Funksoljah
Joined: May 2022
Posts: 1,021
Likes: 1,222
For the people who seem to be confused by why Buffalo fans are so high on Samuelsson it's because of the eye test. Watching him play and the progress he made in a very short period of time last season, and his underlying stats support what the fans saw. A player returning from injury and quickly going from the 3rd pairing most nights to the top pairing. The way he played when he returned to the line-up versus the way he was playing at the end of the season and the progress he made in such a short amount of time. He was a -11 with 2 points in his first 20 games back, and a +1 with 8 points in his final 22. He just visibly looked better and better. He had a couple bad games here and there but so does every other player in the league.
He's also 6'4", has an active stick and will play the body, but won't go out of his way to do it like Risto used to do. Buffalo doesn't have many players like him.