Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) – Hockey is back, as the Buffalo Sabres' prospects took the ice on Wednesday at Harborcenter to get ready for the Sabres Prospects Challenge this weekend.
Rochester Americans head coach Mike Leone will be coaching the group this weekend in Buffalo. He coached many of these players last season, including forward Isak Rosen.
This is the season the 22-year-old has to make a push to make the NHL roster after scoring 28 goals and 27 assists for 55 points in 61 games last year in the American Hockey League. Rosen has spent three full seasons with Rochester, mixing in 15 NHL games with the Sabres.
Leone says there was one part of Rosen’s game that needed fine tuning this offseason.
"With most young players, it’s finding consistency," said Leone following Wednesday's practice. "I think if you ask ‘Rosey’ there’s still more to give. As a player coming in for his fourth year, you want to see him blow the doors off of this tournament, similar to what Jiri [Kulich] did last year. So he’s put on some weight, in his upper-body, I think he gained close to 10 pounds. So I’m excited to see the hard work he put in this summer pay off to start camp."
In last year’s tournament, Kulich had five goals and seven points in three games, while Rosen had no goals and five assists in three games.
If Rosen is going to be an NHL player, this has to be the season for him.
The 2021 NHL Draft hasn’t been great for many of the first-rounders taken after Rosen at 14th overall. The one you’d really like to have would be Wyatt Johnson, who was taken 23rd overall by the Dallas Stars. You could also make a case for Zach Bolduc taken 17th by the St. Louis Blues.
Rosen knows this tournament has to be the start for him.
"It’s important for me to showcase myself, and work really hard every minute I’m on the ice and show that every day," said Rosen on Wednesday after practice.
Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams has failed for the last two seasons to trade for a top-six forward, leaving young Zach Benson playing out of position up there, picking up just 28 points in 75 games. You need, at least, double that out of a true top-six forward.
Jack Quinn was taken eighth overall in 2020, but at 23, he hasn’t even come close to living up to being a first-round pick.
I think if Rosen has any chance of succeeding in the NHL, he’d have to grab a spot in the top-six.
"It's my fourth year, and it's time to show that I want a jersey in Buffalo," he acknowledged.
Rosen says he worked on his mindset over the summer to be the best he can be every day. He's had seasons of scoring 28, 20 and 14 goals in the AHL.
In 15 NHL games, though, he has no goals and one assist, but has rarely played in the top-six.
Buffalo has two open spots in its top-six, and I think head coach Lindy Ruff should give this kid every chance to earn that spot, or he'll likely just get lost in the shuffle as another blown first-round pick.
The time is now, and Rosen knows it.