Russian forward Viktor Neuchev is translating to success for Rochester Amerks

There are six players on the Rochester Amerks’ roster who are so young that they cannot legally purchase an adult beverage in the United States, and the two you hear most about are 19-year-old Jiri Kulich and 20-year-old Isak Rosen.

Makes sense since Kulich leads the team with 16 goals, Rosen is tied for the team lead with 26 points, and both have already made brief appearances this year with the parent Sabres and are being counted on in the future to become core players for Buffalo.

But a player Amerks fans need to start paying closer attention to is 20-year-old Russian forward Viktor Neuchev who, after an expected big-time adjustment to life in America, has begun to show why the Sabres picked him in the third round of the 2022 Entry Draft.

“It’s so fun,” Amerks coach Seth Appert said of the recent emergence of the 5-foot-11, 171-pound Neuchev. “We’ve seen this with (Rosen) and (Kulich) about this time last year, with (J.J.) Peterka about this time two years ago where those little lightbulb moments start flickering, and it’s just all coming.”

Oh, it’s already coming if the past few weeks are any indication. Saturday night, Neuchev may have played the best game of his 29-game AHL career as the Amerks trucked the Laval Rocket 7-4 at Blue Cross Arena. He had his first three-point game (one goal and two assists) playing on a line with veterans Brett Murray and Tyson Jost, and he could have had two more goals if not for being robbed on a breakaway and another point blank chance.

“I thought Neuchev was excellent,” Appert said after watching Neuchev match his season high with four shots on goal and register a career-best plus-3 as he, Murray (2 goals, 2 assists) and Jost (3 assists) combined for 10 points.

Neuchev scored 40 goals and 67 points in 61 games in 2021-22 playing for Yekaterinburg Auto in Russia’s top junior league, prompting Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams to take him with the 74th overall draft pick. Neuchev then played last year in Russia’s top professional loop, the Kontinental Hockey League, and the adjustment was tough as he managed only four goals and 12 points in 57 games.

Last summer, Neuchev was ready to leave his homeland and come to America so Adams signed him to a three-year entry level deal, doing the same with another Russian who is still too young to drink legally here, 20-year-old Amerks defenseman Nikita Novikov, a 2021 sixth-round Sabres pick.

Obviously, it’s quite a momentous life event coming to a new country where you don’t speak the language and don’t know any of your new teammates or coaches. “When Neuchev, arrived his English was non-existent,” Appert said.

Thus, the head coach and the assistants (Vinny Prospal and Nathan Paetsch) used Google Translate to communicate and while Neuchev is far from conversant in English, he’s having an easier time understanding.

“If we covered something as a team in a meeting, I would grab him after and make sure he understood,” Appert said. “I have Google Translate on my phone - I had to do that with (Kulich) last year and with (Aleksandr) Kisakov last year. So when I’d watch video with (Neuchev) or when Vinny does, the first couple of months we had to use Google Translate to go over the clips to make sure he understood. I learned one Russian word which is ‘turnover’ so I could yell at him in his native language when he turned it over. So that’s something that he and I laugh about.”

The language barrier is an obstacle that non-English speaking players must overcome when they get here and it’s difficult, but so too is adapting to the rugged style of play in the AHL. This is where Neuchev has focused the majority of his time and effort to make sure he’s ready to compete on the nights he’s dressed.

“He was a stud tonight,” Murray said Saturday. “I know Apps talks very highly of him and I think everyone else in the room does as well. It’s not a coincidence. You’ve probably heard Seth talking and he works extremely hard. He’s here every day working on his game whether it’s in the shooting room or video or this and that. It doesn’t surprise me that pucks are starting to go his way and he’s starting to score points. He’s a great player and it was fun to be on his line.”

Since Dec. 29, Neuchev has played in eight games and has scored at least a point in seven, totaling four goals and 11 points while going plus-7. The hard work is clearly paying off and he’s now up to 6-10 - 16 in 29 games.

“The majority of practice days he’s probably here eight to two o’clock in the afternoon and working most of the time, not just hanging around watching highlights.” Appert said. “So he’s earned that and it was good to see him get rewarded with a promotion and then it was good to see him take advantage of that promotion.”

Jiri Kulich has to get going again

The talented winger was away from the Amerks over the Christmas holiday playing for, and captaining, his native Czechia in the World Juniors tournament in Sweden where he was outstanding, tying for the tournament lead with 12 points and earning an All-Tournament selection.

However, since returning and dressing for the first time with the Amerks on Jan. 12, Kulich has just two assists in seven games including a scoreless weekend as the Amerks split a pair of home games, beating Laval but losing 4-0 to Utica on Friday.

But Appert saw good signs in those games and believes Kulich is on the verge of getting back to where he was before he left when he scored 16 goals in his first 23 games.

“I actually thought Kulich’s game this weekend was awesome,” Appert said. “I think coming out of the World Juniors there’s a lot of emotional fatigue and physical fatigue. I think his energy is coming back now because I think he had way more jump in his game this weekend.”

One thing Appert noticed is that Kulich still seems a little hesitant to pull the trigger on his shot and that was certainly evident against Laval when he passed up, by Appert’s count, three shot opportunities in favor of passing.

“He’s fighting it a little offensively right now, he’s forcing some things, second guessing some of his decisions because they haven’t been going in as much lately. It’ll come,” Appert said.

Brett Murray starting to heat up

The big forward, who regularly plays on whatever line Appert is looking for energy and physical play, had his best offensive game of the year against Laval with his four points.

Last year Murray had a breakout as a consistent threat with 23 goals and 49 points, both career highs in his five-year tenure in Rochester, but this season has been a struggle. Even with his big game against the Rocket, Murray has only seven goals and 17 points, so this was a good sign.

“Brandon Biro was out tonight and you have another leader step up with a massive performance in Brett Murray,” Appert said. “I thought he was a beast tonight, absolutely excellent. I thought he was good last night, too, though. I just have so much belief in who he is, what he’s fighting to continue to become as a player. He was great. Every time we change a line around he helps that line be better.”

Amerks lineup notes

▶ F Tyson Jost is certainly not thrilled that he’s in the AHL after being waived by the Sabres, but he has come down to Rochester and played tremendously. He has two goals and 10 points in 11 games while also being one of the team’s best forecheckers and penalty killers, giving a young team a big veteran presence. “He’s been really good the whole time here, but that was his best game tonight,” Appert said Saturday. “His competitive level was just so high so that was awesome to see.”

▶ F Lukas Rousek: Shutouts have a way of killing point-scoring streaks and that happened Friday for Rousek in the 4-0 loss to Utica. He had scored in 13 straight, the longest by an Amerk since Domenic Pettis’ 14-gamer in 2000.

▶ D Jeremy Davies, who was scratched Saturday, leads Amerks defensemen with five goals after scoring a career-best 11 last year. He ranks 16th in the AHL among defensemen with 83 shots on goal and his five goals are tied for 21st.

▶ G Eric Comrie gave up four goals to Laval, but in four appearances with the Amerks he’s now 3-1 with a sparkling .934 save percentage and 2.26 goals-against average. However, that might be it for him in Rochester. Sunday, the Sabres - who are off until Feb. 6 - announced they were sending Devon Levi back to the Amerks. Unlike the first two times when the rookie made one-game cameos, this stint could be lengthy because the Sabres need to get him work which wasn't going to happen in Buffalo. Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen has established himself as Buffalo's No. 1 goalie and the schedule will allow him to play the bulk of the games, so barring injury, Levi will become the Amerks No. 1 goalie and Comrie go up to be Luukkonen's backup.

What’s next for the Amerks

The victory over Laval jumped the Amerks past the Rocket and into third place in the North Division with 44 points (20-14-4).

They will enter Wednesday’s home game against second-place Syracuse trailing their Thruway rival by six points, and they are eight points behind division-leading Cleveland, though the Amerks have two games in hand on both those teams.

Since Dec. 30, the Amerks have gone 7-2-1, but they face a tough stretch coming up. After they host the Crunch, they play Friday and Saturday at Laval, then host Syracuse again Feb. 9 before going to Syracuse Feb. 10 and to Utica on Feb. 14.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out each Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out each Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester Amerks' young players Viktor Neuchev and Jiri Kulich emerging