The Buffalo Sabres will be relying heavily on the top half of their blueline this season to help generate offense, with Rasmus Dahlin, Bowen Byram, and Owen Power all possessing excellent skating ability and a high-level of skill. Head coach Lindy Ruff is looking for newcomer Michael Kesselring to provide stability on the second pairing with Power, and a new combo on the bottom pairing to take some of the pressure off of that group.
The Sabres acquired defenseman Conor Timmins from Pittsburgh in the Connor Clifton deal last June and based on the groupings being used by Ruff in the first few days of csmp, the former Penguin will be starting the season playing the right side with Mattias Samuelsson, who is attempting to bounce back from another mediocre campaign.
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“We're looking for just a solid defender, if you can get us out of the zone, defend well. (Timmins is) another right hand shot. I think when you're under duress and you're playing the right side, you've got better options.” Ruff said on Friday. “I've watched a lot of film on him, I think he defends well, his gaps are good, so we're looking at just a mature player to be a real solid two way player for us."
Samuelsson had a difficult first season under Ruff, dealing with injuries and sitting out at times as a healthy scratch, but the Sabres believe that the 26-year-old is capable of bouncing back and filling out a variety of roles.
"(Mattias is) one of our top guys going through all the work we did off ice and on ice. I expect him to have a big year. I don't know what that means minute-wise. I hope he can play 24-25 minutes (a night).” Ruff said. “It's just growth by going through what he went through last year. (He got off ) to kind of a rough start, sat out games. I didn't feel that his level of fitness was good enough coming to camp. And I can tell you this year, there's no comparison."
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