Samuelsson An Important Piece Of Sabres Puzzle
Samuelsson An Important Piece Of Sabres PuzzleThe Mattias Samuelsson effect was felt quite powerfully by the Buffalo Sabres last season, more than one might think because of someone who split time between the NHL and AHL Rochester the previous two seasons and had just 10 points in 55 games in 2022-23.
The Sabres surprised some by signing the 23-year-old to a seven-year, $30 million contract last October (the second of the five long-term deals that GM Kevyn Adams has done), but the reason for making such an investment is Samuelsson’s importance as a defensive stalwart like his father Kjell (who played over 800 NHL games with Pittsburgh, New York, Philadelphia and Tampa Bay) was in his day and as a compliment to Rasmus Dahlin on Buffalo’s top pairing.
Last year, the Sabres went 33-18-4 with Samuelsson in the lineup and that coincided with Dahlin taking a gigantic leap in his career and scoring a career-high 73 points. The big blueliner missed 27 games last season and Buffalo went 9-15-3 without him, mostly because the club did not have the required defensive depth to compensate for his absence.
Samuelsson suffered an unspecified upper-body injury in the third period of the Sabres 3-2 overtime victory over Tampa on Tuesday and missed an optional skate on Wednesday, but the big Swede was on the ice for the morning skate on Thursday and head coach Don Granato indicated that he will play against the Calgary Flames.
The Sabres will start Devon Levi (1-2-0, 3.00 GAA, .893 save %) in goal for the fourth straight game against the Flames, while Calgary will go with backup Dan Vladar. Vladar was supposed to start in Washington on Monday but was ill.
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