‘This is going to be magical’: Sabres’ Dahlin ready for big role with Swedish Olympic team

This story appeared on hockeysverige.se this week and has been translated from Swedish to English.

By Konrad Grönlund:

Rasmus Dahlin is set to enter the Olympics as one of Sweden’s best defensemen — and arguably one of Tre Kronor’s most important players overall.

Earlier this week, the Buffalo Sabres star recorded the first hat trick of his NHL career, a fitting symbol of what has been a remarkably strong season.

After years at the bottom of the standings, the 25-year-old has been one of the key reasons Buffalo is now on track to reach the playoffs for the first time in 15 years.

At the same time, the fall has been challenging for Dahlin on a personal level. His fiancée, Carolina Matovac, had a heart transplant last summer after a scary incident during a vacation in France. She also revealed in a social media post that she had a miscarriage. Dahlin has also taken a few breaks from the Sabres to travel home to Sweden and support his girlfriend.

But with less than two weeks to go until the Olympics, Sweden says he’s in a good mental place.

“It’s been an extremely special year,” Dahlin said. “I have a strong partner at home who gives me a tremendous amount of motivation.”

Speaking to Hockeysverige.se, Dahlin elaborated on how he views his role with the Swedish Olympic team. Many experts believe he should step in as the team’s top defenseman and log the most ice time — much like he does in Buffalo on a daily basis.

“I’m absolutely ready for that kind of role,” he said confidently. “At the same time, we have extremely good defensemen. I’ll take whatever role I’m given, and if it turns out the way people are writing, then I’m ready for it.

As for who he would prefer to play alongside, Dahlin is open to anything.

“There are so many incredibly good defensemen. It really doesn’t matter who you play with — we’ll be able to play good hockey regardless.”

Dahlin also shared his thoughts on the numerous injury concerns surrounding the Swedish team ahead of the tournament.

“It’s never fun to hear that people are getting injured,” Dahlin said. “At the same time, we’ve had some great replacements step in. And those who are a bit banged up — if I know them correctly — they’ll be playing in these Olympics. Hopefully.”

Sweden’s blue line features a mix of generations, but much of the responsibility is expected to fall on the veteran defensemen — such as Erik Karlsson, Victor Hedman and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

Is there anyone Dahlin has looked up to in particular?

“Pretty much everyone on the blue line,” he said. “But Erik and Hedman are quite a bit older than me, so they were players you really looked up to when you were younger. It’s so damn fun to be at an Olympics with this many great defensemen. You can learn something from everyone — so this is going to be magical.”