Who is the highest-paid player on the Sabres?

The Buffalo Sabres have signed many high-quality youngsters to long-term deals over the past few seasons, from star scorer Tage Thompson to 2021 first-overall pick Owen Power. Buffalo also extended solid core pieces like Dylan Cozens and Mattias Samuelsson to lucrative contracts, and players like Alex Tuch will definitely get their payday in time. 

But none of the above is the highest-paid player for the Blue and Gold as that honor rests with Rasmus Dahlin, who has a cap hit of $11 million. And it’s well-deserved, as the 2018 first-overall pick has been a fixture with the franchise since he was drafted, something few NHL players can claim. 

While he has yet to lead the Sabres to the playoffs, Dahlin has been one of the few bright spots throughout the franchise’s bleakest periods, which has seen them go 13 seasons without earning a playoff berth. To be fair, Dahlin has only been there for six of those 13 years, and the Sabres have been playing more respectable hockey since he made his first NHL All-Star appearance in 2022. 

Rasmus Dahlin is the Sabres well-deserved highest-paid player

You can claim that Dahlin enjoyed a breakout season in 2021-22 when he put up 50 points and double-digit goals for the first time in his career. But nobody saw the 73-point season in 2022-23 that included him scoring a goal in five straight contests if you remember correctly. The consistency he showed that year led to an eighth-place finish in the Norris vote, and had he been 100 percent all season, there’s a good chance Dahlin would have ended up in the top five. 

This past season, he missed just one game, and while his output regressed to just 59 points, he still set a career-high after scoring 20 goals. Dahlin also solidified himself as the Sabres most well-rounded player, as he’s been remarkable more than just when his team has the puck. He recorded a sensational 154 blocks, 195 hits, and 42 takeaways, so it’s safe to say his defensive play is still better than when the Blue and Gold are in puck possession. 

Now that Dahlin will be heading into what is only his age-24 season, we have to ask, “What does he have planned for Sabres fans next?” Under new head coach Lindy Ruff, look for Dahlin to potentially top 70 points again while simultaneously recording his first season with 200-plus hits while the Sabres adopt a more aggressive approach to their game. 

(Statistics powered by Hockey-Reference)