Buffalo Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin will take a temporary leave of absence to attend to a personal matter in Sweden, coach Lindy Ruff said on Friday, Nov. 7.
Though a reason for the leave was not specified, Dahlin’s fiancée, Carolina Matovac, needed to have a heart transplant during the summer.
‘He said everything is OK, but he’s got the full support of our team,’ Ruff told reporters.
In September, Dahlin and his fiancée shared how her health had deteriorated quickly early in the summer while they were vacationing in France.
‘Carolina began to feel sick for a few days, which quickly turned into her experiencing heart failure,’ they wrote in a letter. ‘Fortunately, she received CPR on multiple occasions, and up to a couple of hours at the time to keep her alive, which ultimately saved her life. Without her receiving life-saving CPR, the result would have been unimaginable. It is hard to even think about the worst-case scenario.
‘She was transferred to a hospital, where she remained on life support for weeks before she was a beneficiary of a heart transplant while still in France.’
Eventually she returned to Sweden to continue her rehabilitation.
Ruff said it has been ‘incredibly hard’ for Dahlin, 25, to stay focused.
‘I fully understand what this young man is going through,’ he said. ‘I don’t think you can describe it, and I don’t think you can feel what he’s feeling. I’m pretty passionate about the fact that no one would want to walk in his shoes and have to deal with what he dealt with.’
Ruff said ‘there’s no timeframe’ for Dahlin’s return, and he has the organization’s backing.
‘This is larger than hockey,’ he said. ‘Family and person come before hockey. Hockey’s our job, hockey’s our lifeline, but family and personal (matters) trump anything.’
Dahlin, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, is in his second season as Sabres captain. He’s the team leader in ice time and their top-scoring defenseman with nine points in 14 games.
He was one of the first six players named to Sweden’s Olympic men’s hockey team.
The Sabres recalled defenseman Zac Jones.
Penguins’ Filip Hallander out with blood clot
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Filip Hallander has been diagnosed with a blood clot in his leg and will miss a minimum of three months. He has four points in 13 games.
He’s joining other Penguins on the sidelines, including goalie Tristan Jarry and forwards Rickard Rakell, Justin Brazeau and Noel Acciari.