Rd 1, #28 Jiri Kulich (C)

[GoPuckYourself]

6 hours ago, K-9 said:

Not saying he’s gonna make the team, but I won’t be surprised in the least if he has a great camp and preseason and threatens to. But I appreciate where you’re coming from. 

Hey at least you got a conversation, I get an eye roll emoji. 

[LGR4GM]

13 hours ago, GoPuckYourself said:

I get that he's played with grown men but the Czech league and AHL are 2 different animals. Besides that this will be his first taste of north american hockey if I read that right? I know he has to learn at some time but this seems like quite a leap for him right off the bat. I'm sure he's capable I just don't recall such a leap in a short period of time for a guy selected 28th overall but I'm also excited to see what he can bring to Rochester as well.

He has some Czech players in Rochester to lean on. I think the Sabres value the ability to control his toi and development as opposed to leaving it to the whims of others which is what happened to Rosen.

[bob_sauve28]

6 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

He has some Czech players in Rochester to lean on. I think the Sabres value the ability to control his toi and development as opposed to leaving it to the whims of others which is what happened to Rosen.

Rosen? What happened to Rosen?? 

 

Nothing bad I hope 

[LGR4GM]

36 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Rosen? What happened to Rosen?? 

 

Nothing bad I hope 

His SHL club jerked him around all season with low playing time because surprise surprise, the 19 yr old kid wasn't SHL ready. Getting 9-10min a night in the SHL isn't exactly great development and in Rochester at the very least they can control when he plays and if it is 10mins a night they can directly work with him to get more ice time. It took until February to get Rosen into the Allsveskan which is the 2nd tier of Swedish hockey, the level he probably should have been at. 

Also I think physically speaking Rosen needs the NA environment to work on his muscle. Also also he needs the NA American development staff to teach him how to play better without the puck, he can't just rely on his speed and skating all the time. Basically I think that he wasn't SHL ready, instead of dealing with that early his SHL team forced him to play where he wasn't ready. I think his development stalled somewhat and now in NA the Sabres can directly control that development hopefully jumpstarting it. 

[TheAud]

37 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Rosen? What happened to Rosen?? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeUe-gKhEbY

[bob_sauve28]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

His SHL club jerked him around all season with low playing time because surprise surprise, the 19 yr old kid wasn't SHL ready. Getting 9-10min a night in the SHL isn't exactly great development and in Rochester at the very least they can control when he plays and if it is 10mins a night they can directly work with him to get more ice time. It took until February to get Rosen into the Allsveskan which is the 2nd tier of Swedish hockey, the level he probably should have been at. 

Also I think physically speaking Rosen needs the NA environment to work on his muscle. Also also he needs the NA American development staff to teach him how to play better without the puck, he can't just rely on his speed and skating all the time. Basically I think that he wasn't SHL ready, instead of dealing with that early his SHL team forced him to play where he wasn't ready. I think his development stalled somewhat and now in NA the Sabres can directly control that development hopefully jumpstarting it. 

Yes, glad we have him now. 

[RochesterExpat]

Reading this thread and the earlier debate about whether he should play in the AHL, the Q or Czechia and I wanted to contribute a few points before the season unofficially starts.

People who are concerned about Kulich on the smaller rink and pace change of NA hockey vs Euro are pretty well justified given historical precedent; however, if you look at video of the kid, he's got the crazy drive of JJ--hence the comparisons--but his ability to read a play and move himself into position to support or exploit is on a different level and the rink size doesn't appear to influence that because he plays the boards extremely well. We saw it at development camp (go back and look at how he positioned himself on the boards on that breakaway video after delaying the player chasing the puck) and we saw it at the WJC this summer. At the WJC he proved his defensive support is at least as good--if not better than--previously given credit for (scouts noted he was usually the third man back and would pinch off pressure by forcing players to the boards).

Basically, he plays the boards better than JJ did. JJ was a much more open ice player who needed more time to adjust to the smaller amount of space. Once he did that, it was clearly off to the races for him. I am certain that Kulich will have growing pains, but I think his playstyle lends itself to easier transition to NA hockey.

He has the "hockey IQ" and "200 foot game" that scouts love to talk about, but he compliments that with very fast acceleration and speed plus a killer wrist shot.  If we're worried about him getting pushed around, he is 6' tall and 180lbs and part of his core play in the Czech league was physical play (I mean finishing checks or bumping players off pucks, not going for open ice hits) and positioning himself to exploit. That was noted by multiple scouts in multiple public scouting reports prior to draft day. In short, he is a smart, physical player.

Here is a four day old twitter poll I found from a Czech hockey journalist asking (in Czech) "Will Jiri Kulich play 10 or more games in the NHL next season?" which, arguably, implies it's already a given he's playing at least some games in Buffalo.

303 people voted. 50.2% said yes. 49.8% said no. That's quite literally one more saying yes than saying no. All the comments are in Czech so I don't believe Sabres fans from NA influenced this. These are the people who watched him play in Czechia. It says a lot that the poll wasn't a blow out of people saying he isn't NHL ready. It's interesting it's 50/50.

Granted, If I were voting on that poll, I'd have tied it. I don't think he plays 10 games in Buffalo, but I would absolutely expect him in Rochester. Even with injuries to the Sabres, I don't believe Buffalo wants to burn a year of his ELC unless he shows that he belongs in the line up permanently because he is already at that stage--which I don't believe is the case.

We will see how he performs at the prospects challenge, training camp and the preseason. I would bet he is one of the last to be sent down to Rochester and that is where I expect him to play this season. I think it's foolish for him to play in the Q or go back to the Czech league. If you think he should play in the Q or in the Czech League follow him at prospects challenge and at camp. Then see if he changes your mind. I suspect he will surprise you.

[LGR4GM]

There is a 0% chance Kulich plays 10 games in Buffalo due to ELC slide rules. That said I also think this management group will do what they did with JJP and keep Kulich in Rochester for all but maybe 1 or 2 games. 

One thing about the smaller ice is that really the issue is time and space. You have less of one because of the other and with Kulich is skating and off puck play is better than what JJP had when he started in Rochester. JJP needed coaching on using his teammates better because that can open time and space which he greatly improved on. I fully agree that the board play of Kulich leads me to think he is a bit more savvy than JJP was but we shall see soon enough. Excited Buffalo has him in Rochester this year as I think he will be a favorite quickly. He is what would happen if you took JJP's pace and physicality and combined it with Quinn's IQ and shot skills. (this comparison relates to Quinn and JJP at 18 specifically)

Edited September 14, 2022 by LGR4GM

[nfreeman]

Good stuff @RochesterExpat.  Post more often!

[Doohicksie]