Dahlin enjoys fast pace on first day of Sabres training camp

BUFFALO -- Rasmus Dahlin spent months anticipating what to expect on his first day at Buffalo Sabres training camp. Now that it's complete, he finally has the answer.

"It's for real now," he said Friday. "It's serious and the pace is higher. It feels good."
After several weeks of informal skates and two games at the Prospects Challenge last week, Dahlin, who was selected No. 1 by the Sabres in the 2018 NHL Draft, said the intensity during the 1 1/2-hour practice was the highest he has experienced.
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"I expected that kind of pace," he said. "It was fun, high tempo. It's hard, but that's the fun thing about it. The guys out there know how to play hockey, so it's pretty easy (to feel comfortable). I'm just going to see how the system works and what the coaches say, but I'm just going to go out there, have fun and do my best."
The 18-year-old skated throughout the session on the left side of a defense pair with left-shooting Jake McCabe on the right side, though coach Phil Housley said he will be experimenting with partners for Dahlin throughout training camp.
"I was excited," McCabe said. "The guy's an incredible talent as we all know by this point. He's one of those guys who is going to push me and make me a lot better of a player. I'm going to try to help him along with the North American game and talk to him as much as I can to just develop his game at both ends of the rink."

Housley said he felt McCabe would be a good fit for Dahlin because of his willingness to communicate.
"I just felt that Jake could play the right side and it was a good mix, a veteran guy with a young guy trying to mentor him and Jake is a good player for that," Housley said.
McCabe, 24, said he is willing to mentor Dahlin as best he can.
"He was great to play with, he talked a lot on the ice and he's going to help me learn a lot," Dahlin said. "I'm enjoying playing with him. I probably needed a lot of help and the guys in the locker room help me a lot. The veterans know a lot of things because they've played here for a little while now. I'm just going to listen to them and learn a lot. I'm super excited to hear what [McCabe] has to say. He's a really good defenseman. He knows how to play because he's been in the NHL."
McCabe said, "He's very good at both ends. Obviously his talent with the puck on his stick is something that's been highly touted, but I think his defensive play is very underrated. He's got a great stick, he plays the body, and with his skating ability he can defend really well too."
Despite the praise, Dahlin has the mindset that he needs to earn a roster spot.
"There's a lot of good defensemen so it's going to be hard," he said. "I will do everything I can do make the team, and then if I make it I'm just going to play the best I can and enjoy it. We'll see after camp how it goes, but I'm going to do my best."