Buffalo Sabres Sign Defenseman to Long-Term Extension

The Buffalo Sabres have signed Mattias Samuelsson to a seven-year, $30 million ($4.29 million AAV) contract extension.

This is a contract that completely came out of left field. Samuelsson has only played in 54 career NHL games, where he has yet to score a goal and has recorded 12 assists. Yet, it is clear that the Sabres have a lot of confidence in the 22-year-old defenseman and are banking on him reaching his full potential.

The Sabres have loads of cap space, so money is not the issue when it comes to the present. However, it will become a pretty expensive and long contract if he remains stagnant or goes backward in his development moving forward. All eyes will be on him this season due to this pretty big payday. If he blossoms into a top-four defenseman as the years pass by, this could become a steal of a deal.