Courtesy of Amerks.com
Rochester, N.Y. – The American Hockey League announced today that Rochester Americans forward Jiri Kulich has been named to the AHL Top Prospects Team for the 2023-24 season.
Determined by the league’s hockey operations department in conjunction with AHL general managers as the AHL Top Prospects Team recognizes three forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender projected to be the best future NHL players.
To qualify for the AHL Top Prospects Team, skaters must have been 22 years old or younger on the first day of the regular season and must have played at least 36 regular-season games in the AHL and no more than 30 regular-season games in the National Hockey League during 2023-24. Goaltenders must have been 23 or younger on opening night and have played at least 25 AHL games and no more than 20 NHL games during the regular season.
After being named to the inaugural Top Prospects Team last year, Kulich followed up with another standout season in 2023-24. Kulich, who turned 20 in April, scored a career-high 27 goals – including seven power-play goals, a shorthanded tally, five game-winners and two hat tricks – and finished third on the team with 45 points in 57 games while leading the Amerks back to the postseason for the second straight year.
Kulich, who represented Rochester at the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic, was the first Amerk to score 20 or more goals in back-to-back seasons since Cole Schneider and Justin Bailey both did so in 2015-16 and 2016-17 and also became the first Rochester player to lead the team in goals in consecutive seasons since AHL Hall of Famer Jody Gage in 1991-92 and 1992-93.
He also made his NHL debut for Buffalo on Nov. 25 at New Jersey and went on to captain Czechia to a bronze medal at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship. Kulkich finished tied for the tournament lead with 12 points (6+6) in seven games, including a pair of four-point outings and two game-winning goals to earn a selection to the tournament All-Star Team.
The native of Kadan, Czechia, was a first-round pick (28th overall) by the Sabres in the 2022 NHL Draft.
2023-24 AHL Top Prospects Team
Goaltender Yaroslav Askarov, Milwaukee Admirals
Defenseman Brandt Clarke, Ontario Reign
Defenseman Simon Edvinsson, Grand Rapids Griffins
Forward Jiri Kulich, Rochester Americans
Forward Logan Stankoven, Texas Stars
Forward Shane Wright, Coachella Valley Firebirds
That’s great he had a very strong regular season but he was awful in the playoffs and it cost the Amerks against Syracuse in round 1
Yes…pile on all the accolades. But for those of us who watched this team, every game, this past season, I think its safe to say we aren’t really convinced that Kulich is the real deal.
He started hot as a pistol. Hopes ran high. Sabrefan screamed he should be in Buffalo (they weren’t really watching the holes this kid still has in his game)
Then the totally wrong-headed decision to let him leave the team mid-season to play against players in many cases younger than him. He did well, naturally, but it did little to further his pro career.
He returned and didn;t do squat for a month. Meanwhile the staff fell all over themselves making excuse after excuse for his uninspired play.
Finally near the end of the season, he snapped out of it and scored a bunch of goals to pad his stats.
Good, we thought, we have a playoff ringer.
Not good. He once again disappeared completely and did nothing at all to help his team advance in the Calder Cup.
So say what you will about him I guess. He is talented, but for much of the season he looked unmotivated. We’ve seen this before so thats why our radar is up.
If the Sabres could get something useful for him…someone who can play with the big club, trading him wouldn’t hurt my feelings. OTOH, if suddenly getting a shot to play in Buffalo is what he needs, and he excels…thats a win too.
We’ll see