Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson will make his return to the lineup tomorrow against the Rangers, reports Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. He’ll need to come off injured reserve first, but Buffalo has an open roster spot after reassigning Tyson Kozak to AHL Rochester this morning.
The 24-year-old lefty has missed the last 12 games with a lower-body injury he sustained against the Canadiens on Nov. 11. It was his first appearance in over a week after a run of three straight healthy scratches, part of what’s been a frustrating campaign for the 2018 second-round pick.
Samuelsson’s return comes a bit earlier than most expected after he was initially ruled week-to-week. He’ll end up missing exactly a month, although the tea leaves displayed by head coach Lindy Ruff at the time of his injury suggested it could be longer.
That’s good news for the young defender, who’s already missed significant chunks of the last two seasons with varying injuries. Now in the second year of his seven-year, $30MM extension, Samuelsson is averaging a career-low 16:05 per game in 2024-25 and had one goal and a -2 rating through 13 appearances.
While the Pennsylvania native looked to have the upside of a stalwart top-pairing shutdown defender, that outlook is looking bleaker after the last couple of years. He was off to the worst start of his career possession-wise before the injury – the Sabres were controlling 55.4% of shot attempts at even strength without Samuelsson on the ice compared to only 49.2% with him.
There are still five seasons left after this one on that long-term commitment, one that could feasibly be headed toward a buyout if he can’t work his way back up the depth chart or at least avoid the injury bug. He’s expected to skate in a third-pairing role alongside Connor Clifton in his return, per PuckPedia.