The Rochester Americans season ended on Sunday with a 5-0 loss to Laval in the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs, and after only 48 hours into the offseason, the club has lost a pair of players, winger Lukas Rousek and defenseman Erik Brannstrom, to European club teams.
Rousek, a Group-6 unrestricted free agent, has signed a deal with HV71 of the SHL on Tuesday. The 26-year-old was a sixth-round pick (160th overall) of the Buffalo Sabres in the 2019 Draft out of the Sparta Praha system. After spending two seasons in Czechia, the winger signed a two-year entry-level contract with Buffalo and played 19 games for AHL Rochester. In only his second season in North America, he led the Amerks in scoring with 56 points (16 goals, 40 assists) and 12 points in the Calder Cup Playoffs and earned a two-game call-up to the NHL.
After signing another two-year deal with Buffalo, Rousek scored 41 points in 51 AHL games, but in an extended look with the Sabres only had two assists in 15 games. This season, the 26-year-old had 42 points, but only scored seven goals and did not get another chance in the NHL with first-rounders like Isak Rosen, Jiri Kulich, and Noah Ostlund getting those opportunities.
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Brannstrom was a 2017 first round pick of the Vegas Golden Knights, and played parts of seven seasons with the Ottawa Senators and Vancouver Canucks. This season, he was dealt by Vancouver to the NY Rangers in the JT Miller deal and acquired by the Sabres in a one-for-one deal at the trade deadline for Nicolas Aube-Kubel.
The 25-year-old scored five goals in 13 games for the Amerks and played in one postseason game. A restricted free agent, Brannstrom has signed a three-year deal to play for HC Lausanne in Switzerland.
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