Sabres sign former top overall pick to eight-year contract

Dahlin, 23, was in the final year of a three-year contract with a $6 million cap hit, a deal he signed just before the 2021-22 season began. His new contract will tie him with Los Angeles Kings’ defenseman Drew Doughty for the second-highest cap hit by a defenseman in the NHL, and make Dahlin the ninth player to have a cap hit of $11 million or more and the 15th to be $10 million or more.

Dahlin is coming off his best season in the NHL so far in his career, as he had 15 goals, 58 assists and 73 points in 78 games in 2022-23. On top of that, it also saw him put up the best underlying numbers in his career to this point, as he had a 53.41% 5v5 shot attempt share and a 52.08% 5v5 expected goal share, as well as finishing the year with a goals above replacement of 17.5. As a result, he finished eighth in Norris Trophy voting, the highest-ranked defender that didn’t receive a first-place vote.

Dahlin was the consensus first-overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft out of the Swedish Hockey League, and the Sabres did as such after winning the draft lottery with the worst record in the league. While Dahlin has been solid throughout his five-year NHL career with Buffalo, it wasn’t until last season that Dahlin truly lived up to his draft potential.

The Sabres will be looking to improve upon last season, as they missed out on a playoff spot by just one point with a 42-33-7 record. They made a couple of additions to their blueline by adding Erik Johnson and Connor Clifton, along with trading Ilya Lyubushkin to the Anaheim Ducks, so they’ll be hoping that their young talent takes another step forward, including Dahlin, Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens and even recent first-round pick Zach Benson, who surprised the hockey world by making the Sabres out of training camp.