The Buffalo Sabres are continuing their four-game road trip in Salt Lake City on Wednesday without team captain Rasmus Dahlin, who returned to Sweden after taking a temporary leave of absence, but the All-Star blueliner is trying to stay in shape for his return to the NHL in the near future and to play for sweden in the upcoming 2026 Olympics in Milano/Cortina,, as he skated with Frolunda HC in Gothenberg on Monday.
"(Rasmus) said when he left, he's gonna be skating," Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said on Monday. "He said he was taking his stuff, he was gonna skate, and when he gets back, he's ready to go. I think that's the competitor in him......When you miss a week, if you're not doing anything, it really hurts, but to stay active and stay on the ice and be with good players, (it's a) big benefit for us and for him."
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Dahlin played two seasons in the SHL junior and pro level with Frolunda before being selected first overall by the Sabres in 2018. The 25-year-old has understandably struggled on the ice this season, with nine points (1 goal, 8 assists) in 14 games, and a team-leading -11. In September, he revealed via social media that his fiancee, Carolina Matovac had a terrible health scare over the summer, she was on life support for weeks that led to weeks in a French hospital before undergoing a heart transplant.
In his absence, Bowen Byram took over the quarterbacking duties on the Sabres power play, and the minutes were distributed between Byram, Conor Timmins, Owen Power, and Mattias Samuelsson, who each played over 20 minutes in the 6-3 loss to Carolina on Saturday. Power scored his second goal of the season, while Byram went -3 on the night.
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