Sabres confirm the worst for Rasmus Dahlin

In case you missed it last night, Buffalo Sabres defenceman Rasmus Dahlin left his team's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning with an undisclosed upper body injury.

Dahlin left the game late in the second period and after taking an unpenalized high hit from the Lightning’s Erik Cernak.

Check it out:

Erik Cernak gets away with an elbow on Rasmus Dahlin pic.twitter.com/tMOIked0X2
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) November 26, 2019

Sabres fans held their breath for a few shifts, but the Sabres PR department confirmed that Dahlin would NOT return to the contest.

Check it out:

Injury update: Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin will not return to tonight’s game.
— Sabres PR (@SabresPR) November 26, 2019

Not good. Very, very, very, very not good.

The 19 year old former 1st overall pick from the 2018 NHL Entry Draft has one goal and 16 points in 23 games for the Sabres this season.

After last night's game Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger confirmed the worst, telling the media that Dahlin has in fact suffered a concussion.

Check it out:

Rasmus Dahlin has a concussion, according to Sabres coach Ralph Krueger.
— Lance Lysowski (@LLysowski) November 26, 2019

Krueger also offered up his opinion on the hit, saying, "We’ll let the league deal with the judgement of what happened. Right now we’re just worried about Rasmus and getting him healthy and hoping it’s not a long-term injury."

Interestingly enough, NHL Player Safety also announced that Cernak will have a hearing today and could face supplemental discipline:

Tampa Bay’s Erik Cernak will have a hearing Tuesday for Elbowing Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) November 26, 2019

In other Sabres news, it's not exactly a secret that Buffalo Sabres general manager Jason Botterill has been shopping defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen on the trade market.

It was reported this past offseason that the 24 year old Ristolainen had requested a trade, but so far Botterill hasn’t been able to find a willing partner or, at the very least, a suitable return. After all, Ristolainen has put up four consecutive 40+ point seasons… he’s not exactly chopped liver. Botterill is wise to not give away Ristolainen for free.

Now, a new report from NHL insider Elliotte Friedman seems to indicate that Ristolainen is OFF the trade market and his defence partner Marco Scandella is up for grabs.

Check out this juicy rumor from Friedman in his last 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet:

With Buffalo tight to the ceiling and Ristolainen seeming very happy, the talk has turned to Marco Scandella. He’s in the final season of his contract, playing 17:51 per night. Cap hit is $4 million.

The problem is, of course, that $4 million for 10-20 points per season is a tough pill to swallow for any GM. Then again, the asking price for Scandella probably isn’t anywhere close to the asking price for Ristolainen.

One thing’s for sure, the Sabres are looking to shake up their blue line and gain some cap flexibility at the same time.