Sabres look to sign Dahlin, Power to long-term contracts

BUFFALO --The Buffalo Sabres want to sign defensemen Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power to long-term contracts, and the feeling is mutual.

Each has one year remaining on his contract and is eligible to sign July 1. Dahlin, 23, signed a three-year, $18 million contract ($6 million average annual value) on Sept. 22, 2021. Power, 20, signed a three-year, entry-level contract April 8, 2022.

General manager Kevyn Adams met with each individually after the season, and earlier this month met with the agents for each in his office at KeyBank Center during the week of the NHL Scouting Combine.

"There was an excitement from [Dahlin and Power] and a clear message to me that they both want to be here long term," Adams said. "So, that's the most important first step. … We have started those conversations (with their agents) so now we're in the process of working our way through it. We've made it clear to them we see them as really important people and pieces of our franchise moving forward, and they've made it clear to us they want to be here, so we'll keep working on it. But I'm excited about those guys."

Dahlin, selected by the Sabres with the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, set NHL career highs in goals (15), assists (58) and points (73) in 78 games this season and finished third in the League with an average ice time of 25:48 per game.

Buffalo selected Power at No. 1 in the 2021 NHL Draft. He had 35 points (four goals, 31 assists) in 79 games in his first full NHL season. He finished 20th among skaters in average ice time per game at 23:48 (minimum 10 games) and is a finalist for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the NHL rookie of the year.

"He's just scratching the surface, in my opinion, just in terms of his ability," Adams said. "He's such a driven kid. I'm excited for him to be up for the Calder and I certainly think he deserves it. I hope he's the name that's called because I just think he's one of these guys that [is] such an impactful player regardless of how many points, or whatever it is. Just the way he plays and how many minutes he logs, and the way he controls the game when he's out there."

Adams hasn't hesitated to sign his core to long-term contracts. He signed center Tage Thompson, 25, who was sixth this season with an NHL career-high 47 goals, to a seven-year, $50 million contract ($7.14 million AAV) on Aug. 30, 2022; defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, 23, signed a seven-year, $30 million contract ($4.29 million AAV) on Oct. 12, 2022; and center Dylan Cozens, 22, agreed to a seven-year, $49.7 million contract ($7.1 million AAV) on Feb. 7.

The Sabres also have forwards Alex Tuch and Jeff Skinner under contract for at least the next three seasons. Tuch set NHL career highs in goals (36), assists (43) and points (79) in 74 games this season. Skinner reached personal bests in assists (47) and points (82) in 79 games and surpassed 30 goals (35) for a second straight season and the sixth time in his NHL career.

That group, combined with the burgeoning talents of 21-year-old forwards Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka, and numerous promising prospects, including 19-year-olds Jiri Kulich and Matt Savoie, have Adams and the Sabres hopeful in their transition from rebuild to playoff contender.

Buffalo, which has missed the postseason for 12 straight seasons, finished one point behind the Florida Panthers for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Adams has rebuilt the organization's prospect pool over his three seasons as general manager, looking to build for continual success and plans to keep adding to its depth. But that hasn't stopped him from having chats with his counterparts across the NHL.

"Maybe some of those conversations a year or two ago maybe wouldn't have made sense," he said.

While Adams has deemed prospects like Kulich and Savoie non-starters in trade discussions, he knows that some of the players they've drafted and will draft could be assets used to obtain players that could help them in their goal to win a Stanley Cup championship.

"If you're acquiring players, if you're going to give up assets too -- that's just the way this works -- you have to get comfortable with all of that," Adams said. "But what we will not do, regardless of kind of how you laid it out, is we will not be in a situation where we will panic or we will feel like we have to do something just to do it and end up setting our franchise back longer term.

"Of course, if there's a way to do something that improves the roster, we're looking at every single thing, but we're just not going to chase it. We're going to come from a position of strength. We feel that we are in a really good spot right now. I like the way our team's coming together, we want to improve. If deals make sense, then we're going to look at all scenarios. …

"I think you have to go into this very methodical, calm and flush everything out, and make sure that ultimately the decisions you make are because you really are on board with what that's going to do to help you win a Stanley Cup."