Games Below From 3/2/2020 – 3/8/2020

NOTE:  For recaps below, we are highlighting any prospects who contributed on the score sheet over the past week or did anything notable.  For an overall view of Sabres Prospects and their stats, be sure to check The Charging Buffalo’s Prospect Stat Tracker which is updated daily here or clicking the image below.

Prospect of the Week:  LD – Jacob Bryson

Rochester (AHL) – 3 GP – 2 G – 2 A – 4 PTS 

Jacob Bryson has epitomized what NHL teams are looking for in a defenseman the last few years with his great skating/speed combination and offensive instincts with and without the puck.  He had a great week netting 2 goals and 2 assists in 3 games and has now put together a 20 game stretch where he has 4 goals and 10 assists after only getting 11 assists in the first 40 games of the season.  He’s playing with a lot of confidence as evidenced by the aggressiveness to jump up in the rush whenever possible and get down deep in the offensive zone for scoring opportunities.  Bryson has been rewarded greatly on the score sheet by taking these calculated risks and has shown a high level of understanding of when he can take chances which is indicative of a great transition player.  He is cementing himself as the top left handed defense prospect in the system that has not played in Buffalo.

Weekly Prospect Updates:

• A Dylan Cozens article is coming from me eventually but in the meantime, he keeps padding his hefty stat line with consistent efforts for Lethbridge which include making many high hockey IQ plays like he has all year.  Carrying the puck when he has space, driving to the net, taking the shot when it’s there or making a great pass with patience were all on highlighted this week by Cozens who picked up 4 points in 3 games.  
• I saw an interesting stat from Kris Baker over the weekend after Pekar’s massive 5 point (1g-4a) game for Sudbury that said the majority of his points have come against the OHL’s bottom 4 teams to a total of 28 points in 17 games.  Even taking this into account, he is still just over a point per game player with 35 points in 34 games but this stat does lend credence to the fact that Pekar has had a couple blow up games to mask some of his inconsistency from a production standpoint.  Regardless, knowing that he has a projected ceiling that’s closer to being a 3rd line winger I am not overly concerned with the consistency issues he has shown at this stage of his development.
• Arttu Ruotsalainen has some great vision, especially in the right circle on the powerplay as he picked up another goal and assist this week.  He doesn’t tend to shoot too much from that spot and instead opts to pass to the far circle or front of the net which has yielded some great success for him though I wonder how much teams will key in on that over in North America, especially in the NHL.  He remains one of the few breaths of fresh air in paper thin depth of forward prospects for this organization.
• Forward Linus Weissbach had his season come to an end for Wisconsin and Scott Wheeler believes that he will be returning for his Senior season and not signing an ELC with Buffalo.  LHD Ryan Johnson had his season get extended as Minnesota is slated to play in the Big 10 Semi Finals this weekend though while Mattias Samuelsson faces off against St. Cloud State in NCHC Quarterfinal play.
• Lukas Rousek’s regular season came to a close this past week for the Czech pro league.  His team secured a 1st round bye and will face-off against Kometa Brno in the following round.  As of today though, all games have been postponed due to the Coronavirus through March 29th, at which point the league will reassess the situation and schedule.  It sounds as if this is a common thing going on in Europe right now with both the Austrian and German leagues making similar cancellations/postponements though the situation has not impacted Finland to the degree of other countries at this point in time.
• Erik Portillo was still held out of Dubuque’s lineup with an upper body injury and no timetable has been given as far as a possible recovery.  With a high playoff seed all but locked up at this point, keeping him out for rest and healing is probably their best bet to ensure they have him at full health for a playoff run.
• Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was sent down to Cincinnati of the ECHL for presumably the remainder of the season as he looks to regain his confidence after a rough stint with Rochester the last few weeks.
• As per Kris Baker, former 3rd round pick Oskari Laaksonen was a healthy scratch for the 2nd time in 5 games in Liiga while Marcus Davidsson has missed 19 straight games with a concussion.
• Of note, Harvard just cancelled the remainder of their hockey season which means they will not be participating in the ECAC tournament and it’s fair to wonder if other NCAA teams will be doing the same here soon.

WHL

C Dylan Cozens – Lethbridge
3 GP – 2 G – 2 A – 4 PTS

OHL

C Matej Pekar – Sudbury
3 GP – 1 G – 5 A – 6 PTS

AHL – Rochester Americans

LD Jacob Bryson
3 GP – 2 G – 2 A – 4 PTS

C Rasmus Asplund
3 GP – 0 G – 2 A – 2 PTS

C Casey Mittelstadt
3 GP – 0 G – 1 A – 1 PTS

C Andrew Oglevie
3 GP – 1 G – 0 A – 1 PTS

RD Will Borgen
3 GP – 1 G – 0 A – 1 PTS

Liiga

C Arttu Ruotsalainen – Ilves
3 GP – 1 G – 2 A – 3 PTS

Czech

LW Lukas Rousek – Sparta Praha
2 GP – 1 G – 0 A – 1 PTS

NCAA

LD Mattias Samuelsson – Western Michigan
2 GP – 0 G – 1 A – 1 PTS

Allsvenskan

LW Filip Cederqvist – Karlskoga
2 GP – 1 G – 0 A – 1 PTS

Goaltenders

USHL

G Erik Portillo – Dubuque
DNP – Injured

AHL

G Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen – Rochester
DNP – Demoted to ECHL

NHL/AHL

G Jonas Johansson – Buffalo
1 GP – 1 L – 4.00 GAA – .875 SV% (28/32)

G Jonas Johansson – Rochester
1 GP – 1 W – 2.01 GAA – .923 SV% (24/26)

Not Active – Injured

• Aaron Huglen – Fargo (USHL) – TBD (Undisclosed)
• Tage Thompson – Rochester (AHL) – Out for Season
• Marcus Davidsson – Vaxjo (SHL) – Week to Week (Concussion)
• Miska Kukkonen – Lukko (Liiga and Jr. A) – Out for Season
• Erik Portillo – Dubuque (USHL) – Week to Week (Upper Body)

Continue to check in every Monday for a weekly prospect update from The Charging Buffalo Crew.

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Week Ahead Schedule