors

Three Buffalo Sabres prospects took the ice at the 2022 IIHF World Juniors. How did they fare in the tournament? Keep reading for more. 

The Buffalo Sabres were fortunate to have three prospects at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championships. They were further fortunate to see that each prospect did some good things, regardless of how much ice time they received.

The trio of Isak Rosen, Linus Sjodin, and Jiri Kulich scored 13 combined points, seven goals, and six assists. Kulich made the most heads-up plays of the three, but Rosen was a goal-scoring machine. Sjodin didn’t see as much ice time, but he did seal the Bronze Medal Game with a goal.

Each Buffalo Sabres prospect received passing grades for their performances in the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championships

Jiri Kulich: Grade – A

Few in the entire tournament were more tenacious than Kulich. His best outing came against Team USA, where he scored a goal and two assists. Czechia came into the game against a heavily-favored US squad, and if it wasn’t for Kulich, they were not winning that matchup and subsequently getting a chance at a medal.

Kulich’s best play came on an assist, where he won two puck battles against the boards. With the puck barely in his control, he poked it to teammate Jiri Tichacek, who fired the puck to Jan Mysak in front of the net before they found twine. The goal was a momentum shifter and it allowed Czechia to even the score against the US.

Isak Rosen – A

No one impressed me more than Rosen. While Kulich had the best tournament, his performance was unsurprising. Rosen, however, is more known for creating creating plays, which he did plenty of. But his four goals (five total points) in seven games was beyond impressive.

His best play occurred in the Bronze Medal Game against Czechia, when he sunk what became the game-winning goal. Sitting beyond the circle, center Theodor Niederbach won the face-off and shuffled the puck to Rosen. The winger floated to the middle of the ice, shot between two defenders, and put it into the back of the net.

Linus Sjodin – C+

We went into this contest knowing Linus Sjodin wasn’t going to see much ice time, and he gave us nothing highlight reel worthy until the tail end of the Bronze Medal Game when he scored the game-sealing goal.

William Wallinder made the heads-up play across ice when he found Sjodin, who turned on his jets and put himself in a one-on-one situation against the Czech goaltender before scoring. A defender crept toward him, but for the most part, Sjodin only had the goaltender to beat. It was a heads up play from the Sabres seventh-round pick.

Overall, this tournament will give Buffalo Sabres fans hope regarding the three prospects’ situations. And there might just be more of it to come, given the upcoming Prospects Challenge in September which will feature the Sabres and five other teams, including a couple of division rivals.

(Statistics provided by IIHF.com)