Eternally Elite: First Time Captain Adds Another Solid Year to His Resume Despite Team Struggles
Total Season Stats: 17G, 51A | 68 PTS | +11 | 54 PIM
Age: 25
Contract Status: Signed through 2032; $11,000,000 AAV
Rasmus Dahlin began the seventh year of his NHL career in a big way when he was appointed captain during the 2024-2025 preseason. An obvious choice, the skilled Swede is the first defenseman to be named captain on the Sabres since Craig Rivet in 2008. And he certainly earned it.
Selected for the NHL All-Star Game three consecutive times – 2022, 2023, 2024, respectively – Dahlin was selected by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association to represent their country in this year’s new event, the 4 Nations Face-Off. Though Canada won the tournament, Dahlin contributed a goal for his team and averaged 17:46 in ice time.
In terms of his personal play with Buffalo, Dahlin has tallied 360 points in a total 509 career games thus far. For the 2024-2025 season, he ranked fourth in the league in points among defensemen with 68. Though nowhere near his career-high of 195 last year – he executed a solid 101 hits this past season and, additionally, blocked 98 shots. Unfortunately, he had a personal high in giveaways with 105, which will surely be something he works on in the offseason to prepare for the fall.
Many adjectives come to mind when thinking about how Dahlin skates, handles the puck, and defends his team’s zone, but smooth may actually be the best descriptor. Fans may be used to it by now, but no one can deny the sheer talent that he possesses and displays game after game. Dahls remains as poised as ever in any role he plays on and off the ice and it is difficult to narrow down just a few highlights, but he remains in conversations around the league as not only a top defenseman, but a top player. And he only just turned 25.
Even though the Sabres have missed the postseason for an abysmal 14 successive years, Dahlin remains the core of this team – the youngest group in the NHL – and hopefully one of the few puzzle pieces it has to get them past this drought as the proverbial clock continues to tick. His leadership gradually improved as the season progressed, especially in their last 20 matchups, going 12-7-1. According to the defenseman himself, the club grew more “mature” at the end as he became more comfortable holding both himself and his teammates accountable for their position in the standings. He also expressed confidence in carrying that late momentum into the 2025-2026 season. With a year of leadership under his belt, next season will be a real test to see if he can break the playoff curse and lead his team to the postseason for the first time in his entire career. No pressure!
Season Grade: A