Sabres’ Rasmus Dahlin taking leave to support fiancée

Buffalo Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin is taking a leave of absence from the team to join his fiancée in Sweden, where she continues to recover from a heart transplant.

There is no timetable for when Dahlin will return to the Sabres. Coach Lindy Ruff was able to share that Dahlin’s fiancée, Carolina Matovac, hadn’t suffered any setbacks.

“[Dahlin] said everything is OK,” Ruff told reporters Friday. “I think it’s been incredibly hard. I fully understand what this young man is going through. I don’t think you can describe it. I’m very passionate about the fact that no one would want to walk in his shoes and to have dealt with what he has dealt with. He has the support of everybody on this. This is larger than hockey.”

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Matovac began feeling sick last summer while she and Dahlin were vacationing in France. She experienced sudden heart failure and received life-saving care en route to the hospital. Matovac has remained in Sweden to recover while Dahlin started the new season with Buffalo.

The 25-year-old blueliner is two years into his tenure as Sabres captain and has anchored the club’s defense practically since Buffalo drafted him first overall in 2018. Given Matovac’s health issues, it has been a distracting season for Dahlin, but he has managed nine points in 14 games and carries a heavy workload at over 24 minutes per night.

But Dahlin expressed some frustration about his performance this season following Buffalo’s 3-0 loss to St. Louis on Thursday.

“I got more to give. I’m not satisfied,” Dahlin told reporters. “I want to create more. I want to do more out there. I’m not satisfied, but I’m on the way.”

Some things are bigger than a stat sheet or standings, though, and that’s where Ruff wants to see Dahlin’s focus going for now.

“Family and personal come before hockey,” Ruff said. “Hockey’s our job, hockey’s our lifeline, but family and personal trump anything else.”