Alex Tuch doesn’t remember the exact day, but he was sitting in the Buffalo Sabres’ medical room with a trainer in late November when Rasmus Dahlin walked in. Dahlin exhaled and said, “For the first time in a long time, I’m excited to just play hockey again.”
Tuch turned to the trainer with a smile and said, “Uh oh. He’s back.”
Earlier that month, Dahlin had spent a week back home in Sweden with his fiancée Carolina Matovac while she recovered from an emergency heart transplant she received while the couple was vacationing in France in July.
Matovac’s recovery weighed on Dahlin while he returned to Buffalo for training camp in September. The couple went public with what happened that month, in part, to raise awareness for the importance of organ donation. But Dahlin still hadn’t had time to process everything that happened. He didn’t want to talk about it and politely asked reporters to steer clear of the topic in his first news conference of camp.
When the season started, Dahlin had trouble focusing. He’s the Sabres’ most intense competitor and hardest worker. He’s invested so much of himself into the franchise, signing a long-term deal to stay in Buffalo and wanting to bring playoff hockey back to the city. But he’s also human, and the person he loves most was thousands of miles away, going through the ups and downs of an unpredictable recovery from a life-threatening situation. The idea of the hockey rink being an escape doesn’t work when you don’t want to escape. Dahlin wanted to be there for Carolina.
So in November, he decided he needed to step away from the team to be with her.
The night before, the Sabres had hit a low point in their season with an ugly loss at home to the St. Louis Blues. Dahlin spoke after the game. He had gone three straight games without a point, and the weight of everything he was dealing with was evident in his voice.
“I’ve got more to give,” Dahlin said. “I’m not satisfied. I want to create more. I want to do more out there. I’m not satisfied, but I’m on the way.”
Dahlin knows how important he is to the Sabres as their most valuable player and captain. He also knew he wasn’t going to be able to be himself unless he got that time with Carolina.
The Sabres organization didn’t hesitate. Owner Terry Pegula immediately offered up his private jet. Coach Lindy Ruff and then-general manager Kevyn Adams told Dahlin to take all the time he needed. They didn’t put any timetable on his return and made it clear hockey would always come second to family.
“It’s been such an important year for us, and there was no question asked when I wanted to go home,” Dahlin told The Athletic this week.
“The first part of the season was terrible. I could not think about anything else other than Carolina. Then Terry Pegula flew me home to Sweden to be able to see Carolina for a week, and it just gave me an unbelievable boost. Then I was able to go home during Christmas, and I’ve just been lucky to have the organization let me go home and do stuff I needed to do throughout this process. And things got better every day.”
Dahlin ended up missing three games during that first leave of absence. The Sabres lost all three. When he met the team on the road in Detroit, Buffalo’s record was 5-8-4. He said then that the time back home had been just what he needed. He trained while he was in Sweden and came back with a clearer head.
That day in Detroit, the Sabres came back from down three goals to beat the Red Wings 5-4 in overtime. When dissecting the reasons and moments when the Sabres’ season turned around, that game was one of the early hints about what type of team Buffalo could become.
A few days later, Dahlin had that exchange with Tuch in the trainer’s room in the midst of a stretch where he had seven points in four games. He’s performed at a Norris-caliber level ever since.
“He’s just been taking off,” Tuch said. “There was a little switch that flipped, and he started enjoying the game again. The work ethic has always been there. It’s just kind of being able to step into the moment and play and enjoy it. He’s taken full advantage of the opportunities and been running with it.”
With Dahlin leading the way, the Sabres went from last place in the Eastern Conference to first place in the Atlantic Division and ended the league-record playoff drought in the process.
Dahlin, who has 72 points in 76 games and is plus-16, will now get to play in the postseason for the first time in his career. This week, he was nominated for the Masterton Trophy, given to the player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey, largely because of everything he’s dealt with away from the rink.
On Jan. 26, Carolina announced that while going through her medical emergency in the summer, she was also pregnant with the couple’s first child. The couple’s unborn baby did not survive, but their concern about the baby is what prompted them to seek the medical attention that eventually saved Carolina’s life.
“Today was meant to be the day we finally met you,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “You will always hold a special place in our hearts as our first baby, even though we never had the chance to meet. Our love for you is endless.
“Though you didn’t get to experience this world, you played a vital role in ensuring that I could continue to be a part of it.
“This is just one of the many reasons I am alive today, able to embrace a normal life once again. You are our hero, and I hope you are being well cared for in heaven. We love you, baby Matovac Dahlin.”
Jan. 26 was the baby’s due date. The next night, the Sabres were playing against the Maple Leafs in Toronto. The day after Carolina made those additional details about their traumatic summer public, Dahlin went out and had one of the best games of his career. He scored a hat trick and added two assists for a five-point night in a 7-4 Sabres win. Afterward, in the cramped visiting locker room in Toronto, Dahlin said he still needed time to explain what this season has been like. But he smiled when talking about how his teammates have helped him through the toughest months of his life.
“I’m just happy I can be with this team, my brothers,” Dahlin said. “They help me every day. I could not have done this without them, that’s for sure.”
In February, Dahlin didn’t get an Olympic break like many of his teammates. He was busy being one of Sweden’s best players at the Olympics. He was back in Buffalo a few days after Sweden lost in the quarterfinals. And during his first practice, he was the last player on the ice, 30 minutes after practice ended. Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram said that week he thought the Olympics could be a big stepping stone for Dahlin because of how well he played and how locked in he was when he got back.
“I feel like that’s kind of come true,” Byram said. “He’s been unbelievable since coming back. He’s playing at a different level right now. When your best player is going like that every night, it helps your team.”
Dahlin’s teammates can barely comprehend what he’s done this season. Dahlin isn’t one to share too much about what he’s going through, but his teammates all know how hard this has been. Tage Thompson understands more than most. In 2019, Thompson’s wife, Rachel, was diagnosed with cancer. During her recovery, Thompson remembers feeling like his mind was always somewhere else when he was at the hockey rink. He knows Dahlin has dealt with the same thing, but he’s still managed to show up for his teammates day in and day out.
“That’s why he’s our captain,” Thompson said. “That’s why he’s a leader. One of the qualities that makes him great is his ability to be strong mentally. Obviously, with what they’ve been going through this year, it’s the ultimate test for mental toughness to be able to go through that and still perform at the highest level and be a difference maker and still be a voice in the room and present here with everyone is pretty remarkable.”
Because Dahlin is both the Sabres’ captain and the longest tenured player, he and Carolina are the ones who bring players and their families together off the ice. After Dahlin signed his long-term extension, he bought a house that served as a gathering spot for teammates. He and Carolina took in Zach Benson when he was an 18-year-old rookie. Benson said he was so much more comfortable at the rink because Dahlin and Carolina welcomed him in that way. He still misses Carolina’s cooking.
Thompson said Carolina has always been the first one to welcome new families to town and does so much for the wives and girlfriends. She organizes team dinners and functions. She’s also heavily involved with Dahlin’s foundation, which focuses on improving the lives of children with various needs in the Buffalo area. Dahlin is the team’s captain, but Carolina shares that responsibility. As Tuch put it, “She bleeds blue and gold. She loves Sabres hockey.”
“She’s a big reason why the culture is so tight here, and the foundation of the team is so solid,” Thompson added.
That’s why the team felt Carolina’s absence, too. And it’s what made March 25 so special. That night, the Sabres hosted the Bruins, and Carolina hit another milestone. The day before, she had traveled from Sweden back to Buffalo for the first time since the heart transplant. She attended the game in a suite, watching Dahlin play in person for the first time all season. In the first period, the Sabres showed Carolina on the video board, and the crowd welcomed her home with a standing ovation, and she smiled and waved. Dahlin was talking with Peyton Krebs on the bench when he heard Carolina’s name announced in the arena. He looked up with a smile that was filled with love, pride and relief.
“Now it feels like almost back to normal with Carolina here,” Dahlin said.
Dahlin said this is still a lot to talk about. This season is one he will never forget for reasons good and bad. Right now, he’s grateful to be smiling again, even though he hasn’t even started to process what he and Carolina have been through.
“Not even close,” Dahlin said. “I think this summer, when I get some time off maybe. It’s been kind of overwhelming. I’m just in it right now, trying to do the best I can every day.”