The Buffalo Sabres’ blue line has been in flux for close to a decade. In past years we may have felt they figured things out with their defense group, but this time is different. They have four players under the age of 22 that look like the anchors of their top four for the foreseeable future in Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Henri Jokiharju, and Mattias Samuelsson.

We know the top-end talent of Power and Dahlin. Jokiharju has had his inconsistencies, but there’s still talent to be utilized in the correct role. Samuelsson is the one that solidified it. Primarily because he’s a different style of player than the other three.

Development Path

When Samuelsson was drafted, he was described as a strong defensive-defenseman with some potential offensive upside. I’m not afraid to admit that I was skeptical of his ability to be a top-four NHL defenseman because I had concerns about his footwork and ability to handle speed on the rush.

Well, I was wrong and I figured that out fairly quickly when I started to watch him as a rookie with the Rochester Amerks. His footwork was improving and his acceleration with the puck on his stick was drastically improved, in my opinion.

He was the best defensive defenseman on the Amerks early on in his rookie season. His reach is the first thing you notice, but it’s how well he closes down rushes that allow him to succeed in today’s fast-paced game.

Offensive Impact

The most interesting thing about his development has been how impactful he is offensively. In his season and a half with the Amerks, he was one of the top players in our tracking data in primary shot contributions. As a rookie, below you’ll see he led all defensemen in primary shot contributions.

In his short time with the Amerks this season, he was once again at the top in PSC per games played in the tracking data.

This has translated to the NHL as well. In Evolving Hockey’s goals above replacement model, he’s fifth on the team in even-strength offense per 60 minutes among players to play at least 100 minutes.

A few of his primary assists this season show his vision in the offensive, such as the one below.

Below is another example of how he starts the play at one end of the ice and then sets up the play behind the net at the other end.

Defensive Game

It was his offensive impact that showed up early in his NHL career, but his impact defensively has caught up. In the twins’ RAPM model, he’s a positive both offensively and defensively.

In Micah McCurdy’s model, he has him graded out as a slight negative offensively, but a positive impact player in his end of the ice.

He has been a 46.43% expected goal share played in Evolving Hockey’s model since the All-Star break. That may not seem great on the surface, but that ranks him third among all defensemen on the roster. For perspective, Rasmus Dahlin is the leader at 49%.

Samuelsson’s stick is a weapon in the defensive zone. Henrik Tallinder may be the last time I saw a Sabres defense use their stick and reach the way that he does. There are times he looks beat and he uses his stick to end the threat. It has helped reduce the opponent’s ability to attack the Sabres on the rush when he is on the ice.

Mattias Samuelsson is awesome. pic.twitter.com/6H0QDzXrhr

— The Charging Buffalo (@TheChargingBUF) March 13, 2022

It’s not only his reach but his ability to use his size to shield pucks and win battles on the walls. We rarely see him panic with the puck on his stick in any of the three zones.

Mattias Samuelsson is just too big pic.twitter.com/jVOmXnaU7K

— The Charging Buffalo (@TheChargingBUF) April 12, 2022

We knew about the high-end talent on the roster, but it has been the solid two-way game of Samuelsson that has helped solidify this blue line for the future. He has adapted to the NHL game quickly and has earned the trust of his head coach. He’s playing the third-most minutes per games played at 5 on 5, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Now that we’ve seen a few games with Owen Power in the mix, the Sabres may be on their way to forming one of the best young blue lines in the league.

Data via: Evolving Hockey, Hockeyviz.com, and Natural Stat Trick

Photo Credit: Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images