It’s time for Jiri Kulich to take the next step forward with the Buffalo Sabres

Steven Ellis
Steven Ellis
It’s time for Jiri Kulich to take the next step forward with the Buffalo Sabres
Credit: Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff

BUFFALO, N.Y. – There are always a few players who look out of place during the various NHL prospect tournaments.

This year, Buffalo Sabres youngster Jiří Kulich has been putting goaltenders on notice every time he hit the ice.

Kulich (pronounced Coo-leak) had two goals and an assist in a 3-1 win over Columbus on the opening day of the Buffalo Prospect Showcase and scored a big power-play goal midway through the second to keep the Sabres close with the New Jersey Devils on Saturday. Whenever the Sabres needed a momentum-changing shift, Kulich – one of the best sharpshooter prospects in the game today – seemed to shine.

And if you’ve followed Kulich’s career to date, that was to be expected. There hasn’t been a challenge he hasn’t managed to take head-on and find ways to succeed. Just months after dazzling scouts with an outstanding showing at the 2022 U-18 World Championships – scoring nine goals and 11 points in six games – Kulich found himself putting up one of the most impressive seasons by an 18-year-old in AHL history with 24 goals and 46 points with the Rochester Americans.

That immediately set the expectations high for Kulich, and Sabres fans have followed his progress closely in hopes of seeing him take the next step forward. He finished with 27 goals and 45 points in 58 AHL games last year, while also scoring at a two-point-per-game pace as Czechia’s captain en route to a bronze at the World Junior Championship. Add in his NHL debut with Buffalo on Nov. 25, and it truly was a massive year for the young forward.

Many want to see Kulich achieve even more. And the 2024-25 NHL season might finally bring that.

Kulich skated at center this weekend and has plenty of experience both down the middle and on the left side. There’s plenty of experience at both C and LW on Buffalo’s main roster, but Kulich could potentially line up with Zach Benson on the third line if they want him to stay at center. They could also push Kulich to the right wing and allow him to fire off his deadly shot alongside Benson and new recruit Ryan McLeod, who was brought in to give the team more immediate help to avoid relying on younger forwards as much to bring them back into playoff contention.

Either way, he’s versatile. And that’s big as the team heads into decision time ahead of their Oct. 4 season-opening battle with the New Jersey Devils.

Kulich is still working on his English, something that proved to be a big adjustment when he made the move to North America ahead of the 2022-23 season. So communication can still be an issue, but it’s one of many things he’s been working on to make himself more valuable to the Sabres’ brass. On the ice, he looks much stronger than he did when he first came over, and he has been surprisingly aggressive during the tournament this weekend.

Kulich told reporters on Friday that he found that he was lazy and not strong enough in the past. But from the small sample size in recent days, you can already see how much more engaged he is away from the puck – which, as a young player, is really important, given you spent most of the game without it.

“You watch the way he controls and shoots the puck, he’s confident there,” a scout said Saturday evening. “But now you’re seeing the intensity away from the puck, too. It’s a work in progress but he has come a long way in making himself more rounded.”

Now 20 years old and with four years of pro hockey experience (two in Rochester), Kulich doesn’t have much more to prove in the AHL. Shining bright in a tournament filled with future AHL and ECHLers isn’t indicative of a player’s future success. But for Kulich, starting the year off hot is crucial ahead of an important training camp and preseason for the young forward.

At the very least, Kulich should play more than just one game in Buffalo this year. But his goal-scoring exploits in the AHL make you wonder what he can do in the big leagues, and he’s a better play-driving option than some of the others they have deeper down in the lineup. But there isn’t a point in shoehorning him into the lineup if there isn’t a pathway to unlocking his scoring prowess, and there will be some difficult training camp battles for him to overcome if Kulich is going to make the step up.

The Sabres need to start making real progress – and fast. They have a logjam of young talent looking to push through, and moving Matthew Savoie earlier this summer helped alleviate that a little bit. But at some point, you want to see the young guns become full-time NHLers.

Kulich has the best chance of making that happen.

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