Teams hoping to trade for Mattias Samuelsson, a shutdown defenseman, have made contact with the Sabres after yet another season beset by injuries. The Fourth Period, however, notes that Kevyn Adams, general manager, has reportedly informed interested parties that the team has no intention of parting ways with him.
The first year of Samuelsson’s seven-year, $30 million contract, which he signed in October 2022, was 2023–24. At the time of his contentious buy-low signing last season, he had only played in 54 NHL games and hadn’t even scored a goal. He was signed on the eve of the Sabres’ regular-season start.
At the beginning of the season, Samuelsson, 24, appeared to be on pace to provide Buffalo with an annual value of $4.286 million in on-ice value. The 2018 second-round pick had a strong sophomore season in 2022–2023 as he established himself as Rasmus Dahlin’s primary pairing and finished with 10 points and a +14 rating in 55 games.
His 27 absences were all brought on by injuries. He was sidelined for the majority of the first quarter of the season due to a knee ailment, and as the Sabres were within one point of a postseason berth, he was in and out of the lineup due to an upper-body injury. Comparing their record—33-18-4 versus 9-15-3—with and without Samuelsson in the starting lineup provided some anecdotal evidence that their more than ten-year
Leave a Reply