BUFFALO – Fresh off a standout rookie season in which he established himself as one of the Sabres’ best forward prospects, Tyson Kozak never found a groove last year.
The aggressive center battled injuries throughout a difficult campaign with the Rochester Americans, leaving the lineup for long stretches and missing 31 total games.
“When you come back, your confidence is a little gone,” Kozak told the Times Herald prior to Friday’s 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Prospects Challenge opener in LECOM Harborcenter.
So the three-game rookie tournament, which continues Saturday against the New Jersey Devils, offers an anxious Kozak, 21, a much-needed opportunity to rebuild belief in his talents. He excelled in the Prospects Challenge in his first two seasons, so the next few days could buoy him.
“He’s just flying around right now,” Amerks assistant coach Vinny Prospal said Thursday. “… He’s just waiting for the games to start so he can go out there and be himself, that is (a) hard-skating, forechecking center ice man – a two-way center that hopefully will discover a scoring touch.”
The Sabres think highly of Kozak, a seventh-round pick in 2021, 193rd overall. Heck, he can probably generate loads of confidence simply by chatting with Prospal.
If the youngster develops a scoring touch – he has registered five goals in each of his seasons – Prospal believes his game could resemble Anthony Cirelli’s. That, of course, is high praise. Cirelli, a center with the Tampa Bay Lightning, ranks among the NHL’s best two-way forwards.
“If he gets that, to me, like, I don’t want to jinx him, but when I talk about Kozy, I think about Cirelli from Tampa, and that’s the kind of player he can be emulating and he could look up to,” Prospal said.
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Kozak said he will “take that comparison all day.”
“It feels good to be compared to a player of that caliber,” he said. “Yeah, honestly, I can’t believe he’s comparing me to him.”
Kozak sounds mentally refreshed following the offseason. He said he started feeling healthy again by late May and enjoyed a normal summer of training.
If he can create offense in the AHL and showcase his freshman form, perhaps he can earn his first recall. The Sabres rebuilt their third and fourth lines with extra grit and oomph during the offseason, and if someone gets injured, he could be an intriguing option to fill in.
As a rookie, Kozak exceeded expectations, morphing into a trusted asset for former Amerks coach Seth Appert, killing penalties and often playing in critical defensive situations.
“At my best, I’m a physical, two-way forward, hard on the forecheck, making their D-men pay, and then just trying to make plays, harder in and around their net,” Kozak said.
But last season, Kozak never found much of a rhythm. He departed the lineup for long stretches in January and March.
Naturally, the time he spent away from his teammates while rehabbing took a mental toll on him. To get his mind off his problems, he regularly called home to his family in Canada, mostly to talk about things other than hockey.
However, his father, Trevor, who played junior hockey, offered some wisdom.
“He just told me to keep my head high, don’t think about it too much, these things happen, but keep getting better every day,” said Kozak, who registered 12 points in 41 games for the Amerks last season.
Prospal said Kozak handled a trying season “as a true pro.”
“He tried to overcome the injuries, he played hurt,” he said. “He was not always 100 percent, but the one thing you know about him, he gives you the effort.”
Center Jiri Kulich scored twice in Friday’s win and also assisted on winger Olivier Nadeau’s power-play goal.
“I just liked how competitive he was,” said Amerks coach Mike Leone, who coached Buffalo’s prospects.
Sabres goalie Scott Ratzlaff made 20 saves.
The Sabres held a moment of silence prior to the game to honor late Blue Jackets star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, both of whom were killed by a suspected drunk driver Aug. 29 while they rode their bicycles.
The Sabres’ preseason contest Sept. 23 against Columbus at KeyBank Center has been moved up to 5 p.m. from 7 so it doesn’t overlap with the Bills’ “Monday Night Football” game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, which starts at 7:30 p.m.
Kulich, defenseman Ryan Johnson and winger Isak Rosen each served as alternate captains for the Sabres against Columbus.
