RASMUS DAHLIN #26

Notes accurate as of Sept. 1, 2026

PRONUNCIATION: RAS-muhs dah-LEEN

CONTRACT STATUS: Signed through 2031-32 ($11 million AAV)

CAREER TRANSACTIONS: Selected by Buffalo in the first round (first overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:  

  • Appeared in 26 regular-season games and 14 playoff contests with Frölunda in his debut SHL season in 2016-17.
  • Was a member of the 2016-17 Frölunda squad that won the 48-team Champions Hockey League competition.
  • Earned 2018 Swedish Junior Hockey Player of the Year honors, becoming the first 17-year-old to win the award since Mikael Andersson in 1984.
  • Tied for fourth among all SHL defensemen with seven goals and averaged .49 points per game, ranking 14th among league blueliners, during his final SHL season in 2017-18.
  • Earned NHL All-Rookie honors in 2018-19, becoming the third defenseman ever to do so in their age-18 season (age as of Jan. 1).
  • Led rookie defensemen and ranked third among all NHL rookies with 44 points in 2018-19. His 35 assists ranked second among all rookies.
  • Finished the 2018-19 season with the second-most assists (35), points (44) and multi-point games (8) ever recorded by an 18-year-old defenseman in NHL history, trailing only Phil Housley in all three categories.
  • With 84 points (13+71) in his first 141 career games (all as a teenager), finished his teen years trailing only Phil Housley (132) for the most points ever recorded by a teenage defenseman in the NHL; his 71 career assists tied Dan Quinn’s total as a teenager for the 12th-most ever recorded by any NHL player before his 20th birthday.
  • Recorded his 100th career point with an assist vs. New Jersey on April 8, 2021, becoming the second-youngest and second-fastest (Phil Housley) Sabres defenseman to reach the milestone after making his NHL debut with the team. Became the youngest Swedish defenseman in NHL history to record 100 points.
  • Played in his 100th NHL game on Nov. 14, 2019, his 200th career NHL game on Oct. 19, 2021 vs. Vancouver, his 300th NHL game on Dec. 1, 2022 vs. Colorado and his 400th NHL game on Jan. 20, 2024 vs. Tampa Bay.
  • Appeared his 500th NHL game on March 30, 2025 at Washington and became the 12th Sabres defenseman in franchise history, and the first since Rasmus Ristolainen on Jan. 26, 2021, to reach that milestone.
  • Became the only defenseman in NHL history to record a season-opening goal streak of five or more games from Oct. 13 to 22, 2022.
  • In 2022-23, Dahlin was one of two NHL defensemen to record 70 or more points and 90 or more penalty minutes and was the first defenseman to do so in a single season since Chris Chelios and Paul Coffey did so in 1995-96.
  • Recorded a career-long eight-game point streak (2+7) from Oct. 14 to 29, 2023 and became the third Sabres defenseman (Housley, John Van Boxmeer) to tally a point in eight or more consecutive games at least once.
  • Represented Buffalo in the 2022, 2023 and 2024 NHL All-Star Games and became the eighth Buffalo player (Jack Eichel, Dominik Hasek, Housley, Rick Martin, Alexander Mogilny, Gilbert Perreault, Mike Ramsey) to participate in three or more All-Star Games and the fifth (Eichel, Hasek, Martin, Mogilny) to participate in three or more consecutive All-Star Games.
  • Tied for first among all Sabres skaters in points (59) and led all Sabres skaters in assists (39) and power-play points (20) in 2023-24.
  • Joined Phil Housley as the only defensemen in Sabres history to record 20 or more goals in a single season on April 9, 2024 at Dallas. His 20 goals were the most by a Sabres defenseman in a single season since Housley recorded 21 goals in 80 games in 1989-90.
  • Registered the 74th goal of his career on Feb. 22, 2025 vs. NY Rangers and moved into second place all-time in goals by a Sabres defenseman.
  • Tallied his 257th career assist on Jan. 31, 2025 vs. Nashville, passing Mike Ramsey for second place all-time in assists among Sabres defensemen.
  • Recorded the 330th point of his career on Feb. 2 vs. New Jersey and moved into second place all-time in points by a Sabres defenseman.
  • Broke his own franchise record (46 in 2024-25) for even-strength points by a defenseman and finished the season ranked fourth among all NHL defensemen in that category in 2025-2026.
  • Recorded the first hat trick of his NHL career and became the second Sabres defenseman all-time to reach 400 points with Buffalo (Phil Housley, 558 points) on Jan. 27 at Toronto. 
  • Tallied his 100th NHL goal on March 28, 2026 vs. Seattle and became the second Sabres defenseman all-time to do so (Housley, 178 goals). 
  • Became just the ninth Sabres skater all-time and the second defenseman in franchise history to reach 300 assists with Buffalo on Dec. 18, 2025 vs. Philadelphia. 

AMATEUR HIGHLIGHTS:  

  • Led all Frölunda defensemen with 22 points (9+13) in 24 SuperElit games in 2016-17, also ranking second on the team and fourth among qualifying league defensemen with .92 points per game.
  • Spent most of the 2015-16 season with the Frölunda Under-18 Allsvenskan team that won the league’s championship.

INTERNATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS:  

  • Represented Sweden at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship, recording 2 points (1+1) in 7 games.
  • Won a silver medal with Sweden at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship, registering 6 assists in 7 games.
  • Made his Olympic debut for Sweden at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang as a 17-year-old, becoming the youngest player on the roster by seven years.
  • Tied for the team lead among Swedish skaters with 7 points (2+5) and led the team with 22:12 of ice time per game at the 2022 IIHF World Championship.
  • Recorded 9 points (2+7) in 10 games and won a bronze medal with Sweden at the 2024 IIHF World Championship.
  • Represented Sweden at the 2025 4-Nations Face-Off, appearing in three games.
  • Represented Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics, led all Swedish defensemen in points (5) and finished tied for first in assists (4) and goals (1). 

NHL FIRSTS

Game: 10/4/18 vs. BOS

Goal: 10/13/18 at ARI

Assist: 10/11/18 vs. COL

AWARDS & HONORS

Professional:

2016-17 Champions Hockey League Champion

2017-18 Swedish Jr. Hockey Player of the Year

2018-19 NHL All-Rookie Team

2022 NHL All-Star Game

2023 NHL All-Star Game

2024 NHL All-Star Game

International:

2018 IIHF World Junior Championship Silver Medal

2018 IIHF World Junior Championship Best Defenseman

2018 IIHF World Junior Championship All-Star Team

2024 IIHF World Championship Bronze Medal

Amateur:

2015-16 U18 Allsvenskan Gold Medal