The defenseman, the second-round pick (No. 32) of the Buffalo Sabres in the 2018 NHL Draft, is the son of 14-year NHL veteran Kjell Samuelsson, who was part of the Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup championship team in 1991-92 and works in player development for the Philadelphia Flyers. Kjell was known for being an imposing physical defenseman during his 813 career games. Mattias (6-foot-4, 217 pounds) already has picked up some of his father's style.
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"When I was little, he taught me everything I knew," Mattias, 18, said during Sabres development camp in June. "He's not as much of a coach anymore, he's more of a dad now, but he'll watch games and if he can give me a tip or a point somewhere he'll do that. I'm all-ears and he's my go-to guy when I've got a question."
Last season, Samuelsson was part of USA Hockey's National Team Development Program under-18 team and his physicality was apparent. He had 31 points (11 goals, 20 assists) and a team-leading 113 penalty minutes.
"It's a big part of my game (being physical) and I use it all over the ice, so I mean I'm not tired of hearing it," Samuelsson said. "That's the way I play and I like playing physical and I use it as much as I can. I can do other things besides be physical, but yeah, it's a big part of my game."