Czech winger enjoyed a breakout season with the Rochester Americans in 2022-23
The Buffalo Sabres re-signed forward Lukas Rousek to a two-year contract, the team announced Tuesday.
The deal carries an average annual value of $775,000.
Rousek, 24, led the Rochester Americans this season with 40 assists and 56 points in 70 games, while his 16 goals tied for fifth on the team. He added five goals and seven assists in 14 games in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
He made his NHL debut on March 27 against the Montreal Canadiens, scoring his first NHL goal on his first shift and adding an assist. He made his second appearance in Buffalo’s season finale on April 14.
Rousek is expected to be among the crop of prospects competing for a spot on the NHL roster next season, along with fellow Czech Jiri Kulich, Matt Savoie, Linus Weissbach and Isak Rosen, and potentially others. With 12 forwards currently under contract in Buffalo, cracking the roster will be tough, which could see end up him back in the AHL as a top-of-the-list call-up candidate.
“I think he's right on the cusp,” Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said the day after the contract was announced. “He certainly performed well in the two games in a small sample size when he played in the National Hockey League. He was really good in Rochester all year into the playoffs. He can play up and down your lineup, he can play any position, he can play any type of game. ... All the stuff that we're looking for. So, we're excited to get him under contract. We just think he's a good player. We do project him as a guy that will be an NHL player.”
Sidelined for most of the 2021-22 season as he recovered from surgery to repair a torn ACL, Rousek made his North American debut with the Amerks on March 18, 2022. He played 19 games down the stretch, scoring once and adding three assists, before an impressive showing in the postseason where he had six points (two goals, four assists) in 10 games.
The Sabres selected Rousek in the sixth round (No. 160) of the 2019 NHL Draft.