BUFFALO – If someone had told Jiri Kulich a few months ago he would be centering Tage Thompson on the Sabres’ top line later in his rookie season, he said he probably would’ve laughed at them.
“I didn’t even expect that,” Kulich told the Times Herald prior to Tuesday’s 3-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at KeyBank Center.
Few expected Kulich, 20, would ascend so quickly up the lineup.
The Czech began the season moving in and out as a winger. The Sabres even sent him to the Rochester Americans for four games in November.
But early in the winter, Kulich solidified his spot in Buffalo and earned enough trust from coach Lindy Ruff to be shifted to center, his natural position.
“I was just happy to be here, be with the boys,” he said. “Yeah, now I’m a center with Tage, so, yeah, living my dream.”
Kulich, the 28th overall pick in 2022, has established himself as one of the NHL’s top rookies. He began Tuesday’s contest ranked eighth in goals (14) and 13th in points (22).
He possesses a shoot-first mentality, and why wouldn’t he? His shot ranks among hockey’s most lethal.
Still, as a center, he must also regularly pass the puck his linemates, Thompson and Zach Benson. In Thompson, the Sabres’ No. 1 pivot for years before Ruff moved him back to right wing, he has been skating alongside one of the NHL’s purest goal scorers.
“There’s part of his game that needs to grow, and part of it is the distributing pucks and making that next play,” Ruff said of Kulich.
He added: “He’s a shooter but he’s a centerman. So there is a balance there, for sure.”
In Sunday’s 6-3 win over the Boston Bruins, Kulich registered his first assist in 11 games and perhaps the prettiest of his eight this season, spotting a streaking Thompson from above the left circle in the Buffalo zone. He hit him in stride at center ice, and Thompson scored a breakaway goal to put the Sabres up 5-3.
“The best option was get it to Tommer and just celebrate,” Kulich said.
Tage Thompson breakaway goal, 5-3 #Sabrehood #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/YK9Bvc911Q
— Buffalo Hockey Moments (@SabresPlays) April 7, 2025
Ruff said halfway through the season he spoke to Kulich because he “was like shooting almost everything.”
“There was better plays to be made,” he said. “I think he’s still working at that part of the game. He’s getting better at it. I think he made one of heck a play there to Tage, and at the same time, knowing that anytime he’s inside the dots, with the shot he’s got, we know he’s dangerous.”
After a concussion he suffered March 15 sidelined him four games, Kulich has recently looked more like himself. While he scored two goals in his second game back, he compiled a minus-3 on March 29 in a 7-4 road loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.
“The first game was tough, second game against Pittsburgh (on March 27) I felt good, but just a couple of mistakes,” he said. “I wasn’t hard enough in the D-zone, so that cost us a lot of goals, especially me. Yeah, I had to change something after three games.”
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The Hurricanes have five former Sabres forwards – William Carrier, Taylor Hall, Mark Jankowski, Tyson Jost and Eric Robinson – on their roster.
Jankowski on Tuesday centered Robinson and Jost.
After beginning the season with the Nashville Predators, Jankowski entered Tuesday’s game having scored seven goals in 13 contests with the Hurricanes since they acquired him March 7.
Carrier has missed the last 36 games with a lower-body injury.
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The Sabres used the same 18 skaters for the third straight game, scratching defenseman Jacob Bryson (healthy) and forwards Jordan Greenway (lower body, eight games) Tyson Kozak (hip strain, three games) and Josh Norris (mid-body, 13 games).