Rasmus Dahlin excited by what Lindy Ruff gives Sabres: ‘Going to be fine’

BUFFALO – Rasmus Dahlin, clad in his blue workout gear and a backwards baseball hat following his first full practice this season, stood behind a podium and spoke confidently, like a player who feels the Sabres have found something special.

After a mid-body injury sidelined him six days, Dahlin, 24, joined his teammates in a gold non-contact jersey on the KeyBank Center ice for Tuesday’s practice, their final skate before jetting to Europe to open the season.

Having been injured minutes after training camp opened, the defenseman hadn’t talked about new coach Lindy Ruff and the other changes the Sabres have experienced as they try to end the franchise’s embarrassing 13-year playoff drought.

So far, Dahlin, an NHL All-Star in each of the last three seasons, feels good about things.

After last season’s disappointing 84-point finish cost coach Don Granato his job, Dahlin and other players said the Sabres needed more accountability and to be pushed. He also said then the team must treat practice differently.

“I absolutely love it,” an upbeat Dahlin said Wednesday of the demanding training camp. “You can really see how hard the guys work. We have something really good going on. The work ethic, we’re working really hard … without the puck. We’re doing the little things right.

“We’re starting off, what I think, on the right page here.”

Dahlin said Ruff “knows what he’s doing” and has been hard on players about their details.

“Lindy always talks about winning is hard,” Dahlin said. “But talking to all the guys around the locker room, everybody loves it. We love working hard. We love the hard practices. We love being tired.”

Dahlin has earned a well-deserved reputation as a passionate self-starter, so the harder the Sabres go, the more he might enjoy it. When the Sabres name a captain before their Oct. 4 season opener, he’s the favorite to be awarded the prestigious ‘C.’

Over the years, the Swede has matured and learned to ease the pressure he puts on himself. Early in his career, he would regularly shoulder too much of the burden. His penchant for trying to single-handedly take over games often had a negative impact.

These days, he doesn’t worry about that happening because he believes the Sabres have bought into Ruff’s plan.

“You can really see this camp everyone is stepping up, everybody is working hard, everyone is doing that backcheck or blocking that shot or whatever,” Dahlin said. “… Lindy’s doing a great job making us do (those) things, and he’s talking a lot about non-negotiables. Those are the things. We’re going to be fine. It’s going to be a good year.”

Dahlin, of course, ranks among the league’s most talented players. He’s one of a handful of stars so dynamic he can take over a game. He believes the style Ruff’s trying to implement can benefit him.

“We’re trying to play quicker out of our zone, and then that just makes you have more energy in the O-zone, honestly,” he said. “You just try to keep it simple, don’t try too much. We try to get out of the zone quick, and then defensively, we try to play harder in the net-front. It fits my game.”

In his short time around Dahlin, Ruff said he has learned he possesses “fire.”

“There’s a lot of pushback in him,” he said. “He works hard at his game. I think with the predictability we’re trying to play with, it’s probably helped his game a little bit.”

Part of that predictability involves forwards covering for defensemen when they want to pinch in.

“That’s huge,” Dahlin said. “Just by knowing that makes you confident with the puck. But also we’re out there to work. We’re here to win now. That’s what I’m most excited for.”

Dahlin was hellbent of having a productive summer, so in July, he invited his teammates and some other players to a camp he put together in Lausanne, Switzerland. He said eight Sabres attended.

“It was great,” he said. “We had a ton of fun. I mean, we’re such good buddies off the ice. So I wanted to skate down in Switzerland. I just asked the guys, whoever wants to come can come, we can have some fun.”