Buffalo Sabres: Lukas Rousek’s stock is trending north
While it’s premature to claim Buffalo Sabres prospect Lukas Rousek has a bright future, he did himself a lot of favors in Monday’s loss to Montreal.
It’s been a wild 12 months for Buffalo Sabres prospect and current Rochester Americans forward Lukas Rousek. First came his stellar run in the 2022 Calder Cup Playoff, before he built off of that run in the 2022-23 regular season, posting 49 points in 62 contests.
On Saturday night against the New York Islanders, Rousek nearly got the call-up, but Tage Thompson made it clear he was ready to roll for that one. However, Tage isn’t indestructible, and it was also clear he was playing through the pain.
Enter Rousek, who made his NHL debut and is basically auditioning for a role with the team next season. And how did he respond? Oh, he just became the first Sabres to score multiple points in his first NHL game since Maxim Afinogenov accomplished the feat in November, 1999.
Lukas Rousek was successful in his Buffalo Sabres debut
When we think of prospects who could find themselves in a blue and gold uniform next season, you hear names like Brandon Biro, Jiri Kulich, and Matt Savoie, among others. But Rousek, with two points, including a goal within the first five minutes of last night’s game, is making his case.
Now, this doesn’t mean that Rousek should be in the NHL come 2023-24 from the get-go based on one performance, good as it was. But the 23-year-old may have, at least at the present moment, put become the front runner to snag a spot.
With Captain Kyle Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons not guaranteed to return, Rousek, and another playing over in Rochester, are viable candidates to take those two spots. Vinnie Hinostroza probably won’t return, and there is a good chance the Sabres seek to move winger Victor Olofsson.
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Overall, it was a solid first game for Rousek. And a few more of those will put him in prime position to snag a spot in Buffalo come October.
Source: Observations: Lukas Rousek gets first NHL goal as Thompson-less Sabres fall to Habs in shootout by Mike Harrington, BuffaloNews.com
(Statistics provided by theAHL.com)