The Buffalo Sabres have struggled to produce much this season in the win column, and as the season dwindles away, it is time to start looking to 2024-25. With that in mind, the Sabres need to start looking at their young players on the Rochester Americans to give them the proper auditions for next season. They have plenty of options to choose from, but there are three in particular who deserve a real NHL opportunity. These player’s success or failure will not only determine if they are NHL-ready but also if the Sabres should move on from them and build up other top prospects in their system.
Nikita Novikov – Defenseman
The Sabres have the perfect opportunity to see what one of their top defensive prospects is capable of. With Owen Power going down with a recent injury, they have an open defensive position that could be filled on a trial-run basis. Novikov checks all the boxes for what the Sabres could use from the back end. He is imposing, physical, and very smart. On an Americans’ team that has not played well in recent weeks, Novikov still maintains a team-best plus-10 rating. As a primarily defensive defender, his stats are fairly impressive as a whole.
Novikov has one goal and 13 points in 37 games this season, and that point total has him ranked third amongst the Americans’ defenders. As a former sixth-round pick in 2021, his progression is very promising, and it would benefit him to see some NHL action to see where he needs to progress next. This would by no means be a long-term NHL situation as he still does need some seasoning in the minors, but giving him this kind of a shot early shows confidence in his development and rewards him for the stellar play he is exhibiting in Rochester.
Brett Murray – Left Wing
The Sabres will have some holes to fill in their bottom six if Zemgus Girgensons or Kyle Okposo get moved in a trade and Brett Murray is perfect contender for filling their spots. Since being drafted by the Sabres in 2016, he has not found his way to an NHL spot just yet, but he has shown flashes of what he can do. The Sabres do not play an overly-physical game, but Murray’s size combined with his soft hands would fit well on their fourth line. If head coach Don Granato is insistent on keeping a forward such Peyton Krebs buried on the fourth line, he might as well supply him with a player who has some decent scoring ability. Murray, who has nine goals and 11 assists for 20 points in 32 games with the Americans this season. would be the perfect fit to complement Krebs and his scrappy play style and he would provide a scoring touch similar to Girgensons and Okposo.
Murray also has experience in an area that has plagued the Sabres all season long: the power play. He is a reliable and large net-front player who can screen goalies and pick up loose pucks that get through to the net. Last season he had eight power-play goals in Rochester and could translate that part of his game to the Sabres’ second unit. He is running out of time to prove he can make the NHL full time, and the Sabres need to decide on him very soon so they know to retain him or move him to make room for other prospects coming up through the ranks.
Jiri Kulich – Center/Left Wing
Hailed largely as one of the Sabres’ top current prospects, Jiri Kulich is the goal scorer and power-play producer the Sabres need now. Since they refused to adjust and have progressively gotten worse on the man advantage, the likelihood of him getting a call-up towards the end of the season is very high. When he got his first call-up, he was only given a third-line role and saw zero time on the power play. He was subsequently sent back down to the minors after that single game and has not gotten called back up since. The Sabres have no reason to not give a player such as him a chance on the power play, and it is high time they give him a long-term look if they expect him to develop at the NHL level and hopefully make the team in 2024-25.
Kulich, who has 16 goals and nine assists for 25 points in 33 games for the Americans this season, is sharp offensively, decent defensively, and his greatest assets are his work ethic and shooting. For a mid-sized forward, he plays a good skill game and is willing to play at every part of the ice. He can both create and finish scoring chances, and the Sabres could use that youthful spark right now to reignite this team. Similar to how Devon Levi pushed Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s development and success, Kulich’s success could push the likes of Zach Benson to a new level, and even give new life to someone like Tage Thompson, who has struggled in general this season. Bringing him up would only carry positive with it, so general manager Kevyn Adams needs to make that phone call sooner rather than later.
Honorable Mention
Bringing up young players is always a gamble, but once March rolls around and the Sabres are still likely out of a playoff spot, bringing up some of these kids will be the perfect scenario for most of them. Between Kulich, Novikov, and Murray, there is a lot of potential, and the Sabres need to continue nurturing that talent if they wish them to develop and grow. Nurturing means calling them up and playing them in proper scenarios instead of just putting them on the ice for a measly five minutes or fewer. A player who will have to play out their junior season before they can have another chance is Matt Savoie, and he was unfortunately a victim of the aforementioned issue.
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Savoie has been dominant in the Western Hockey League this season — and will likely be sent to the Americans to play out the rest of their season once the WHL season is over — but he deserves a real chance to play on the Sabres. In his rookie debut, he played a measly four minutes and was sent down to Juniors the day after. He was not given a real shot, and he deserves it just as much as the three others on this list. The only caveat to his situation is that he cannot be called up until the WHL season is completed. Once that happens, it would be interesting to see what shape he and the others are in, and how much they can contribute. The Sabres have nothing to lose by playing these top prospects, especially Adams doesn’t move any of them at the March 8 trade deadline.