Note: this is a breaking news story.
The Buffalo Sabres have promoted Seth Appert to an NHL assistant coaching position, just days after his AHL season ended following another year as head coach of the Rochester Americans. The Sabres made the move official with an announcement around 10 a.m. Monday, just minutes after reports of the promotion began to surface online.
Appert, 49, has spent the last four years as head coach of the Amerks. Their Calder Cup playoff run ended in game five on Friday, as they fell to the Syracuse Crunch in the best-of-five series. The Amerks went 138-108-22-10 during Seth Appert’s four-year tenure as head coach, a time in which he worked with a number of current Sabres players, including Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Jacob Bryson, Mattias Samuelsson, Brett Murray, Jack Quinn, Peyton Krebs & JJ Peterka. He also has plenty of familiarity with prospects like Jiri Kulich, Isak Rosén and Lukas Rousek as well as goaltender Devon Levi.
Appert joined the organization in 2020 following three years as head coach of the USNTDP Juniors team. He also has experience coaching the USA at U18s, U17s and Worlds. He’s worked with a number of notable players, including Matty Beniers, Jake Sanderson, Brock Faber, Cole Caufield, Luke Tuch, Matt Boldy and Trevor Zegras. Previously, he spent nine years as an assistant coach at the University of Denver and 11 years as head coach at RPI.
It’s a move that makes a lot of sense for the Sabres, in a number of ways. Appert has already worked with many of Buffalo’s young players and is familiar with the organization as a whole. Logistically, this also lines things up for Appert to potentially take over the head coaching position down the line when Lindy Ruff retires or is ready to move to another position (President of Hockey Ops, anyone?).
Also noted in the Sabres press release is a note that Mike Bales, Matt Ellis and Marty Wilford will all be returning in their positions as assistant coaches. Justin White is the video coach, while Mike Ansell returns as on-ice rehab and skating instruction. Amir Gulati has been promoted to video coordinator after spending the past two seasons as Rochester’s video coach.
Kevyn Adams said the organization will now begin a search for Appert’s replacement in Rochester.