Updated August 3, 2020

The American Hockey League season was officially cancelled and now it’s time to start looking towards the 2020/2021 season for the Rochester Americans. As of publishing this article on May 19, 2020 there’s a total of 22 players that are considered unrestricted free agents that were on either NHL or AHL contracts. That sounds like a lot of players but it’s also the same number as the last off-season.

It’ll appear as if there’s a lot of work to be done, which there is, but it’s really no different than recent off-seasons. The Amerks have been a top team in the league for three consecutive regular seasons and that will remain a top priority for the organization again. Yes, playoff success is still necessary and even more important.

This article is about who is signed, who has departed, and where the departed have signed. Please comment, send an email, or a message on Twitter if there’s any info that’s missed.

Key Dates

Normally (and nothing is normal right now) there’d be a chart here about key dates coming up like deadlines for restricted free agents, buyouts, UFA interview time frames, free agency, qualifying offer deadlines, and so on but as mentioned above nothing is normal right now (as of May 19, 2020). Everything is up in the air right now including a possible date for the draft.

Everything is fluid and there are no key dates for right now. To be updated as everything changes.

Recent Updates

8/26 – Ryan Jones signs Amerks/AHL contract [ Details ]
8/3 – Jarrot Burton signs w/ Iowa Wild
7/15 – Sean Malone departs for Nashville [ Details ]
6/16 – Coaching staff of Taylor, Dineen, and Petersen was fired [ Details ]
6/15 – Oskari Laaksonen signs three-year, entry-level contract w/ Sabres
5/20 – Jesper Olofsson signs Amerks/AHL contract [ Details ]
4/29 – Dominic Franco signs Amerks/AHL contract [ Details ]
4/26 – Zach Redmond signs in Germany [ Details ]

Signed for 2020/2021

Combination of NHL and AHL contracts. This does not included RFA/UFA players, it’s only players confirmed and signed that could possibly play in Rochester.

• Dylan Cozens due to age restrictions has to either makes the Sabres NHL roster out of training camp or go back to juniors. He would not be eligible to play with Rochester in the AHL during the 2020/2021 season.

Centers

• Jean-Sebastian Dea (UFA in 2021/2022)
• Rasmus Asplund (RFA in 2021/2022)
• Arttu Ruotsalainen (RFA in 2022/2023)
• Dawson DiPietro (RFA in 2021/2022)

Right Wing

• Dominic Franco (AHL contract – UFA in 2021/2022)

Left Wing

• CJ Smith (RFA in 2021/2022)
• Jesper Olofsson (AHL contract – UFA in 2021/2022)
• Brett Murray (RFA in 2022/2023)
• Matej Pekar (RFA in 2022/2023)
• Brandon Biro (RFA in 2022/2023)

Left Defense

• Jacob Bryson (RFA in 2022/2023)
• Mattias Samuelsson (RFA in 2023/2024)
• Ryan Jones (AHL contract – UFA in 2021/2022)

Right Defence

• Will Borgen (RFA in 2021/2022)
• Casey Fitzgerald (RFA in 2021/2022)
• Oskari Laaksonen (RFA in 2023/2024)

Goalies

• Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (RFA in 2021/2022)

New Players for 2020/2021

This is a list of players that have been added and could play for the Rochester Americans during the 2020/2021 season that haven’t played in Rochester before as a professional player.

4/29 – Dominic Franco signed a one-year AHL contract [ Details ]

Status of the 2019/2020 Roster

Below is a list of everyone who played at least one game for the Rochester Americans in the 2019/2020 season and their current contract status along with team they’ve signed with for the 2020/2021 season. Order of names is just a copy and paste from HockeyDB based on games played. This does not contain any new players that are coming into the Sabres organization and expected to play in Rochester.

UFA = Unrestricted Free Agent.

RFA = Restricted Free Agent.