Bill Hoppe - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres sign Russian prospect Viktor Neuchev to entry-level contract

The Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday signed Russian forward Viktor Neuchev, a third-round pick in 2022, 74th overall, to a three-year, entry-level contract.

Neuchev, 19, spent the 2022-23 season in the Kontinental Hockey League, registering four goals, 12 points and 17 penalty minutes in 57 games for Yekaterinburg Automobilist.

The Sabres drafted the 6-foot-2, 165-pound Neuchev after a standout year in which the 40 goals and 67 points he compiled in 61 games led Yekaterinburg’s ... Read the full article

Malcolm Subban’s terrific season with Amerks could keep him in Sabres’ plans

ROCHESTER – Americans goalie Malcolm Subban chose to talk more about the team than himself.

Subban performed splendidly in Sunday afternoon’s 4-0 win over the Syracuse Crunch, making 31 saves in the Amerks’ first shutout in the Calder Cup Playoffs in 19 years. At 29, he has enjoyed a terrific comeback season, playing a career-high 43 games, including all four playoff contests, for the Buffalo Sabres’ AHL affiliate.

Following a subpar outing in Friday’s 8-5 ... Read the full article

Sabres prospect Jiri Kulich stars again as Amerks roar back to tie series

ROCHESTER – Before the Americans began the Calder Cup Playoffs, coach Seth Appert told rookie Jiri Kulich to prepare for his first taste of postseason hockey as a pro.

So Appert had Kulich, 19, watch a Stanley Cup Playoffs game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning. Then Appert challenged the Buffalo Sabres prospect to study the action as he sat out the Amerks’ first two games recovering from a lower-body injury.

“You ... Read the full article

Amerks captain Michael Mersch, Sabres prospect Jiri Kulich star in playoff win

ROCHESTER – Three goals from captain Michael Mersch, more than the Americans had in their first two playoff games. An early score from rookie Isak Rosen, whose play, coach Seth Appert acknowledged, wasn’t good enough early in the series. The late go-ahead goal from rookie Jiri Kulich, who missed the first two contests.

After falling in a 2-0 hole in their best-of-five AHL North Division semifinal series, the Buffalo Sabres’ affiliate sorely needed its best ... Read the full article

Offense, grit helping Sabres prospect Tyson Kozak stand out in Rochester

ROCHESTER – In the moment, Buffalo Sabres prospect Tyson Kozak had no idea he was fighting Tage Thompson’s brother.

“I just stood up and then we just went,” Kozak, a rookie forward with the Americans, said of his scrap with Utica Comets forward Tyce Thompson.

Kozak, 20, pummeled Thompson after getting knocked to the ice April 1, landing several uppercuts. Not surprisingly, the bout went viral because he trounced the brother of the Sabres’ ... Read the full article

After unique season, Sabres goalie Eric Comrie’s future in Buffalo unclear

BUFFALO – Nothing could ruin Eric Comrie’s season. Not the goalie’s first significant injury. Not losing the starting job or falling to fourth on the Sabres’ depth chart.

He played just eight of the final 65 games after going down in mid-November. In one of his appearances, he allowed 10 goals. Following rookie goalie Devon Levi’s arrival, he did not play in the final nine contests.

Comrie, 27, faces an uncertain future. Levi, ... Read the full article

Under coach Don Granato, Sabres’ Jeff Skinner has matured, added offense

BUFFALO – For most of his career, the hockey world labeled Jeff Skinner as a one-dimensional player: the shifty Sabres winger scored goals and that was about it.

Ex-Sabres coach Ralph Krueger, who nearly destroyed Skinner’s career, once famously said the popular veteran “measured his whole career on goals.”

“When I came in, he was known as a 40-goal scorer and now he’s so much more than that to me,” coach Don Granato, who ... Read the full article

Sabres prospect Brandon Biro out for season; Jiri Kulich probable for Amerks

Buffalo Sabres center prospect Brandon Biro underwent season-ending surgery over the weekend to repair a lower-body injury, Americans coach Seth Appert said.

“That’s unfortunate, because what a great season he had,” he told reporters Tuesday in Rochester.

Despite playing just 49 games this season, Biro’s 16 goals ranked fourth on the Amerks and his 51 points trailed only Lukas Rousek’s 56 points.

... Read the full article

Sabres wanted Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to develop in Buffalo instead of going to Rochester for playoffs

BUFFALO – In his four-year pro career, Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has never played a postseason game.

The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs two straight years. Last year, Luukkonen suffered an injury late in the regular season and missed the Rochester Americans’ 10-game playoff run.

This year, the Sabres did not make Luukkonen, who started the season in Rochester, available to the Amerks, who open the playoffs Friday.

... Read the full article

Why did the Sabres have such a poor home record in Buffalo?

BUFFALO – General manager Kevyn Adams has a theory on the Sabres’ home woes this season.

“I feel I’ve asked enough questions that I have a handle on this,” he said during Wednesday’s end-of-season news conference.

The Sabres compiled a ghastly 17-20-4 mark at KeyBank Center. Only four NHL teams – the Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets and San Jose Sharks – earned fewer home wins. The Montreal Canadiens equaled the Sabres’ meager ... Read the full article