General manager Kevyn Adams went from being the Sabres savior to handing 31 other NHL general managers blueprints of how to not build a core. We saw some of that core dismantled already, with Jeff Skinner going to the Edmonton Oilers following a buyout last summer, and Dylan Cozens shipped to Ottawa this past March.
Skinner and Cozens were supposed to be two players who would help the Sabres reach the NHL Playoffs, but that’s no longer a possibility. The Blue and Gold lost faith in both as they seemed to run out of talent during their latter days in Buffalo, and a contingent of fans will tell you that the duo deserves to be gone.
But Skinner and Cozens aren’t the only two players Sabres fans need to stop going to bat for. Yeah, some players enjoyed epic seasons, but below, I got two more who’ve fallen short of expectations over the last couple of years. Both have struggled with injuries, but their respective play has also regressed in that frame.
1 - Jack Quinn
The beginning of the end occurred nearly two years ago when Jack Quinn tore his Achilles and missed a significant portion of the 2023-24 season. A subsequent lower-body injury occurred shortly after, and it limited him to playing 27 games. Fast-forward to 2024-25, and Quinn was supposed to enjoy a redemption or even a breakout season, right?
Instead, Quinn ended up with 39 points and 15 goals in 74 games, a far cry from the potential he showed when he was healthy enough to play just a season before. Yeah, Quinn finished the year with a respectable 12.2 shooting percentage, but he never fired the puck at the net anywhere near enough to put up a 20-plus goal season.
He also finished with a minus-18 on the year, the worst rating on the team. So, Quinn’s play showed up at times, but it was generally ineffective, and he ended up as arguably the most disappointing forward in the lineup.
2 - Mattias Samuelsson
Mattias Samuelsson finished the year with 14 points and four goals in 62 games with a plus-3 rating. For a defensive defenseman, these aren’t bad numbers. But Samuelsson missed at least 20 games for the third season running, and you can argue he’s the most injury prone player in the NHL.
He also hasn’t shown improvement in his physical play, logging just 105 hits in a system that saw the Sabres outmuscle a few more opponents than they had in the past. It was a system Samuelsson should’ve thrived in and had laid at least 125-plus body checks, considering the number of games he appeared in.
With less ice time, I was hoping to see Samuelsson stave off those injuries, but that wasn’t the case. A couple years back, you could’ve argued he was the Sabres most impactful defenseman, even if he didn’t put up two-way numbers like Rasmus Dahlin, because the Sabres won a lot of games when he was healthy.
Today? Samuelsson deserves little more than a passing glance, and his future, at best, could be as a No. 7 defenseman who comes in and plays on a part-time basis.