03/26/23: The Sabres announced this morning that Rousek has been sent back down to AHL Rochester.
It’s a tough break for one of Rochester’s top scorers, as Rousek didn’t draw into the lineup for the Sabres’ win over the New York Islanders yesterday. Having spent the day a healthy scratch, he’ll now head back to the AHL where he’ll resume playing a major role in the Americans’ playoff push.
03/25/23: Lukas Rousek’s first full professional season has been a strong one and he was rewarded for his efforts on Saturday as the Sabres announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled the forward from Rochester of the AHL.
The 23-year-old was a sixth-round pick by Buffalo back in 2019 and this is his first NHL promotion. After an ACL injury cost him the bulk of last season, Rousek has been productive this year with the Americans, notching 15 goals and 33 assists in 61 games; his assist and point totals are good for second on the team in scoring. If Rousek suits up for the Sabres, he’ll be the third player from their 2019 draft class to see NHL action.
Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News clarifies (Twitter link) that the move has been classified as an emergency recall. Tage Thompson was injured last night while Jordan Greenway has missed the last week with an upper-body injury. Meanwhile, Vinnie Hinostroza is away from the team for personal reasons so Buffalo certainly needed to bring a forward up. Rousek will get that opportunity but as soon as one of those players is able to return, he’ll need to be sent back to the minors or have his recall converted to a regular one which would then count against the post-deadline limit of four.