Buffalo Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson will not return to tonight’s contest against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Sabres announced via social media that Samuelsson will be out with a lower-body injury.
The incident occurred during the first period after Samuelsson was involved in a collision on the ice where he went down in a heap and was in discomfort going back to the bench. He was on the top pairing with Rasmus Dahlin. With the Sabres down to five defensemen for the remainder of the game, expect Dahlin and Power to pick up extra shifts.
Just two weeks ago, Samuelsson had to leave the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning after suffering an upper-body injury. The 23-year-old has three points in 10 games this season while averaging 21:09 of ice time on the top unit.
Last fall, Samuelsson signed a seven-year, $30 million extension that kicked in this season and the contract carries an average annual value of $4.2 million.
After being drafted in the second round by the Sabres in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Samuelsson spent two seasons playing college hockey with the Western Michigan Broncos, scoring seven goals and 19 assists for 26 points over 65 games.
Samuelsson played for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program and was part of their silver medal-winning squad at the 2019 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship in British Columbia. He was the captain of the team for the 2020 World Juniors.
He made his professional debut in 2020-21 with the Sabres’ AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans. He made his NHL debut with the Sabres in April 2021 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Samuelsson has three goals and 22 assists for 25 points in 119 career NHL games.
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