How the Olympics made Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin ready for playoff chase
Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin returns to the team after the Olympics with a new purpose: Earning a playoff berth.
Rasmus Dahlin is no stranger to international competition on big stages.
The Buffalo Sabres captain recently completed his second run with Sweden’s men’s hockey team in the Winter Olympics, and the defenseman rejoined the Sabres on Monday for practice at LECOM Harborcenter.
He returned to Western New York with a stronger sense of purpose, as he and his team prepare to continue their pursuit of the franchise’s first playoff berth since 2011.
Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin plays against the Los Angeles Kings during the third period at the KeyBank Center on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026.
(Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News)
“I know what it takes to be on a big stage and play important games,” Dahlin said.
Dahlin’s stay in the Olympics ended when the United States beat Sweden 2-1 in overtime in a quarterfinal game Feb. 18 in Milan.
Dahlin returned to the United States on Sunday, and didn’t dwell too long on the loss.
“I switched my focus, right away, to Buffalo,” Dahlin said. “We have a really good thing going on, and now the fun begins. Now, the most important games start. I can’t be more excited.”
Dahlin and the Sabres have 25 games in front of them. They resume the season at 7 p.m. Wednesday at New Jersey. The Sabres end the NHL’s Olympic break in the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 70 points, ahead of Boston (69 points), Columbus and Washington, the latter two with 65 points.
Dahlin and teammate Tage Thompson represented the Sabres in the Olympics, which included NHL players for the first time since 2014. Thompson helped the United States win its first gold medal in men’s hockey since 1980.
Though Dahlin didn’t leave Italy with a medal, he left with experience in an elimination tournament that he will apply to the Sabres in the remainder of the regular season.
“Almost every game was a must-win for us,” Dahlin said. “I got a chance to work on handling emotions and handling pressure. That was awesome. I got better at that. Playing against the best was awesome, too. I had a great experience, personal, but, obviously, I want a different result, team-wise.”
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff considered what Dahlin took from being on a team with a roster made up of NHL players, including some of the league’s elite Swedish players. Among them were Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman, Colorado forward Gabriel Landeskog and Pittsburgh defenseman Erik Karlsson.
“You’re playing the best against the best,” Ruff said. “You start off in that tournament, where you’re trying to find your way and what your role is, and then you kind of build off that. Then, at the end, you’re playing the best teams. If you keep advancing, you’re playing a team that was better than the other teams.
“You’re alongside a lot of really good athletes that, I think, you can learn from. Some of it is how you prepare, how you play, how you handle the situations in the game. There’s always an opportunity to become a better player, a better leader, and understand from the guys that have been there before, the veteran guys, whether it’s the guys that have played three or four years more than you, or have played more than that.”
Dahlin will be back in the lineup when the Sabres play Wednesday against the Devils at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. He’s tied with Alex Tuch as the Sabres’ second-leading scorer, each with 48 points; Dahlin has 11 goals and 37 assists in 53 games.
Thompson’s return to the lineup is still to be determined after the United States defeated Canada for the gold medal on Sunday in Milan, then returned Monday to Miami.
Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram believes the Olympic experience should be a significant boost in confidence for Dahlin and Thompson, particularly as the Sabres enter the final weeks of the regular season.
“Not that they’re not confident guys,” Byram said. “They’re some of the best players in the world, but they both had really good tournaments, and I’m sure that’s going to bleed into their play when they get back here. It’ll be a huge boost for our group, and there’s a lot of things they can take away from it. Being around the best players, seeing their work ethics, seeing their leadership styles.”