Buffalo Sabers captain Rasmus Dahlin will take a temporary leave of absence from the team and return to Sweden to attend to a personal matter, head coach Lindy Ruff announced Friday.
“I will say this, he said everything was fine,” Ruff said of the defender. “He has the full support of our team.”
Ruff said there is no timetable for Dahlin’s return to the Sabres.
According to The Athletic, Rasmus will be with his fiancée, Carolina Matovac, who continues to recover after a heart transplant following health complications.
On September 19, the couple shared a letter detailing her major heart failure while vacationing in France this summer, which led to her being placed on life support for several weeks.
“I think it’s been incredibly difficult. Not easy (for Dahlin to stay focused),” Ruff said.
“I completely understand what this young man is going through. I don’t think you can describe it, and I don’t think you can feel what he’s feeling. I’m pretty passionate about the fact that no one would want to walk in his shoes and have to deal with what he went through. …. It’s bigger than hockey.”
Dahlin, 25, has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in 14 games this season.
Signed to an eight-year contract worth $88 million, Dahlin has 369 points (84 goals, 285 assists) in 523 career games since being selected by the Sabers with the first pick in the 2018 NHL draft.
–Field level media
