By Warren Kozireski —
Rochester finished the 2023-24 regular season tied with Cleveland atop the North Division standings with 88 points but were seeded second for the Calder Cup playoffs with one fewer victory. Their season ended in game five of the Atlantic Conference semi-finals to Syracuse.
Now they begin anew with a new head coach in Michael Leone following Seth Appert’s promotion to Buffalo and a plethora of Sabres draft picks trying to make their way to the National Hockey League.
With preseason still in progress it is speculative about who of the prospects might dent the Sabres roster to start the season, but the numbers will likely mean some disappointed with being sent to Rochester. It’s a good problem to have.
That list is led by Jiri Kulich, who paced the Amerks with 27 goals last season and defenseman Ryan Johnson, who split last season between Buffalo (41 games) and Rochester (27 games). Both may be squeezed back to the AHL for more playing time.
Kulich could be joined at forward by fellow high draft picks Isak Rosen (tied for team lead with 50 points), Noah Ostlund, Lukas Rousek (41 points), Anton Wahlberg, Aleksandr Kisakov and Viktor Neuchev.
Last year’s co-leading scorer Mason Jobst should be back with fellow veterans Brett Murray, Graham Slaggert, Brendan Warren and/or Tyson Kozak to support and mentor the younger players.
Newcomers up front could include big center Josh Dunne, who scored 20 goals two seasons ago with Cleveland and Tyler Tullio (a 2020 fifth round pick by Edmonton acquired as part of the Matt Savoie trade) along with Riley Fiddler-Schultz, who spent last season in the ECHL with affiliate Jacksonville and Oliver Nadeau, a 2021 fourth-round pick who was his teammate for most of last season.
15 players for potentially 13 positions.
Rochester appears to be deep on the blueline especially if 2019 first round selection Ryan Johnson is squeezed out in Buffalo. Kyle Clague, Ethan Prow, Peter Tischke, Zach Metsa, plus newcomers and five-year AHL veterans Colton Poolman and Jack Rathbone provide leadership while either Jacob Bryson or Buffalo native Dennis Gilbert, who played 34 games in Calgary last season, could also be sent down.
They join defense prospects Nikita Novikov, back for his second AHL season and Vsevolod Komarov, who was named Defenseman of the Year in the QMJHL last season with Quebec and Drummondville after racking up 69 points in 60 games.
But that’s potentially ten defensemen for seven spots.
Goaltending is the $10,000 question. With Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen establishing himself as the clear number one in Buffalo, do the Sabres send Devon Levi to Rochester to get more minutes and keep 15-year NHL veteran James Reimer as his backup?
Or is it the UPL-Levi tandem in Buffalo with Reimer and either Felix Sandstrom, who played last season with Lehigh Valley, or Michael Houser in Rochester?
Answers come in the next few weeks with the season opener Sun. Oct. 6 at Syracuse and the home-opener Fri. Oct. 11 versus Belleville.
