ROCHESTER – Isak Rosen’s third goal of the night in his return to the Americans, a nifty two-on-one he converted after Konsta Helenius corralled a bouncing puck and fed his linemate, illustrates the special chemistry the Buffalo Sabres prospects share.
Rosen and Helenius, both of whom will play in Wednesday’s AHL All-Star Classic in Rockford, Illinois, have morphed into one of the league’s elite duos.
If Helenius, 19, can feed him the puck, there’s a darn good chance Rosen, 22, will convert the opportunity.
In a pivotal season, Rosen, the 14th overall pick in 2021, has developed into one of the AHL’s elite scorers.
In just 30 outings, the fourth-year winger has registered a whopping 24 goals and 37 points. Over a full 72-game AHL schedule, that’s an eye-popping 58-goal, 89-point pace.
The Swede scored a career high 28 times in 61 games last year.
These days, Rosen showcases a more complete and detailed game. A mature style, of course, enhances his slick skill set.
“That helps me, my offense game, a lot,” Rosen said following Friday’s 5-0 win over the Springfield Thunderbirds in Blue Cross Arena.
To wit: Rosen created his third goal on Friday by backchecking. When the puck came loose in the slot as Springfield rushed into the Rochester zone, he was close behind and dished it up to Helenius in the neutral zone.
As Helenius zoomed into Springfield territory, Rosen positioned himself in the right circle. When the pass arrived, he deftly one-timed the puck past goalie Georgi Romanov to record his second hat trick in his last nine games.
“He’s a great goal scorer, so I just try to feed him,” said Helenius, who earned the primary assist on two of Rosen’s goals against Springfield.
In the near future, Rosen could become the Amerks’ first 30-goal scorer since Victor Olofsson in 2018-19. Or he could return to Buffalo, where he has played 16 games for the Sabres, including the final three contests last week before the Olympic break.
Rosen’s more competitive, polished style has benefited him at both levels.
In the AHL, his 1.23 points per game ranks second among players who have played at least 30 contests.
“I think it has everything to do with how he plays away from the puck and his tenaciousness to get to the middle,” Amerks coach Mike Leone said of Rosen becoming one of the AHL’s top scorers. “… Goals are outstanding, it helps the team, but he was on top of the puck, he was skating, he was forechecking. … I thought he won a lot of pucks in the O-zone, kept pucks alive.
“Rosey’s game, this is the best I’ve seen him play since I’ve coached him.”
In Buffalo earlier this season, the Sabres cast Rosen in a scoring role for the first time, and he responded by registering three goals and seven points in his first 11 games. In recent outings, they utilized him as more of a checker, sometimes skating him short minutes.
Ultimately, playing a tenacious style away from the puck that complements his natural talent will help him stick in the big leagues.
“I played a little bit on the fourth line, too, in Buffalo,” Rosen said. “You have to be really good off the puck, too. Yeah, it helps me to win more pucks and create more offense.”
Leone said he has told Rosen “it’s him versus him with where he wants to get to.”
“He’s an NHL talent,” he said. “He’s going to play in the NHL. But he’s got to make a decision, and he’s been making that decision of how hard you want to compete when you don’t have the puck. That’s ultimately what’s going to get him to the NHL. …
“You have to have good habits. You have to have good details. We’ve been on him constantly about those things.”
Following their time in Buffalo, Rosen and Helenius quickly boosted the Amerks, who had scored just 15 goals in their previous eight games entering Friday’s contest. The youngsters each recorded one goal and two points in Saturday’s 5-1 road win over the Utica Comets.
“Those guys come down,” Leone said, “they were a huge lift.”
