Mattias Samuelsson

Samuelsson was leaned on heavily by Buffalo in 2022-23, averaging 22:11 of ice time, but injuries including a broken hand and a sprained MCL limited him to 55 outings. The 23-year-old defenseman might be fine for the start of the 2023-24 campaign, but he's likely to continue to be used as more of a defensive option, which frees up his usual partner, Rasmus Dahlin, to play the aggressive game he excels at. That arrangement left Samuelsson with two goals and 10 points last season and even if he stays healthy this time around, the blueliner reaching the 20-point milestone is probably the best fantasy managers could hope for. On the bright side, he does have the potential to finish with over 150 hits and 125 blocks over a full campaign, if he can stay healthy.

A stay-at-home defender with limited offensive upside, Samuelsson played a little more than half the season (42 games) for the Sabres last year, picking up ten assists, 100 hits, 60 blocked shots and a minus-10 rating, while averaging exactly 20 minutes of ice time per game. He would appear to have the inside track to a full-time job with Buffalo heading into the 2022-23 campaign, making Samuelsson a sneaky cheap source of hits and blocks in leagues which reward those statistics. Just keep in mind there's going to be virtually no offensive production attached.