In yet another brutal start for the Buffalo Sabres, where they are 0-3, young forward Jiri Kulich has caught blame from Head Coach Lindy Ruff and could be scratched, as mentioned by the Times Herald’s Bill Hoppe earlier today.
The 21-year-old forward has has a rough go of it so far this season, with no points in 3 games, and a -4. As Ruff told Hoppe, Kulich “hasn’t been good enough”, noting that his skating has not been at the level it was last year. In practice today, Kulich was seen with Jordan Greenway and Mason Geertsen. As Hoppe wrote, it is not exactly a promising sign for the youngster in advance of tomorrow’s game vs Ottawa.
Despite the struggles, and dissatisfaction from his coach, Kulich has not played less than 16 minutes a night so far in each of the club’s games. Although sheltering a young former first-round-pick who doesn’t appear ready is not necessarily the wrong move, Ruff’s comments are interesting, throwing such blame at Kulich when the team has scored just two goals all season. Thankfully, Zach Benson is expected back tomorrow, however, with Josh Norris out long-term, it has been a terrible start for the Sabres. With the Senators set to move forward without their injured star captain Brady Tkachuk, tomorrow’s game will be a huge opportunity for Buffalo to finally get into the win column.
Many eyes will turn to stars such as Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin to lead Buffalo out of the hole they find themselves in, but unfortunately without Norris it will be an uphill battle. If they prove unable to do so, at some point it may be time to look at the team’s deeper issues than a player such as Kulich’s performance, and major changes could be on the horizon.