Sabres Lose Samuelsson and Zellweger in Brutal Preseason Blow
Daily Faceoff reported Samuelsson is out week-to-week and Zellweger is in concussion protocol.
Winning a preseason game 5-1 is supposed to be a nice, stress-free evening of fake hockey. Instead, the managed to turn a Tuesday night exhibition against the Columbus into a defensive nightmare, losing two of their most important blueliners in the span of a single period.
According to Daily Faceoff, Mattias Samuelsson is officially out week-to-week with a lower-body injury, while Olen Zellweger has been placed in concussion protocol.
Samuelsson caught a Luca Pinelli shot in the second period and eventually had to call it a night. This is a brutal setback for a guy who finally proved he could stay on the ice last year. After averaging just 50 games a season for four years, he logged 78 games last season and broke out with 13 goals and 28 assists. Now, the team's top shutdown defender is on the shelf before the games actually count.
The Zellweger news might sting even more. The 23-year-old took a heavy hit from Carson Soucy late in the second period and needed help getting off the ice. This was literally his first game in a Buffalo sweater after the front office traded Bowen Byram to the Chicago and flipped assets to the just to bring Zellweger to town.
He was slated to skate next to Owen Power on the second pairing, bringing some much-needed offensive juice to the blue line. If you were eyeing any Buffalo futures or defensive props for the upcoming season, this is exactly the kind of early variance that makes you want to sit on your hands and wait to see how the rotation shakes out.
The regular season kicks off in just over a week, and head coach Lindy Ruff suddenly has a massive hole on the back end. The will have to scramble to test out new defensive pairings when they face the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday, hoping their blue line does not completely collapse before opening night.