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Amerks surviving through injury recalls

by Chad DeDominicis - 0

While the injury situation has been tough to manage for the Buffalo Sabres, the same can be said for the Rochester Amerks. They’ve been without Noah Ostlund, Josh Dunne, Isak Rosen, and Zach Metsa for nearly half of their games this season.

The good news with the Sabres getting healthier is that some of those players will begin to return to the AHL due to the numbers game. They’ve managed to keep their season afloat over the last month or so. They’re 4-6 in their last 10 games, but only two points out of first place in the North Division.

It’s an interesting tale of the tape so far when you look at some of the numbers behind the Amerks. They are the top-scoring club in the AHL with 65 goals in 19 games. On the other hand, they’re 29th in goals allowed, with 61. We’ll get to the goaltending situation in a minute.

Their special teams have performed well throughout the entire season. They rank seventh in power play percentage and 12th in penalty kill percentage. Those would be great rankings to maintain throughout the season.

Isak Rosen

You have to feel for Isak Rosen. It looked like he had been passed over by the organization and wouldn’t get a real shot in the NHL. Then the injury situation forced their hand, and he delivered on the opportunity. He registered three goals and seven points in 10 games. You thought it would be enough to get a longer look, but not the case.

His five-on-five minutes were dropping in each game, and the obvious sign was when he was removed from the power play in his last game against the Chicago Blackhawks.

If nothing else, he proved to himself that he can play at the NHL level. The Amerks will get a much-needed boost by getting the player who was leading them in points before he was recalled. I’ll be curious to see if he comes back and continues to play well. Or if he’ll be off because of the disappointment from the demotion.

The Forgotten Man

Another player the Amerks have benefited from is Carson Meyer. He was the forgotten man for the first month of the season. He was injured early in training camp, and we were only reminded of his existence when he came up in a Sabres roster move.

Meyer was actually a key offseason signing for the Amerks. He has put up excellent AHL numbers throughout his career. That has carried over to his start with the Amerks. He has three goals and four points in five games.

He’s playing on the top line with Konsta Helenius and Anton Wahlberg. The Amerks have the potential for a lethal offense when more players return.

Goaltending

Now we get to the crux of the Amerks’ issues this season, the goaltending. Most people saw the criticism of Devon Levi by head coach Michael Leone last week. He’s in the midst of a six-game streak where has not played well overall. Levi has allowed at least three goals in his last six starts.

The game against the Utica Comets on Saturday was the first game in this six-game stretch where he had a save percentage above 90. On the season as a whole, he has a 0.892 save percentage and a 2.98 goals against average.

I will say, he looked the best he has in a while on Saturday, but it’s similar issues for Levi. He still struggles with picking pucks up through traffic, and rebound control is poor at times. A new thing that has crept into his game this season is soft goals against at bad times. That’s the reason he was pulled against the Belleville Senators two weeks ago.

The Amerks need him to find his game if they want to go far in the Calder Cup playoffs.

Topias Leinonen hasn’t performed that well either in his five starts. He’s only 21 years old, playing his first season of pro hockey in North America. It’s not surprising that he has been up and down. There have been moments where he has made key saves to help the Amerks win. One such example was in overtime against the Hartford Wolfpack two weeks ago.

Overall, he has a .866 save percentage and 3.14 goals against average. If he continues to have struggles, I wonder if the Sabres would consider swapping him with Scott Ratzlaff.

Ratzlaff has a .936 save percentage in seven appearances for the Jacksonville Icemen in the ECHL. Something to keep an eye on over the next month or so.

It’s also worth mentioning that reports are Alexandar Georgiev will be signing with a team in the KHL. He was placed on waivers for contract termination.

Other Notes

Konsta Helenius has continued to play well. The 19-year-old is their top center right now and doesn’t look out of place. He’s generating offense and being one of their most dangerous players in transition.

Zac Jones leads all AHL defensemen in assists and points. He has registered 16 points in 15 games. The better news is that I feel his defensive game has started to improve. He has the lowest failed exit rate and the highest controlled exit rate among defenders in our data this season.

I’ve liked how Anton Wahlberg has played this season. His point production is decent, but that’s not what has impressed me. He has looked more engaged and better along the walls. He’s using his size not only on the walls, but in front of the net as well.

There’s still some work to be done defensively, but there’s some good development we’re seeing from the 20-year-old.

The Amerks have two divisional home games this week. They host the Cleveland Monsters on Wednesday and the Syracuse Crunch on Friday. The Crunch is the team directly ahead of them in the standings.

You can see all tracking data charts here.

Photo Credit: Micheline Veluvolu/Rochester Amerks
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