‘He’s always fighting’ | Quinn showed growth despite limited playing time in 2023-24

Mattias Samuelsson spent plenty of time with Jack Quinn as the two players rehabbed injuries that sidelined them for large portions of the second half of this past season.

When Quinn returned to the lineup in late March and quickly experienced success, it came as no surprise to Samuelsson, his teammate the past two years in Buffalo and before that in Rochester.

“I would say it didn’t shock me because I know how good he is,” Samuelsson said. “I think Quinner’s a hell of a player, super talented, super detail oriented, I guess you could say. He loves learning little new things. I think he’s a really good hockey player.

“I think it was pretty impressive, too, what he was able to do with how a short of a time he was in games. I got no worries from Quinner going forward. He’ll be a hell of a hockey player for a long time.”

Quinn was limited to 27 games this season due to two long-term injuries: an Achilles’ tendon injury that required offseason surgery and forced him to miss the first 32 games of the season, then a second lower-body injury that also required surgery and kept him out for all of February and most of March.

When he was on the ice, the 22-year-old was able to build on the promise he showed as a rookie in 2022-23. He scored nine goals and 19 points in his abbreviated sophomore season, including 16 points at even strength.

At 5-on-5, Quinn averaged 2.93 points per 60 minutes – a rate which ranked fifth among NHL players with at least 20 games played behind Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Nikita Kucherov, and Auston Matthews. The names immediately after Quinn on that list: David Pastrnak, Artemi Panarin, and Sidney Crosby.

“It was great to be back in the lineup for myself and, you know, try to help the team win,” Quinn said. “And I think we’re really close to being a really good team in this league, and we’re gonna do everything we can to be there next year.”