Rasmus Erik Dahlin (; born 13 April 2000) is a Swedish professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

and

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

for the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL). Having been referred to as the most talented player available in the 2018 NHL entry draft class, Dahlin was selected first overall in the draft by the Sabres.

Playing career

In the 2016–17 season, Dahlin scored his first

Swedish Hockey League The Swedish Hockey League (SHL; ) is a professional ice hockey league in Sweden and the highest level of the ice hockey in Sweden, Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, and while Li ...

(SHL) goal with

Frölunda HC Frölunda Hockey Club, previously known as the Frölunda Indians, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Gothenburg. They currently play in the highest Swedish league, the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), formerly the Elitserien, where th ...

on 12 November 2016 in a game against

Karlskrona HK Karlskrona HK is a Swedish ice hockey club located in Karlskrona, Sweden, established in 2001. They played three seasons in the top-tier Swedish Hockey League (SHL) between the 2015–16 and 2017–18 seasons. Their home arena is NKT Arena Karl ...

Leading up to the 2018 NHL entry draft, Dahlin was widely considered the top prospect. He was described as a smart two-way defenceman with a great set of tools, including skating, puck handling, vision, intelligence and shot. Dan Marr of the

NHL Central Scouting Bureau The NHL Central Scouting Services (CSS) is a department within the National Hockey League (NHL) that ranks prospects for the NHL entry draft at specific times during the hockey season. Players are ranked based on how well they will translate t ...

described him as an exceptionally talented prospect that would be able to impact his team's fortune in a way similar to his countrymen

Erik Karlsson Erik Sven Gunnar Karlsson (; born 31 May 1990) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Karlsson was drafted in the first round, 15th overall, by the Ottawa Senators at th ...

and

Victor Hedman Victor Erik Olof Hedman (; born 18 December 1990) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman and Captain (ice hockey), captain for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). Hedman was selected second overall by the Lightni ...

. On 22 June 2018, Dahlin was drafted first overall by the

. He was the first Swedish player to be drafted first overall since

Mats Sundin Mats Johan Sundin (; born 13 February 1971) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player who played the majority of his career in the National Hockey League (NHL), retiring in 2009. Originally drafted List of NHL first overall draft choice ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, and the second Swede overall to accomplish the feat. On 9 July, he signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Sabres. Dahlin participated at the Sabres' training camp and made the opening night roster for the 2018–19 season. He made his NHL debut on 4 October in a 4–0 loss to the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

. Dahlin recorded his first career NHL goal on 13 October in a 3–0 win over the

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

. On 9 February 2019, after a win over the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

, Dahlin became the fifth defenceman in NHL history to record 30 points before age 19. Following his rookie season, Dahlin was named as one of the three finalists for the

Calder Memorial Trophy The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League (NHL)." It is named after Frank Calder, the first president of the NHL. Serving ...

as the top rookie in the NHL. On 22 September 2021, Dahlin signed a three-year, $18 million contract with the Sabres. He enjoyed a breakout 2021–22 season, posting new career highs in goals, assists and points and was named to the

2022 NHL All-Star Game The 2022 National Hockey League All-Star Game was held on February 5, 2022, at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, the home of the Vegas Golden Knights. For the sixth consecutive All-Star Game, a three-on-three format was used, with teams represe ...

. Dahlin opened the 2022–23 season by setting an NHL record for goals by a defenceman in consecutive opening games, at four, as part of a resurgent Sabres team. Dahlin was later named to his second consecutive

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

, replacing injured teammate

Tage Thompson Tage Nathaniel Thompson (born October 30, 1997) is an American professional ice hockey center and alternate captain for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). Thompson was selected 26th overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 2 ...

. On 9 October 2023, Dahlin signed an eight-year, $88 million contract extension with the Sabres. Dahlin was named

of the Sabres on 26 September 2024, succeeding

Kyle Okposo Kyle Henry Erovre Okposo (born April 16, 1988) is an American former professional ice hockey right winger who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, and Florida Panthers. He was drafted s ...

International play

At age 16, Dahlin was the youngest player to ever dress for

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

at the

IIHF World U20 Championship The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), sometimes referred to as World Juniors, is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is traditionally ...

, and the youngest player overall in the

2017 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2017 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 41st edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship (WJC or WM20). The main tournament was co-hosted by the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec and Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. ...

. Dahlin competed in the

2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship was the 42nd edition of the IIHF World U20 Championship, Ice Hockey World Junior Championship, and was hosted by the city of Buffalo, New York at KeyBank Center and HarborCenter. It opened on Decembe ...

for Sweden, recording six assists and helping lead the team to win silver. He was named the tournament's top defenceman after scoring the second-most points amongst tournament defencemen. After Dahlin and several other teammates removed their silver medals after receiving them during the medal ceremony, he was suspended for the first two games of the

2019 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2019 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (''2019 WJC'') was the 43rd edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. It began on December 26, 2018, and ended with the gold medal game being played on January 5, 2019. This marked the 1 ...

. Dahlin also represented the Swedish senior team at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

, becoming the youngest player to compete in the 2018 tournament, and the youngest to compete in the men's hockey tournament since 1984. He represented

at the

2024 IIHF World Championship The 2024 IIHF World Championship was hosted by Czechia from 10 to 26 May 2024. It was held in Prague and Ostrava, and organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation. It was the most attended Hockey Championship in history with a total atte ...

and won a bronze medal.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dahlin, Rasmus 2000 births Living people Buffalo Sabres draft picks Buffalo Sabres players Frölunda HC players Ice hockey players at the 2018 Winter Olympics National Hockey League All-Stars First overall NHL draft picks NHL first-round draft picks Olympic ice hockey players for Sweden Sportspeople from Trollhättan Ice hockey people from Västra Götaland County Swedish ice hockey defencemen 21st-century Swedish sportsmen 4 Nations Face-Off players Swedish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States