4 – Mattias Samuelsson
2021-22 Statistics: 42 games, 10 points, 0 goals, 10 assists, 60 blocks, 100 hits, 8 takeaways
Samuelsson isn’t going to score many points but for one good reason: He doesn’t need to. This is a young skater whose game is almost purely defensive, and you will see that on display in 2022-23.
Last year, Samuelsson started just over half of a possible 82 games, and he still logged triple-digits in hits. If you take those 60 blocks and 100 hits in 42 contests and average them out to an 82-game season, you get 117 blocks and 195 hits. For a player with just 54 games of NHL experience, that’s saying a lot.
Projection for 2022-23: Samuelsson is the favorite, and my personal favorite, to land a spot on the first pairing with Rasmus Dahlin. Like Power, his Number 4 ranking is more because of his lack of NHL experience, but if he can emulate his success from last season, Samuelsson may find himself moving up a couple of rungs.
I don’t expect him to score often. But now that he will likely play most if not all of a full 82-game season, I do expect Samuelsson to record his first NHL goal. However, it is far-fetched to expect too much of an offensive game. Look for him to score between 15 and 20 points.