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Player Discussion - Mattias Samuelsson, LHD, Hurt Again | Page 20 | HFBoards - NHL Message Board and Forum for National Hockey League
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Player Discussion Mattias Samuelsson, LHD, Hurt Again

Really when I saw AI was his sporting hero that was when he totally won me over.
 
Wheeler has Samuelsson as the Sabres #10 prospect in his annual ranking of NHL prospect pools (Sabres are #1)

Wheeler’s 2022 NHL prospect pool rankings: No. 1 Buffalo Sabres – The Athletic

10. Mattias Samuelsson, LHD, 21 (Buffalo Sabres/Rochester Americans)
Samuelsson’s a big (6-foot-4, 227-pound), physical defender who coaches trust him with tough assignments, and can capably penalty kill. He also skates adequately enough to keep up with quick forwards on his gaps, force play to the perimeter and then rub out puck carriers (plus the value he provides in board battles and in front of the net). I’ve also been pleasantly surprised by his play on the offensive half in the AHL this year. He’s never going to be a point-producing defenceman at the next level, but his improvement there helps strengthen his NHL case. He’s got hard shot and enough wherewithal to adjust his release around bodies rather than forcing pucks through. There are still times when he struggles with pressure and pace but he’s got third-pairing upside as a guy who can give a group of six a bit of a different element (and a desired one at that).
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i was at the game yesterday and 3 separate plays stood out to me by him. just completely negated good chances. he has good enough size to smear players out on the boards and seems to have good stick work to go with it.
 
Chainshot said:
Lost in the Twitter love for Mattias is the Twitter hate for Mattias when he was drafted. Remember, he was big and slow and all that? Funny how the player bears up under scrutiny vs knee jerk reactions.
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I've had some hits and misses over the years. I knew Samuelsson was going to be a regular from draft day.
 
I forgot that Appert was his HC at the NTDP when he was selected. Thanks Seth! Twice!
 
Chainshot said:
Lost in the Twitter love for Mattias is the Twitter hate for Mattias when he was drafted. Remember, he was big and slow and all that? Funny how the player bears up under scrutiny vs knee jerk reactions.
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I was really disappointed they passed up a handful of high upside guys (I was a big fan of Ylonen, Hallander, Wilde, McIsaac), but he is really exactly what this team needs on the back end. Really happy with this pick so far.
 
Chainshot said:
Lost in the Twitter love for Mattias is the Twitter hate for Mattias when he was drafted. Remember, he was big and slow and all that? Funny how the player bears up under scrutiny vs knee jerk reactions.
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I'd still consider drafting a player with his profile and having it work out as very lucky.
 
Chainshot said:
Lost in the Twitter love for Mattias is the Twitter hate for Mattias when he was drafted. Remember, he was big and slow and all that? Funny how the player bears up under scrutiny vs knee jerk reactions.
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I actually don't think he was slow when he was drafted. The bricks tied to his skates narrative started in his D+1 year I believe.
 
SnuggaRUDE said:
I'd still consider drafting a player with his profile and having it work out as very lucky.
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What do you mean by his profile? Part of the problem is this false narrative that he can't skate took hold and created this image of him as a caricature of a big bruising defenseman that can't move in the Darian Hatcher mold. But it was never actually true. He's always had good if not above average mobility.
 
Husko said:
What do you mean by his profile? Part of the problem is this false narrative that he can't skate took hold and created this image of him as a caricature of a big bruising defenseman that can't move in the Darian Hatcher mold. But it was never actually true. He's always had good if not above average mobility.
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Not that he couldn't skate, but that he wasn't used to drive offense at the lower levels. Most of the time NHL players are standouts in juniors even if they go on to be defense first in the bigs.

Darian Hatcher is a good example, he was nearly a PPG player D-1 and D.
 
SnuggaRUDE said:
Not that he couldn't skate, but that he wasn't used to drive offense at the lower levels. Most of the time NHL players are standouts in juniors even if they go on to be defense first in the bigs.

Darian Hatcher is a good example, he was nearly a PPG player D-1 and D.
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Of that, you are correct. Typically most d-men are productive point producers in lower tiers before becoming settled in at higher levels as defensive defensemen. Jay McKee for example was an all-situations player who ran the PP in his OHL days. He wound up with a career high of 17 points in a season but it was his defensive game that earned him his paycheck.

Interestingly for Samuelsson though, his AHL scoring totals at 0.62 points per game are surprisingly good. Heck, even Brian Campbell had lower (granted in about 4x as many games).
 
Chainshot said:
Of that, you are correct. Typically most d-men are productive point producers in lower tiers before becoming settled in at higher levels as defensive defensemen. Jay McKee for example was an all-situations player who ran the PP in his OHL days. He wound up with a career high of 17 points in a season but it was his defensive game that earned him his paycheck.

Interestingly for Samuelsson though, his AHL scoring totals at 0.62 points per game are surprisingly good. Heck, even Brian Campbell had lower (granted in about 4x as many games).
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I'm as surprised as you are. He's scoring at a substantially higher clip than he did in either college or USDP. That's not typical player progression at all. And to do that at 21 for an AHL defender is really young.

It wouldn't shock me if it's only happened a couple of times in the last 10 years.
 
SnuggaRUDE said:
I'm as surprised as you are. He's scoring at a substantially higher clip than he did in either college or USDP. That's not typical player progression at all. And to do that at 21 for an AHL defender is really young.

It wouldn't shock me if it's only happened a couple of times in the last 10 years.
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It does seem rare. And while it's finally nice to have someone setting trends for them that are "hey, this is really good" vs. what we usually see.
 
Our left side is set maybe ten years ahead and they shouldn't be trading Dahlin, Power and Samuelsson. Now Adams needs to do the same with the right side and preferably this off-season (trade, draft and UFA).
 
Husko said:
I actually don't think he was slow when he was drafted. The bricks tied to his skates narrative started in his D+1 year I believe.
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I lost a little faith in Mattias in his frosh season and particularly at his post draft WJC. He just looked so slow. He improved his feet quite a bit his sophomore season.

If I think about it, what worried me most was the speed of his reactions, not really his feet. He was really behind the play at that tournament as well as in his college games. Prospect progression is so hard to predict.
 
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