Ruff added that Dahlin has the organization’s full support and that everything is OK, though there is no timetable on how long he’ll be gone.
Dahlin’s fiancée, Carolina Matovac, needed a lifesaving heart transplant over the summer.
In a message Dahlin and Matovac posted on the Sabres website on Sept. 19, the defenceman outlined how his fiancée felt sick for several days during a vacation in France before her heart failed. He wrote that Matovac required CPR on “multiple occasions and up to a couple of hours at a time,” and then spent weeks on life support before receiving a new heart.
Dahlin said Matovac is “on the path to a full recovery” and is rehabilitating in Sweden before she can be cleared to travel and join him in Buffalo.
The 25-year-old has one goal and eight assists in 14 games this season, his eighth in the NHL after being selected first overall by Buffalo in the 2018 draft. He has topped 50 points in each of his past four seasons and has been chosen to represent his country at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
— with files from The Associated Press
