BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres continued locking up their young core of players by signing defenseman Mattias Samuelsson to a seven-year, $30 million contract on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old Samuelsson established himself as one of the team’s top blueliners in his second NHL season last year. He finished with 10 assists in 42 games after missing the start of the season with a leg injury.
At 6-foot-4 and 231 pounds, Samuelsson plays a defense-first role to complement Buffalo’s more offensive-minded blueliners such as Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power.
Samuelsson is from Philadelphia and was selected by Buffalo with the 32nd pick in the 2018 draft. He is the son of former NHL defenseman Kjell Samuelsson, who played for Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay during a 14-year career.
Samuelsson’s signing comes a little over a month after Buffalo signed 24-year-old center Tage Thompson to a seven-year, $50 contract, and on the same day the team signed coach Don Granato to a multiyear extension.
The Sabres open their season Thursday night at home against Ottawa.
The Buffalo Sabres also signed coach Don Granato to a two-year contract extension on Wednesday, rewarding him for the team's improvement in his first full season.
Granato had two years left on his existing contract and is now locked up through the 2025-26 season. He will make just under $2 million in each season of the extension, not including bonuses, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Sabres did not reveal the terms of the contract.
Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams praised the coach for developing a young core of players, including center Tage Thompson, who scored a career-best 38 goals last season.