Quinn named AHL Rookie of the Year

Jack Quinn has been voted as the winner of the Dudley (Red) Garrett Award as the AHL's most outstanding rookie, the latest piece of hardware in what has been a breakout campaign for the Buffalo Sabres prospect.
Quinn, 20, was previously named to the AHL All-Rookie team alongside fellow Sabres prospect JJ Peterka on Wednesday. He was recognized as AHL Rookie of the Month in October.
Quinn is tied with Peterka for third among AHL rookies with 25 goals and ranks fourth with 59 points despite being limited to just 44 games due to a bout with mononucleosis and a lower-body injury.
His average of 1.34 points per game ranks third among all AHL players, behind veterans T.J. Tynan and Andrew Poturalski.

The Sabres selected Quinn during the first round (eighth overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft. The cancellation of the OHL season forced him to spend last season with Rochester, a stop-and-go campaign in which he tallied two goals and nine points in just 15 contests.
Quinn felt he had more to give entering this season, a message he relayed to Sabres coach Don Granato and general manager Kevyn Adams upon being sent to the Amerks at the end of training camp.
"He looked at both of us and he said, 'I'm OK with going down in one sense: I played below the standard I believe I can play in the American League and I feel like I need to go back there and prove to myself that I can play better in that league,'" Granato said in November.
"… His immediate response was, 'I still have some unfinished business down there.' That's [how] he went down there looking at that. That's exactly why we drafted him and picked him and why we enjoy having him in our organization. He's like a homing torpedo."
Quinn opened the season with four goals in his first three games. He has not gone more than two games without registering a point all season.
He earned a recall and made his debut for the Sabres on Jan. 11, then scored his first NHL goal in his second game nine days later. He sustained an injury that night and returned to Rochester upon his recovery.

The Sabres have opted to let Quinn and Peterka finish their seasons as part of the Amerks' playoff push. The Amerks can clinch a postseason berth with a win in their regular-season finale against Utica on Friday combined with a regulation loss by the Toronto Marlies on Saturday.
"Those guys are battling in really meaningful games and competitive games," Granato said Thursday. "… They're in it every night. I mean, they're key guys on a team and the opposing team is trying to shut those two down with everything they can do. That's great for them and great for us."