Sabres star refutes trade-request rumors

While the public and rival teams may start speculating about the future of star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin in Buffalo, he has no desire to leave the Sabres.

Dahlin made himself available to reporters Tuesday to respond to a statement from TNT analyst Paul Bissonnette on Tuesday's "Spittin’ Chiclets" podcast, who said he’d heard Dahlin informed Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams he’d submit a trade request if the team doesn’t get closer to competing for a playoff spot. 

The team posted the crux of what he had to say:

"I don’t know what [Bissonnette]’s talking about. I have never said I want out of here. I’m not happy with where we’re at, I don’t want to lose. I’ve never said I want out of here, I thought that was pretty clear… That bugs me, actually. I get p----- off by that. I haven’t even mentioned the word ’leave.’ That’s just how it is."

Dahlin, of course, will miss the postseason for the seventh straight time to begin his career with Buffalo as part of a more extensive postseason drought for the Sabres that dates back to the 2011. The 2018 No. 1 overall pick, who turns 25 next month, is in the first year of an eight-year, $88M mega-extension that affords him complete no-move protection beginning July 1.

After rebooting their core in the post-Jack Eichel era following another failure in a series of attempted rebuilds, the Sabres have again begun to retool their core. They swapped 24-year-old center Dylan Cozens, whom they selected No. 7 overall in the 2019 draft, for oft-injured but high-ceiling pivot Joshua Norris in a deal with the Senators on deadline day last week. Multiple reports suggested they were also listening to offers on under-25 defenders Bowen Byram and Owen Power, although neither came close to getting dealt. Adams also recently refuted pre-deadline rumors he was engaged in trade talks regarding 23-year-old winger JJ Peterka, who scored 28 goals last season and has a career-high 51 points in 61 games in 2024-25.

Buffalo’s 25-32-6 record places it last in the Eastern Conference, and its .444 points percentage is tracking to be its lowest since their disastrous 2020-21 campaign that saw it post an 18-game winless streak. Its continued porous team defense has rarely reared its head with Dahlin on the ice, though. He’s having another standout season that should get him a fair amount of Norris Trophy voting at season’s end, ranking second on the team in scoring with 11-40–51 in 55 games while controlling 55.5% of shot attempts at even strength.