The Top 25 Under 25 is a collaboration by members of the Die By The Blade community. It was a combination of staff writers and over 200 readers that ranked Buffalo Sabres players under the age of 25 as of August 1, 2024. Each participant used their own metric of current ability and production to rank each player. Staff votes counted equally with reader votes.
Mattias Samuelsson
Drafted: 2018 – 2nd Round (32nd Overall)
Position: Defense
Born: March 14, 2000 (24 years old)
2023-24 Stats: Buffalo Sabres (NHL) 1-6-7 in 41 GP
2023 T25U25 Ranking: 6
2022 T25U25 Ranking: 8
After a 2022-23 season where he really blossomed into one of the best defensemen on the Buffalo Sabres, the sky seemed the limit for the New Jersey-born defenseman, the son of Swedish defenseman Kjell Samuelsson, a 14-year veteran of the league who lifted the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Sabres had handed the youngster a seven year deal at the beginning of the season, which seemed a bit hasty given that he would become an RFA at the end of the campaign, but his play during the year seemed to justify his contract, especially at a cost-controlled $4.3 million per year AAV.
Last season however ended up being an injury-plagued season for the 24-year-old as he only ended up featuring in exactly half the Sabres’ scheduled games for the year. In his last three seasons since making his debut late in the ’20-’21 campaign, he’s played in 42, 55 and 41 games respectively, which casts into serious doubt his ability to be the Sabres’ top shutdown blueliner.
“One-timer’s off the ankle, I don’t know what you’re supposed to do about that. The skates just keep getting lighter and thinner so everyone can get faster.” he said later in reference to that injury.
In his ‘breakout’ ’22-’23 season Samuelsson showed off his value to the side with Buffalo going 33-18-4 with him on the ice, and a meager 9-15-3 without the d-man. Laden with offensive defensemen, it’s the more defensive defensemen in the mold of Samuelsson that the Sabres are in need of. While the 23-year-old doesn’t add too much in terms of points, the defensive stability and physical presence he brings to the blue line is of critical importance.
That year he missed time too, with his physical playing style accounting for the broken hand and then the knee injury that saw him miss a chunk of the year.
“Some of them, like my knee injury last year in Vancouver, like (a) freak accident. But, I mean, I can definitely not stick my leg in there like that and try to hold him off.
“It’s a hard game. I play a hard style. Like, I’m going to be banged up. … But I think some of them are probably avoidable.”
He actually upped his hits per 60 min of ice time from about 5 to 7.5 last season, which was welcome for a Sabres side that has unfortunately gained renown for being ‘soft’. Samuelsson saw his even strength time on ice drop drastically last season, going from 19:20 to 17:40, though he is by far the most critical member of the penalty killing unit with his numbers consistently around the 2:45 per night mark.
Plagued last season by persistent shoulder issues, the Sabres finally pulled the plug on his season in late January sending him to get surgery to repair the ailment.
Samuelsson moved down a few spots from last year’s rankings, and it was no surprise. If he won’t be able to shake his injury woes he’ll continue to see his role and minutes diminishing with the Sabres, which also puts General Manager Kevyn Adams in an awkward spot after giving him a seven-year deal.
2024 Buffalo Sabres Top 25 Under 25
#25: Adam Kleber
#24: Tyson Kozak
#23: Maxim Štrbák
#22: Prokhor Poltapov
#21: Aleksandr Kisakov
#20: Viktor Neuchev
#19: Vsevolod Komarov
#18: Nikita Novikov
#17: Anton Wahlberg
#16 Isak Rosén
#15 Peyton Krebs
#14: Noah Östlund
#13: Konsta Helenius
#12: Ryan Johnson
#11: Ryan McLeod
