Rasmus Dahlin takes leave of absence from Sabres to be with fiancée

The Buffalo Sabres are going to be without their captain for a little bit.

When speaking to the media on Friday, Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff revealed that defenseman Rasmus Dahlin is taking a leave of absence to return to his homeland to be with his fiancée.

Ruff stated that Dahlin didn’t want to draw too much attention to the matter, saying everything was under control.

“Ramsus will be taking a temporary leave of absence to deal with a personal matter back in Sweden,” Ruff said. “I will say this, he said everything is okay, and through this, he’s got full support by our team.”

The 25-year-old has appeared in all 14 games for Buffalo this season. He has scored a goal and eight assists for nine points, notching a goal and an assist against the Boston Bruins on Oct. 30. Thus far, he has a plus/minus of -11 while averaging 24:27 of ice time per game, which leads the team.

Dahlin entered the 2025-26 campaign after an exceptional year, during which he scored 17 goals and 51 assists for 68 points in 2024-25, his best production since he potted a career-best 73 points during the 2022-23 season. While the team as a whole has struggled over most of Dahlin’s tenure, the Lidkoping native has been a bright spot through some dark days.

In 523 career games with Buffalo, he has scored 84 goals and 285 assists for 369 points.

Dahlin is in the second season of the eight-year contract extension that he signed with team in October 2023. The deal has a cap hit of $11 million through the 2031-32 campaign, carrying a no-move clause as well.

The Sabres (5-5-4) are set to visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night.