Amerks Sign Prolific Providence Scorer Valente to PTO, Future AHL Deal

The one number that defines why the Rochester Amerks made this move: 10. That is how many power-play goals Liam Valente scored in 39 games as a senior at Western Michigan this season, the most by any forward in the entire NCHC. Rochester did not sign him as a favor to a graduating college player; it signed a proven power-play finisher on the eve of a playoff push.

The Amerks announced they signed the 22-year-old Swedish forward to a professional tryout for the remainder of the 2025-26 season and locked in a one-year American Hockey League contract for 2026-27, adding him to the Buffalo Sabres organization on both counts. Valente, a 6-foot, 200-pound forward from Märsta, Sweden, slots immediately into a second power-play unit role with a clear path to earn more if his collegiate instincts carry over.

The production case is straightforward. Valente spent two seasons at Providence College in Hockey East, posting 20 points in 59 games before transferring to Western Michigan in the NCHC. The move transformed his output: 68 points (34G-34A) in two seasons with the Broncos, 20 of those goals on the power play, a plus-20 rating across his time in Kalamazoo, and career college totals of 41 goals and 47 assists. His senior season alone featured 35 points, four game-winning goals, and a plus-12 in 39 games.

What stands out beyond the raw numbers is the context of that PP production. Valente generated those 10 power-play goals within a Western Michigan program that won its first-ever National Championship, the Penrose Cup, and the NCHC Frozen Faceoff title this season, earning a No. 1 seed for the third time in five years. He was not padding numbers on a soft schedule; he was the man-advantage threat on a championship team.

In Rochester, that translates to a top-nine forward with a specialty that AHL rosters prize in April: the ability to put pucks in the net when the other team is shorthanded one skater.