Buffalo Sabres and star blueliner Rasmus Dahlin have agreed to a monster eight-year 88-million-dollar extension. The contract, which has an average annual value of $11 million, begins next season. He will play this season in the final season of a three-year, $18 million contract ($6 million per) he signed Sept. 22, 2021. The 23-year-old defenseman is entering his sixth NHL season.

The No. 1 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft had an NHL career-high 73 points (15 goals, 58 assists) in 78 games for Buffalo last season. Sabres teammates have nothing but praise for the young defenceman, "He's so competitive," Sabres captain Kyle Okposo said. "That's probably his best leadership quality, how competitive he is. He just wants to win all the time, he wants to be the best.” Dahlin was similarly elated and promised to keep improving, "I feel like I can take steps every day," Dahlin said. "To stay consistent all season I’ve got to tweak a little stuff in my game; just the overall game, every single minute, every single shift”.

A native of Lidkoping, Sweden, Dahlin has 233 points (46 goals, 187 assists) in 355 games through his first five seasons. He is one of 12 defensemen to get 200 points in the NHL prior to his 23rd birthday. Dahlin is a key member of a young, talented core in Buffalo, headlined by him, Tage Thompson, Owen Power, Jack Quinn and Dylan Cozens. Dahlin wanted to stay in Buffalo and had high praise for his teammates saying “They’re super, super talented guys, but the people, the guys, the persons, are such good people. I love spending time with them and I love to go to war with them too."

Buffalo was fifth in the Atlantic Division last season (42-33-7) and finished one point behind the Florida Panthers for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Sabres host the New York Rangers at KeyBank Center on Thursday (7 p.m. EST, to open the 2023-24 season.