Red-hot in Rochester, Sabres give Noah Ostlund, 21, his first NHL call
Urged by first-year Amerks coach Michael Leone to look for more offense, Ostlund had 14 points in 11 games in March. He finished the month with goals in five straight games and notched his first pro hat trick March 22 at Syracuse.
Tyson Kozak is injured, so the Buffalo Sabres had an opening at center. But even without an injury, the noise out of Rochester was getting too loud to ignore.
Noah Ostlund is just 21 years old, but he is the AHL’s reigning player of the week and was just named as the league’s player of the month in March. With their playoff fate long decided, it made sense for the Sabres to get a look at him for at least a couple games this season before he leads the Amerks in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
That moment will come this weekend, when the Sabres host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday and Boston Bruins on Sunday in a back-to-back set in KeyBank Center. Ostlund, taken 15th overall in 2022 with the first-round pick acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights for Jack Eichel, was recalled from the minors Friday and joined the team for practice in LECOM HarborCenter.
The Sabres drafted Noah Ostlund with the 2022 first-round draft pick acquired in the Jack Eichel trade. Joed Viera, Buffalo News
What have the reports out of Rochester told Sabres coach Lindy Ruff?
“Nothing but good, the way he’s played, the way he’s defended while he’s operated with the puck,” the Ruff said. “He’s put together a real good year. I think it’s just a player finding his path and he feels comfortable. It’s a hard league to play in, but he’s progressed, and he’s pushed himself to where he’s become one of the top players down there.”
Ostlund has 19 goals, 17 assists and 36 points in 44 games for Rochester in a season during which he bounced back for a huge second half after hand surgery. Urged by first-year Amerks coach Michael Leone to look for more offense, Ostlund had 14 points in 11 games in March. He finished the month with goals in five straight games and notched his first pro hat trick March 22 at Syracuse.
“I think I just found my game a little bit more,” he said. “I’ve been playing more with the puck and creating more.”
Ostlund joked that he was 12 the last time he was on this kind of scoring roll.
“When you produce, you get confidence,” he said. “So that’s something I want to keep on doing.”
Ostlund’s decision to stay last year in the Swedish Hockey League before coming to North America was a mature one to make, and it has worked out well.
“It’s always hard to judge, but I always think players need that time,” Ruff said. “It’s a hardness (in style of play) that you have to get. Like I say, sometimes playing (in the AHL) is harder than playing up here, and he’s navigated that path pretty well.”
Extra time in Sweden surely helped Ostlund, but so did his brief tenure in Rochester at the end of last year that included three games in the playoffs against Syracuse.
“It’s a lot tougher. Everything gets tighter, so you get closer to everyone every time,” he said. “So I think that was a change, too, from playing overseas.”
Ostlund spent time in practice Friday on a line with Beck Malenstyn and Sam Lafferty, who have been regulars on Buffalo’s fourth unit this season. And while that can ease Ostlund into the lineup against a veteran-laden Lightning squad with lots of Stanley Cup experience, the Sabres don’t want to necessarily blow up their lines either.
Peyton Krebs, for instance, is on a five-game scoring streak. He has collected six points and a plus-6 rating, so it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to take him away from his spot between Jason Zucker and Alex Tuch. Jiri Kulich (with Zach Benson and Tage Thompson) and Ryan McLeod (with JJ Peterka and Jack Quinn) also have been strong, of late, down the middle.
“I like the way the lines have been going,” Ruff said. “So, really, to disrupt the other lines, I don’t really want to do that. I think there’s an opportunity inside games, after power plays and penalty killing, to maybe give him a look with Thompson, Peterka, guys like that, and to put him in a more offensive situation. But the way we’ve played, I really don’t want to change too much.”
Ostlund also got a look on the second power-play unit in practice, along with Quinn, McLeod, Kulich and Owen Power.
“It’s going to be cool,” Ostlund said. “You only get one first game, so I’m going to try to take everything in and play my game. It’s going to be a good experience.”
Injury updates
Ruff said Kozak has a hip strain and will be out week to week. With just two weeks left in the NHL season, Ruff said Kozak isn’t likely to make it back into the Buffalo lineup, and the focus is on making sure he is available to the Amerks for the Calder Cup playoffs.Center Josh Norris skated on his own Friday as he tries to get back in the lineup. Winger Jordan Greenway has not skated. Ruff said both are progressing, and the Sabres still plan for them play again this season.