Sabres’ Mattias Samuelsson exits game vs. Lightning with upper-body injury

Buffalo Sabres’ defenseman Mattias Samuelsson left Tuesday night’s game vs the Tampa Bay Lightning with an upper-body injury.

Samuelsson blocked a Tanner Jeannot shot early in the third period, although it’s unclear if this caused the injury. He had an assist and two blocked shots in 17:36 of ice time prior to the injury. He was on the Sabres’ top defensive pairing with Rasmus Dahlin.

The 23-year-old has battled injuries through his young career. Last April, he missed the last two games of the season after it was confirmed he was playing with a broken hand and a sprained MCL. He had missed some time throughout the year with other injuries, playing only 55 games through 2022-23.

The day before the start of the 2022-23 regular season, Samuelsson signed a seven-year, $30 million contract extension with the Sabres.

After being drafted in the second round by the Sabres in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Samuelsson spent two seasons playing college hockey with the Western Michigan Broncos, scoring seven goals and 19 assists for 26 points over 65 games.

Samuelsson played for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program and was part of their silver medal-winning squad at the 2019 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship in British Columbia. He was the captain of the team for the 2020 World Juniors.

He made his professional debut in 2020-21 with the Sabres’ AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans. He made his NHL debut with the Sabres on April, 2021 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Through 2021-22, Samuelsson started the season with the Americans, scoring two goals and 13 assists for 15 points in 22 games, before spending the rest of the year with the big club. In 42 games, he recorded 10 assists.

Samuelsson has two goals and 20 assists for 22 points in 111 career NHL games.