3 Sabres prospects who must be on the big club now that the season is all but over
The Buffalo Sabres season is all but finished following their 8-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night, so why not call up a few prospects?
Following their loss on Thursday night to the Edmonton Oilers, the Buffalo Sabres season is over, and that’s all there is to it. Unless they win their final 10 games and come up with some luck, there won’t be any hockey in the final week of April, so why bother still playing for 2023-24?
Instead, Buffalo needs to treat these final 10 games like a trial run for some of their big-name prospects who are either in Rochester or have recently been recalled from the smaller club. Each of the players listed could find their way into the lineup full-time next season, and two of them are likely full-timers, barring some unforeseen regression.
Before we dive into which three players should be call-ups for the Sabres starting next week, let’s talk about one who should at least warrant serious consideration.
Isak Rosen is one Sabres prospect who deserves an honorable mention
Like all the players on this list, Rosen is already eligible to compete in the AHL playoffs, so there is no reason why he shouldn’t spend time in Buffalo with the Amerks playing so well. He also played a few games for the Sabres this year. While he didn’t score or log solid performances, Rosen has also shown enough to warrant a few more games at the NHL level, thanks to what has been an improved season in Rochester.
We have seen Rosen nearly match his points total (36 points in 56 games) from last season in roughly 10 fewer contests. He may not have transformed into a dynamic player, but the trajectory is still trending north, something I discussed in deeper detail before the 2024 trade deadline.
Now that the Amerks have all but locked up a playoff spot, there are three more players who deserve to stay in or get the recall back to Buffalo for the final 10 games of the season. One is currently with the club, and we will discuss them first.
Keep Devon Levi in Buffalo for the rest of the year
Devon Levi has been dominant during his time in Rochester as he continues his development into becoming an elite goaltender. And what did he do for his first game back with the Sabres? Levi only saved 31 shots on 33 attempts and finished the game with a 0.939 save percentage.
And this wasn’t against a pedestrian offense like the San Jose Sharks or the Washington Capitals; Levi faced the fourth-best scoring team in hockey and he played the way we all expected.
In an earlier piece, I stressed that the Sabres needed to extend Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and insert him as the 1A with zero controversy at goaltender. They also need Levi in Buffalo for the final run of the season to give fans a preview of what should be a stellar 1A and a 1B in the near future.
Near future, because it doesn’t mean Levi shouldn’t open the 2024-25 season in Rochester. But given his epic run with the Amerks, he’s ready to be at least serviceable for this final stretch of games. If anything, a Luukkonen-Levi combo will keep giving fans a reason to tune in for the last 10 contests of the season and to build excitement for October.
Jiri Kulich hasn’t been scoring, but he’s been playing excellent hockey
Goals matter, but just because a top-end player like Jiri Kulich hasn’t been scoring lately, it doesn’t mean they aren’t excelling in other avenues. Kulich has just three goals this calendar year following what was a sensational start to his second season with the Rochester Americans, but don’t mistake this for lack of productivity.
In that same frame, Kulich still has a respectable 12 points and nine assists, but putting up what were once a pace to be sensational fantasy hockey numbers as far as the AHL is concerned is no longer the case with Kulich. He’s instead learned how to be a solid contributor in all three zones, and that would make it interesting to see how things would translate if he had a few games in the NHL.
Kulich won’t be that same type of three-zone player at the game’s highest level should he get another chance this year. But it would be a measuring stick for the 19-year-old.
This isn’t the type of move you make had the Sabres won their previous two games. But given the current circumstances, throwing a player who has evolved his game into the lineup will immensely help the entire organization get a better idea of where he’s at and if he’s ready to make a full-time jump sooner rather than later.
Ryan Johnson didn’t need to be in Rochester long
Ryan Johnson will be a full-time member of the Sabres next season unless Kevyn Adams makes another dynamic trade for a blueliner. That likely won’t happen, given the successful (for now, at least) acquisition of Bowen Byram and the fact Mattias Samuelsson will be back in the fold come October.
While it’s true the Amerks are now vying for a potential top seed in the Calder Cup Playoffs, Johnson didn’t need to be there long to have playoff eligibility, so call him back up to the big club and let him play out the rest of the season.
Johnson’s average time on ice sits at just 13:52 this season, but he averaged nearly a block per game, logged 13 takeaways, and he moved the puck efficiently during his 41-game stint. He also helped Buffalo’s goaltenders at 5-on-5, achieving an on-ice save percentage of 92.8.
Johnson was also on the ice at 5-on-5 for 22 of the Sabres goals and just 17 against, and he also logged a Corsi in the same situation of 52.9 percent. Johnson may not have wowed with his scoring this season, but he more than showed he belonged in the NHL.
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(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference and theAHL.com)