Player Discussion Mattias Samuelsson, LHD, Hurt Again

[Derg12]

Related to Kjell and Ulf.... sign me the heck up. If he's as nasty as his uncle and father...

 

[Derg12]

He seems to look like a future steady #3/4 type....exactly what I want from a second round pick.

We went from a horrible D to rolling out a potential D corps in 2021 of Dahlin, risto , Samuelsson, Guhle, Scandella and McCabe/Borgen/Nelson/Fitzgerald etc etc

I am definitely excited about our blue line

I was thinking earlier about the Carolina trade and how I'd love to see a Conference Finals rematch. After our draft? We good.

 

[Der Jaeger]

Great pick

 

[Sabre the Win]

He looks like he's like 28 years old.

A man drafted amongst teens.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[Rasmus CacOlainen]

Nice long discussion on him specifically based on way more watching him than us looking at highlights

 

[Wisent42]

Related to Kjell and Ulf.... sign me the heck up. If he's as nasty as his uncle and father...

Not to nitpick, but Kjell and Ulf Samuelsson are not related.

 

[Derg12]

Not to nitpick, but Kjell and Ulf Samuelsson are not related.

Ahh.. I thought I saw Kjell and Ulf were related. I stand corrected. No big deal - if Matthias plays like his father, Kjell.. or for that matter, Ulf, it's a win.

 

[sfoote]

Meh, not very excited about this one. Would have rather taken a chance with Noel, Akil Thomas, Bergren, Olofsson. Don't see him contributing much for his first 8 years or so

As long as he is contributing by year 9 is all that matters to me. In case you missed it, I was being sarcastic.

 

[sincerity0]

This is exactly the type of player we need. He only needs to become a steady second/third pairing guy for this to be a good pick. Kinda looks similar to how Tyler Myers plays now, if we could get that we are happy.

This pick is great based off what I’ve been reading. Seems like a lock to be a quality NHLer. Between Dahlin and him we drafted two NHL defensemen, and the team has taken fliers on a bunch of guys over the last 2 years... we could have a scary D in a couple years

 

[Husko]

He wasn't really on my radar, but looks like a solid pick. Time will tell. If he becomes an NHL regular I'll be happy.

 

[jBuds]

Current player of mine was a teammate of his on those Hatcher-coached Comcast teams, been exchanging texts today since the pick was made. He speaks highly of both him and Mitchell Gibson (was also on those Hatcher teams, 4th rd G to caps, Harvard bound). Without getting into too much...he echoed Same type of comments as what has been reported, which makes me happy. Gushed about MG in particular; no slight on MS, though...he and MG were just a little closer off the ice.

Sometimes the real painting technique isn’t the same when you get into the nooks and crannies behind the scenes. Glad to know in this case that it’s not a facade during draft years.

I’m intrigued to see how the season goes with Western Mich...for sure...

 

[jBuds]

the bloodlines that were on that team besides Ms were intense, I was shocked when hearing all the names

little Briere
A Little primeau
Kimmo Timonen’s son
(and of course little Hatcher)

 

[TheStorm]

I was thinking earlier about the Carolina trade and how I'd love to see a Conference Finals rematch. After our draft? We good.

That might be too much for Carolina fans. They lost their heads because of rowdy Buff fans last time.

 

[cybresabre]

That might be too much for Carolina fans. They lost their heads because of rowdy Buff fans last time.

 

[joshjull]

Begbie!

 

[missingmika]

Ahh.. I thought I saw Kjell and Ulf were related. I stand corrected. No big deal - if Matthias plays like his father, Kjell.. or for that matter, Ulf, it's a win.

If you go back far enough, they're related somehow.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Just for what its worth, I've watched a lot of Samuelsson over the last two years. He was one of my favorite players in the 2018 draft. I think I probably had him ranked higher than anyone else. I had 9th in this draft.

His calling card is his ability to defend. He does it better than anyone in this draft, other than the guy you took 1OA.

Samuelsson has been one of the best hockey players in his draft class for two years. He's probably the most NHL ready player in the draft outside of the top 2 picks. There are guys who will get tabbed with more potential, but Samuelsson has produced better than 99% of them for two years.

And I don't really see that changing. He's not going to be tabbed by the "experts" as having big potential, but he's not some pylon. He skates well and can move the puck out of his zone. Offensively bland, but not going to ruin shifts for the team. Defensively, he looks like a 10 year NHL veteran already. Rarely does he make defensive mistakes, always in the right position, blocks shots, really physical presence, hard to beat 1v1, smart player. Easy choice captain of a junior team that will probably end up having like 8-9 first round picks. He's pretty much the definition of an underrated player because he produces so well, but doesn't produce a style that will get attention. But this is an easy top 4 defensemen for 15 years, in my opinion. I have no clue how 31 players went ahead of him. It doesn't make much sense to me.

 

[AustonsNostrils]

 

[Heraldic]

I think this was an excellent pick for us. Going back about 5 years, I think there are legitimate reasons to think he could have been picked around 10th overall.

The reason why he dropped was because pretty much every team is looking to add that top-end skill and skating from their d-men. Back 5 years ago, you simply didn't see small skilled defenseman being taken that much on the first round. The past couple of drafts (and especially this year) you have seen tons of those kind of players being taken. That's a necessity for every team, and it's also something so many teams lack.

A player like Samuelsson has a very low probability of becoming a guy who you can build your defense around. He simply doesn't have the puck skills and offense for that. Teams rather flip the coin with those d-men who have that potential.

We have the luxury of simply not having the need to go after those tickets. Dahlin is the ultimate dynamo for this defense for the next decade. He will play 25 to 30 minutes a game and when he is on the ice, you want him to have the puck. And with proper usage and burden, I have no doubt Risto is able to handle 20-25 minutes a game. When you reduce his workload, I think you will see a lot of more rushing, skating and overall more participating on the offensive side of things. Something he simply hasn't had the energy because of his workload. That's pretty much all you need from your defense offense/puck skill wise

We lack that top-end defensive acumen at this point. I think that around the league that has been a bit overlooked the past years since the need for puck skills, skating and offense from your d-men has become so mandatory. It doesn't mean you don't need top-end defensive skills. That simply isn't something teams can afford to priorize at the expense of those, more mandatory skillsets.

Samuelsson probably has the highest upside of this draft (Dahlin excluded) to become that defensive workhorse who can easily balance Dahlin/Risto and let them do their thing without his own game having any kind of drop-off.

 

[Jim Bob]

Former teammate believes Samuelsson will complement Dahlin

Bode Wilde thinks that Samuelsson would look good as the defense first partner for Dahlin in the future.

Bode Wilde spent the past two seasons playing with Mattias Samuelsson with the U.S. National Team Development Program, so he knows a bit about what Buffalo should expect from the defenseman the Sabres selected with the first pick of the second round on Saturday.

His review should get people excited.

"They're getting a guy who will complement Dahlin pretty well," Wilde, a second-round pick by the Islanders, said. "I can just imagine those two playing together. Mattias will definitely lock it up defensively and shut down and allow a guy like Dahlin to have a bit of freedom.

"He's an incredible player and he was an incredible captain on our team last year, so they're getting a hell of a player."

 

[TheMistyStranger]

I think Samuelsson has that Derek Roy trajectory, honestly. Last player cut kinda guy. Obviously not the same due to college commitment/no training camp, but you know what I mean.

 

[1972]

This generations Henrik Tallinder? Big D who can get around, play simple and make a first pass are ALWAYS going to be valuable in the NHL. If that's what he becomes, we have a great player on our hands. I think too many teams were chasing small mobile offensive defenders in the first round causing guys like this who would traditionally be a first rounder to slip. Realistically, those small offensive guys turn into good AHLers who will never be trusted by there coaches in the NHL 8/10 times. Guys like Drew Schiestel would have been a top 20 pick if here were drafted today.

We have Guhle/Dahlin and Ristolainen as our offensive type defenders, we need the Lydman/Tallinder types.

 

[TheMistyStranger]

This generations Henrik Tallinder? Big D who can get around, play simple and make a first pass are ALWAYS going to be valuable in the NHL. If that's what he becomes, we have a great player on our hands. I think too many teams were chasing small mobile offensive defenders in the first round causing guys like this who would traditionally be a first rounder to slip. Realistically, those small offensive guys turn into good AHLers who will never be trusted by there coaches in the NHL 8/10 times. Guys like Drew Schiestel would have been a top 20 pick if here were drafted today.

We have Guhle/Dahlin and Ristolainen as our offensive type defenders, we need the Lydman/Tallinder types.

Nastier Tallinder, maybe. Hank wasn't much of a hitter.

 

[Chainshot]

I was paying more attention to him earlier in the season, but I like the combination of mobility, character, and smarts. He could be the Beukeboom to Dahlin portraying Leetch in one extrapolation: the takeout portion of a high-minute pairing. That's the dream anyway. He's certainly got the makings of a fine defensive D.