Isak Rosén

May 2025 – Rosen improved upon his previous year’s totals, collecting 28 goals and 55 points in 61 games this season. The 22-year-old will be entering his fourth North American season, having spent the last three in the AHL with Rochester. He was among the AHL’s scoring leaders before spending a short stint in the NHL and then finishing his year with a scoreless streak in Rochester. The Sabres gave him a few opportunities late in the year due to injuries. During those games, he played without the puck quite often, resorting to safe passes and passive play. More familiarity with the NHL’s pace and systems might help with his confidence and effectiveness at that level. Kevin Wong

January 2024 – Rosen’s sophomore AHL season has been a success up to this point. He is tied with Lukas Rousek for the scoring lead among Rochester Americans players. His ten goals and 26 points in 34 games with Rochester have earned him 2024 AHL All-Star honors alongside fellow top Americans scorer Jiri Kulich. Both Kulich and Rosen received a call-up to the Buffalo Sabres on November 25, 2023. Rosen played seven games with the NHL squad during this stint, averaging 8:35 of ice time per game. The 20-year-old continues to make progress. Kevin Wong

May 2023 – Making his AHL debut this past season at the age of 19, Rosen was second among U20 scorers on the Rochester Americans behind talented sniper Jiri Kulich. With 14 goals and 37 points in 66 games, Rosen provided notable secondary scoring for his team. His performance at the World Junior Championships was not as noteworthy given his age and experience at that level, however. He scored two goals and six points in seven games with both goals and an assist being tallied in an 11-0 win against Team Austria. The veteran member of Team Sweden tallied two assists in his team’s 8-7 loss to Team USA in the bronze medal match. Rosen’s game has improved over the course of the season, as his coach Seth Appert has preached forechecking and puck pursuit in his development. Whereas Rosen has been prone in the past to being too passive, he has been able to generate offense more consistently at times this year with an emphasis on increased intensity. He experienced a rough start during Rochester’s best-of-five playoff series against Syracuse but elevated his play in Games Three, Four, and Five. He scored a goal and an assist in the third match of the series and continued to demonstrate strong habits in the fourth, then recorded two assists to help Rochester clinch the series-deciding fifth game. His team faces Toronto next in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Kevin Wong

May 2022 – Rosen spent much of the first half of 2021-2022 in the Swedish Hockey League, averaging 7:53 of TOI in 28 games played with Leksands IF. At the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship with Team Sweden, he contributed in a third-line capacity, but only saw action in two matches due to the tournament’s shutdown on December 29, 2021. Upon his return to Sweden, he represented Leksands J20 in three matches before being loaned to Mora IK of the Allsvenskan. With Leksands J20, Rosen was relied upon as a first-line forward. His subsequent ice time in the Allsvenskan, however, was quite limited. He managed to play in only seven matches in the new year, concluding his campaign on February 13, 2022 due to an injury suffered in a game against MODO. Rosen’s draft +1 campaign was less successful than one might have desired from a first-round NHL draft selection, marred by a lack of opportunities and then a season-ending injury. Kevin Wong

July 2021 – Rosén was selected in the first round, 14th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2021 NHL Draft. Nick Richard

February 2021 – Rosén is a slightly undersized forward who makes up for his size with his agile skating and excellent puck skills. He has been forced into SHL action a bit prematurely because of the pandemic shutting down the J20 Nationell, but he has shown progression in just about every game. The young Swede has become more comfortable with each passing game but the strength remains a sizable disadvantage at this point. That’s not to say that Rosén has been ineffective because that would simply not be true. His motor and ability to use his speed and skill to strip opponents or fish pucks out of board battles have continued to show themselves at the men’s level. There is work to do defensively but with some added strength and weight as he matures, he should be perfectly fine in that department.

The real draw of the 2021 draft-eligible Swede’s game is his impressive vision and playmaking ability. He sees through levels of the opposing defense and understands how to manipulate opponents with lateral movement. His ability to pass against the grain in uncanny and he shows the touch needed to allow his teammates to take advantage of the positions Rosén passes them into. The key to his entire playmaking repertoire is timing. He just seems to know when to put the pass through the slot or behind a defender. The offensive game that Rosén brings to the table is intriguing, especially as the game continues to move towards speed and skill. A player like Rosén may be a couple of years away but he could be a very good complimentary player that can put up some numbers in a team’s top-six. Tony Ferrari