BUFFALO – On one hand, Jiri Kulich scored 15 goals and spent the end of his rookie season centering the Sabres’ No. 1 line. On the other hand, he just missed nearly a full season recovering from a blood clot and has struggled to find his game this year.
Could a short trip to the AHL benefit Kulich, perhaps infuse him with some much-needed confidence?
The Czech, 22, is expected to be healthy scratch for tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning? He hasn’t played for the Rochester Americans since a four-game stint two years ago.
“Sometimes that can go two ways,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said this morning in KeyBank Center. “Sometimes it can be a positive. Sometimes it can be extremely tough on a player that thinks he should be in the NHL, that has been in the NHL and has been a good player and has been a difference-maker and has scored quite a few goals.
Ruff said mentally, “that’s a really huge challenge that some players can’t get over.”
“Does it benefit some players?” he said. “I think it benefits if you go down and you play a lot and you start to feel good about yourself.”
Ruff said on Tuesday that Kulich is “still searching for his game.”
He sat out once earlier this season as a healthy scratch. He recently missed five games with a concussion before playing the last two contests.
Kulich has registered one goal and three points in 10 games this season.
Forward Ryan McLeod, a healthy scratch the last two games, is expected to replace the youngster tonight. Goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is expected to start.