Another Tough Break for Sabres' Mattias Samuelsson

Anytime the head coach says that a player "should return this season", that's never an indication of a minor thing. Buffalo Sabres bench boss Lindy Ruff revealed that defenseman Mattias Samuelsson will be out indefinitely but won't require surgery and "should return this season."

Ruff said Thompson and Luukkonen are day-to-day and possible for tomorrow. Samuelsson will be weeks and the severity of his injury "is strong"
— Paul Hamilton (@pham1717) November 13, 2024

The severity of his lower-body injury "is strong", said Ruff. It occured during a scrum in front of the net after the whistle, as it appeared that a player fell on his leg.

Samuelsson fell after the whistle and was in some pain. Hard to see what happened with all the players in the way #sabrehood #gohabsgo pic.twitter.com/Eri3cB2dZu
— Buffalo Hockey Moments (@SabresPlays) November 11, 2024

Once again, Samuelsson will miss a huge swath of games this season. Very troubling as the big, physical defender could be a potential top-four piece if he ever stayed healthy.

He's only in the second season of a huge 7-year, $4.285 million contract. Last season, he managed to get into just 41 games due a series of both lower and upper body injuries, including shoulder surgery.

When he did play, he provided 20:30 of ice time per night, and played his strong, physical game, handing out 106 hits in those 41 contests.

This season has been a tough grind. He was healthy scratched recently for three games, then in his first game back in the lineup, he suffered the current lower-body injury. He has just one point in 13 games with a -2 plus/minus rating.

The good news for Buffalo is that Tage Thompson and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen are day-to-day and possible for tomorrow's game.