Buffalo Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin will be taking a temporary leave of absence from the team, head coach Lindy Ruff announced on Friday.
Ruff added that Dahlin will return to his native Sweden during his leave, and that there is currently no timeline for a potential return to play.
“Rasmus will be taking a temporary leave of absence to deal with a personal matter back in Sweden,” he said.
“I will say this, he said everything is ok, and through this he’s got the full support by our team.”
“I don’t think you can feel what he’s feeling,” Ruff added. “I’m pretty passionate about the fact that no one would want to walk in his shoes and have dealt with what he dealt with. He has, undoubtedly, got the support of everybody on this. This is larger than hockey.
“Family and person come before hockey. Hockey is our job, hockey is our lifeline, but family and personal trump anything that comes before.”
The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn reports that the defenceman will be with his fiancée during his time away from the team after she received a heart transplant following health complications over the summer.
Rasmus Dahlin will be taking a temporary leave of absence from the Sabres to return to Sweden to be with his fiancée. Lindy Ruff said he has the full support of the organization. Everything is ok with Dahlin’s fiancée right now. No timetable on how long he’ll be gone.
— Matthew Fairburn (@MatthewFairburn) November 7, 2025
Dahlin, now in his eighth NHL season, has scored one goal with nine points through 14 games played in 2025-26.
Drafted first overall by the Sabres in the 2018 draft, the 6-foot-3, 204-pound blueliner has totaled 84 goals and 285 assists across 523 games played in his career.
Buffalo has played to a 5-5-4 record this season, and sit in last place in the Atlantic Division.
