The Buffalo Sabres are considered to have one of the best prospect pools in the NHL, not only because of their selecting high in recent drafts but also due to their eye for talent and their organizational choices of either leaving players to develop in their home countries or bringing them to North America. All are 25 years old or younger, whose rights are currently held by the Sabres, or are on AHL or NHL deals and have played less than 40 NHL games.
13. – LUKAS ROUSEK – RW (ROCHESTER – AHL, BUFFALO – NHL)
Rousek was the Sabres’ sixth-round pick at the 2019 NHL Draft in Vancouver. He was selected as a 20-year-old overager after playing two seasons for Sparta Praha of the Czech League. The plan was to bring the winger to North America in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to stay home and play another season, which resulted in a 38-point season.
A serious knee injury shortened his first season in North America to just 19 games, and it was nearly over before it started. However, he bounced back in 2023, leading AHL Rochester with 56 points (16 goals, 40 assists), making his NHL debut, and scoring 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists) in the Amerks’ run to the Calder Cup Eastern Conference Final.
Last season, it was thought that the 25-year-old winger would be a good fit to replace the injured Jack Quinn at the start of the season, but a subpar training camp performance saw he demoted back to the AHL. Rousek bolstered his case for promotion with another solid season in Rochester (41 points – 10 goals, 31 assists in 51 games), but he failed to produce when called up after the trade deadline (2 assists in 15 games with the Sabres.
This season, Rousek cleared waivers after training camp and has only six goals in 41 games with the Amerks, but leads all Rochester forwards with 23 assists.
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