On Monday (May 13), the Buffalo Sabres promoted Rochester Americans‘ head coach Seth Appert to an assistant role on Lindy Ruff’s staff ahead of the 2024-25 NHL season. This move comes after the Amerks were eliminated by the Syracuse Crunch (May 10) in the second round of the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup Playoffs.
Under Appert’s four-year tenure, the Sabres’ AHL affiliate made the postseason three times, including a memorable run to the Eastern Conference Final in 2022-23, where they lost to the Hershey Bears in six games. After a job well done in Rochester, here’s what Appert brings to the Sabres’ coaching staff.
A Shared Vision With Lindy Ruff
It goes without saying, but as an assistant, you have to be on the same page as your head coach. That’s evident here with the mutual understanding between Appert and Ruff of this being a win-now situation in Buffalo and wanting the Sabres to play an up-tempo style of hockey.
“We talked the same language, which was really important to me”.
Lindy Ruff – 05/13/2024
Appert will be tasked with running the forward group, and turning around the power play (ranked 29th in 2023-24) in a collaborative process (according to Ruff).
Appert’s Familiarity With Core Players
Make no mistake about it, Appert played a key role in the development of core pieces like Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka, and Devon Levi during their times in Rochester. In regards to Quinn and Peterka, the two wingers had 26 and 28 goals respectively during their only season under Appert (2021-22), before immediately making the jump to the NHL the next season. Now two years removed from the AHL, the pair are viewed as critical parts of the Sabres’ top six with Peterka scoring a career-high 28 goals this season.
As for Levi, with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen taking over as the Sabres’ number one goaltender, the 22-year-old needed to have a solid run with the Amerks, and he did both in the regular season — posting a 16-6-4 record with a .927 save percentage (SV%) — and in the postseason (.923 SV% in five games) thanks in part to Appert. Quinn, Peterka, and Levi are all big parts of the Sabres’ future success, and I’m sure they’re looking forward to working with Appert once again.
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Additionally, Appert’s familiarity with core Sabres goes beyond some of their younger pieces. It turns out that he has ties to Sabres’ forward Alex Tuch, who he tried to recruit when he was at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in the NCAA (something Tuch told Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts Podcast). Prior connections to your core players, young and old, is imperative.
Sabres’ Prospects Who Look NHL Ready
Similar to Quinn and Peterka, thanks to spending time with Appert in Rochester, wingers like Jiri Kulich (27 goals in 2023-24) and Isak Rosen appear to be ready for roster spots on the Sabres. This of course depends on what general manager Kevyn Adams decides to do with the roster this offseason, but Appert may push for one or the other to be on the opening-night roster in October.
After four years of success in Rochester, and knowing how much he’s valued by Adams, Appert is deserving of this promotion to the Sabres’ bench, but has to prove he can help rekindle the offensive firepower that we saw from this team in 2022-23. It won’t be an easy task, but Appert is ready for the challenge, and now you have to wonder if he could be the Sabres’ next head coach after the conclusion of Ruff’s two-year contract. It’ll be fascinating to see if this coaching staff has what it takes to end the 13-year playoff drought in 2024-25.
