BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin is taking an indefinite leave of absence for a personal matter in his native Sweden related to his fiancée Carolina Matovac undergoing a lifesaving heart transplant over the summer.
“I will say this, he said everything is OK,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff noted when disclosing Dahlin’s leave after Friday’s practice. “Through this, he’s got full support by our team.”
In a message Dahlin and Matovac posted on the Sabres website last month, the All-Star defenseman outlined how his fiancée felt sick for several days during a vacation in France before her heart failed.
Dahlin wrote that Matovac required CPR on “multiple occasions and up to a couple of hours at a time,” and then spent weeks on life support before receiving a new heart. He said Matovac is “on the path to a full recovery” rehabilitating in Sweden.
“I think it’s been incredibly hard. It’s not easy. I fully understand what this young man is going through,” Ruff said. “I don’t think you can describe it, and I don’t think you can feel what he’s feeling.”
Buffalo begins a four-game road trip Saturday night in Carolina and its next home game is Nov. 17 against Edmonton. There is no timeline for Dahlin’s return, Ruff said.
“I’m pretty passionate about the fact that no one would want to walk in his shoes in having dealt with what he dealt with,” Ruff said. “He has undoubtedly got the support of everybody on this. This is larger than hockey. Family and the person come before hockey. Hockey is our job. Hockey is our lifeline, but family and personal trump anything.”
Dahlin has tallied one goal and nine points with a team-worst minus-11 rating in 14 games this season.
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Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.