The Top 25 Under 25 is a collaboration by members of the Die By The Blade community. 92 readers ranked Buffalo Sabres players under the age of 25 as of August 1, 2026. Each participant used their own metric of current ability and production to rank each player.
Jiri Kulich
Drafted: 2022 First Round, #28 overall
Size: 6’1″, 185 lbs
Position: Center (shoots left)
Born: 4/14/2004 (Age: 22) Kadan, CZE
2025-2026 stats: GP12 G3 A2 PTS5, Buffalo Sabres (NHL)
2025 T25U25 Ranking: 4th
After a breakout season when he came up to the big club from Rochester and made a spot on the top line his own, Jiri Kulich pretty much lost the whole of last season after being diagnosed with a serious blood clot. He underwent a successful procedure to have the blood clot surgically removed, and then resumed light, non-contact skating in May. During locker cleanout he confirmed he expects to resume his hockey career, and is expected to be a full participant in preseason training soon.
It’s been so long since we’ve seen the Czech forward play that in many ways he’s going to be like a new signing for the team when he returns. Let’s not forget when he finished the 24-25 campaign, he was centering the top line and had earned Lindy Ruff’s trust in that key role.
Kulich’s ace in the hole has been his shot, and arguably it’s the second-best one-timer on the team behind only Tage Thompson. That makes him a threat to opposing defenses who have been keying in on stopping Thompson, especially on the power play. With the man advantage and Kulich on ice, opponents will have to pick which poison they want to deal with.
He has exceptional mobility in every direction, which not only allows him to beat defenders to the outside off the rush but he also uses that with an active stick to disrupt opponents backchecking. Kulich has been called ‘smart and sneaky‘. He is Zach Benson in many ways, but a much more rounded player than our carnie and that makes Kulich an intriguing prospect on his superstar track.
The forward’s smooth skating and puck control even under pressure are other qualities that will strengthen the Sabres top six forward corps, and pose an even bigger threat. He has a career faceoff win percentage of 44.6% so that is one area he needs to work on, but should be in line for more minutes per night after averaging 15:03 in his first two seasons with Buffalo.
Hopefully his blood clot issue is behind him and he can return to playing like he did two springs ago. The only reason Kulich dropped from #4 to #7 is because he missed a year – I will not be surprised at all to see him at #1 when we do this again next year.
2026 Buffalo Sabres Top 25 Under 25
#25 Simon-Pier Brunet
#24 Topias Leinonen
#23 Gavin McCarthy
#22 Luke Osburn
#21 Maxim Strbak
#20 David Bedkowksi
#19 Brodie Ziemer
#18 Vsevolod Komarov
#17 Ashton Schultz
#16 Riley Fiddler-Schultz
#15 Prokhor Poltapov
#14 Ryan Johnson
#13 Ilia Morozov
#12 Adam Kleber
#11 Tyson Kozak
#10 Olen Zellweger
#9 Daxon Rudolph
#8 Radim Mrtka
#7 Jack Quinn
#6 Jiri Kulich