Kulich will compete to play in Sabres' top-six

Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres will be a better team this season, because they did a terrific job of bringing in players that will be much harder to play against.

What they didn’t do, though, was bring in a top-six forward. That means that opening will have to be filled from within.

A candidate to fill the void down the pipeline would be 2022 first-round pick Jiri Kulich.

The 20-year-old was an AHL All-Star last season, scoring 27 goals and 45 points in 57 games with the Rochester Americans. That was coming off a rookie season where he netted 24 goals and 46 points in 62 games. That’s a pace of 35 goals over 82 games.

Kulich does have one NHL game to his name with the Sabres this past season.

In his rookie season, Kulich had seven goals and 11 points in 12 Calder Cup Playoff games. This past season, though, he had no goals and two assists in five playoff games in Rochester.

When he left Western New York for the offseason, Kulich knew he had to get stronger if he was going to play in the NHL.

"I know I have to be more physical, so with my strength coach, we had our best workouts this summer," said Kulich following Wednesday's practice at Harborcenter.

"I was also working on the net-front, and those things are what I need to do, because I thought I was just a shooter on one T-spot. But I need to improve on these things, and I think I improved a lot from summer to now."

Kulich said, himself, he has to be more physical and not be scared to go to the net. He also said he felt stronger in just the first few practices getting ready for this weekend’s Sabres Prospects Challenge.

Yes, Kulich finished with 27 goals, but when he got back from the World Junior Championship, he went ice cold. He said he learned from that struggle.

"The two months when I didn’t score, for me, that was a great experience to improve on the other things, especially the D-Zone and net-front too," Kulich said. "I needed to do those things to help my team to win."

Seth Appert coached Kulich both seasons he was in Rochester, and Appert has said there were times when he was hard on him. Kulich says being treated like that was just what he needed.

"He helped me so much to be the player I am now," he said of Appert. "Thanks to him, if he wasn’t that hard to me, I’m not the player I am now.

"When I came to North America, I thought I could only shoot and I didn’t care about the other things. He helped me so much, and I really appreciate what he did for me."

Amerks assistant coach Vinny Prospal is also from Czechia. He was with Kulich last season, and feels there are improvements that he needs to make.

"His skating is fabulous, his shot is really good, and he’s only getting better-and-better. The only thing that I can say is that he needs to be more consistent," Prospal said of Kulich. "He set a high standard at the beginning of last year, and then he had an amazing Word Junior Championship. But then he had a big dip in our season, and it took him 6-to-8 weeks to get back to the level of play that he was at the beginning of the year, and he was producing as much in the goal scoring department. So if he’s ready [for the NHL] in my mind, he needs to keep that going throughout the entire season."

When the Sabres play the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday, they have two lines that feature four first-round picks, a second and a third.

Neuchev – Kulich – Rosen
Wahlberg – Helenius - Ostlund