A top player who has committed to play hockey at Western Michigan University, was the first pick of the second round of the NHL Draft in Dallas on Saturday.Mattias Samuelsson, who plans to be playing at Lawson Ice Arena this winter, was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres, who also drafted the over-all number one pick of the draft, fellow defenseman Rasmus Dahlin.

Samuelsson comes with an impressive resume and pedigree. He was captain of the USA Under 18 Team at the World Championships this year, and his father, Kjell, played 14 seasons in the NHL. Brother Lukas just finished his freshman season at WMU and will play alongside his brother.

(WXYZ-TV, Detroit via YouTube)

WMU Hockey posted Saturday afternoon:

Samuelsson becomes the 58th player in program history to get drafted and is the second-highest overall pick in program history. He is the first WMU hockey player to be selected in the draft by the Sabres. Samuelsson recently captained USA's U-18 team to a silver medal at the 2018 U-18 World Championships. The 6-foot-4 defenseman played in all seven games, scoring a goal and tallying an assist. In all competitions with the US National Team Development Program and the U-18 team he played in 88 games, scoring 16 goals and adding 31 assists for 47 points.

 

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