Buffalo Sabres Prospects – #2 Jiri Kulich

The Buffalo Sabres are considered to have one of the best prospect pools in the NHL, not only because of their selecting high in recent drafts but also due to their eye for talent and their organizational choices of either leaving players to develop in their home countries or bringing them to North America. All are 25 years old or younger, whose rights are currently held by the Sabres or are on AHL or NHL deals and have played less than 40 NHL games.

2. – JIRI KULICH – C/W (ROCHESTER – AHL / BUFFALO – NHL)

Kulich was the third Sabres first-round pick (28th overall) at the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal after playing a full season at the pro level in Czechia with Karlovy Vary, scoring nine goals for Czechia at the 2022 IIHF Under-18’s and eight points at the World Juniors.

Based on his international success and physical maturity, the Sabres brought him to North America as an 18-year-old. That proved to be a wise decision, as the youngster scored 24 goals with the AHL Rochester Americans, seven goals in his second World Junior Championships, and seven goals in the Amerks' run in the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs.

In his second season, Kulich endured a nearly two-month-long slump after another sparkling World junior performance but still finished as Rochester’s leader in goals (27). The Sabres had high hopes that Kulich would make the jump to the NHL this season after his five-goal performance at the 2024 Prospects Challenge, but Buffalo needed to see the young forward be more consistent and play responsibly at both ends of the ice.

Opportunity came slow under Lindy Ruff, as the 20-year-old played mostly the wing early in the season and was in and out of the lineup. After being sent down to Rochester briefly, Kulich returned and began to earn more ice time and play up the middle between Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka. Ruff appears to have a level of trust in the young Czech, and his 11 goals have been one of the more encouraging aspects of the Sabres season.