![\"Buffalo](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777029707_747_image.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nBUFFALO, N.Y. \u2014 Rasmus Dahlin and Josh Allen arrived in Buffalo mere months apart in 2018 as foundational pieces for two franchises looking ahead to more prosperous futures.<\/p>\n
The path to success proved far shorter for Allen and the Bills, with Dahlin \u2014 the Sabres’ captain \u2014 acknowledging feeling pangs of jealousy in seeing the out-pouring of love the quarterback and team enjoyed in becoming contenders.<\/p>\n
And Dahlin is self-aware enough to understand why after spending his first seven seasons playing for a perennial disappointment before finally snapping an NHL-record 14-year postseason drought this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve gone to so many Bills games, and the whole city is just behind them. And then we just kept losing. It was a bit of jealousy in there for sure,\u201d Dahlin told The Associated Press this week. \u201cBut I\u2019ve always known that when we start having success, we\u2019re going to have the same thing. So that\u2019s what kind of drove me for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Welcome to the party, said Allen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what it\u2019s like when we\u2019ve got a packed stadium, and we\u2019re rolling and that crowd gets buzzing. There is no other feeling,\u201d the quarterback said. \u201cThey must be going out for their pregame skates and just be like, \u2018Holy cow, this is freaking amazing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Allen and Dahlin 1st-round picks in 2018<\/p>\n
Allen arrived first when the Bills traded up seven spots to draft him at No. 7 in April. The Sabres followed in June by selecting Dahlin first overall.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, left, celebrates with right wing Alex Tuch, right, after scoring during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Detroit Red Wings, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. Credit: AP\/Adrian Kraus<\/p>\n
Though they have much in common in competitive drive, athletic ability and being unquestioned leaders, Dahlin and Allen know each other only in passing due in part because of how their seasons overlap.<\/p>\n
What they lack in friendship they make up for in mutual admiration.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo see Rasmus and the way he\u2019s progressed since he got here, you can tell by how much his teammates love him by how much they have his back,\u201d Allen said about Dahlin. \u201cHe plays with heart. And I like to think that I play with heart, too. So very similar styles.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no different for how Dahlin views Allen.<\/p>\n
![\"Washington](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777029708_954_image.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) fight for a rebound off of Buffalo Sabres goaltender Colten Ellis against Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin during the first period of an NHL Hockey game, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Washington. Credit: AP\/John McDonnell<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a big role model. I love what he\u2019s doing,\u201d Dahlin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody knows what he can do, but I would say leadership, the type of teammate he seems to be and how much he means to his teammates,\u201d Dahlin added, noting he\u2019d like to one day pick Allen\u2019s brain on leading. \u201cI want to hear his journey. I want to hear where he comes from and his career, his ups and downs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Differing backgrounds<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s where their paths differ, from age, culture and expectation.<\/p>\n
Allen, 29, is from the central California farm town of Firebaugh, and was mostly ignored coming out of high school. After two years at Ridley Junior College, he finally landed a scholarship at Wyoming.<\/p>\n
The doubts followed Allen into the draft, in which he was regarded as being a raw talent with accuracy issues.<\/p>\n
Dahlin, 26, is from Lidkoping, Sweden, and pegged on the fast-track for greatness at an early age. By 16, he made his debut in the Swedish Elite League, and made his Olympic debut in South Korea before being drafted by Buffalo.<\/p>\n
It was in Buffalo, where their trajectories diverged again. Allen, the NFL\u2019s 2024 MVP, has essentially re-written the Bills passing and scoring records, while leading the team to seven-straight playoff appearances.<\/p>\n
Dahlin has been exceptionally productive, ranking second on the team list in most defensive scoring categories behind Hall of Famer Phil Housley. But his personal production didn\u2019t translate into team success until this year.<\/p>\n
Allen is more outgoing by nature, while Dahlin comparatively reserved, in part because he needed time to adapt to living in North America and learning English.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a bunch of different styles of leading a team, and I\u2019ve seen from watching as an outsider how Josh leads \u2014 gets the crowd into it, fires guys up,\u201d Sabres forward Jordan Greenway said. \u201cRas maybe doesn\u2019t talk as much, but when he does, you listen, and he definitely leads every time on the ice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sabres, Bills both made playoffs 26 years ago<\/p>\n
It hasn’t been since 1999-2000 when both teams made the playoffs in the same season. Allen’s arrival came a year after the Bills ended their own 17-season playoff drought.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the Bills are playing good, this city\u2019s better. When the Sabres are playing good, this city is even better,\u201d Allen said. \u201cIt feels good when you\u2019re getting love for doing what you do at a high level. And that\u2019s what they are getting right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dahlin is living it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to Wegman\u2019s yesterday and I think I got 50 high-fives of people saying, \u2018Let\u2019s go, Buffalo,\u2019\u201d he said of a recent trip to the grocery store, finally getting a taste of what Allen has experienced.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe come from two different places,\u201d Dahlin said. \u201cBut it\u2019s cool how it all came together.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP NHL playoffs: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/stanley-cup and https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nhl <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BUFFALO, N.Y. \u2014 Rasmus Dahlin and Josh Allen arrived in Buffalo mere months apart in 2018 as foundational…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":873455,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2048],"tags":[215,214,53,2086,7,6,4475,2309],"class_list":{"0":"post-873454","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-buffalo-bills","8":"tag-bills","9":"tag-buffalo","10":"tag-buffalo-bills","11":"tag-buffalobills","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-wires-bot"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116459432586271787","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=873454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/873455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}