The Buffalo Bills regular season kicks off in five days, which is what many people are discussing around Western New York.

However, the hockey season is round the corner. The Buffalo Sabres report to training camp in about one week and the preseason begins on September 24th against the Washington Capitals.

The Sabres have playoff aspirations this season. They were a top-five scoring team in the NHL last season and have the likes of Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens, Jeff Skinner, Alex Tuch, Casey Mittelstadt, Owen Power and Mattias Samuelsson coming back. That list also includes star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, who will be entering his sixth season with Buffalo.

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Dahlin is still just 23 years old and is regarded as one of the top five defenseman in the NHL. He broke out last season with 15 goals and 73 points in 78 games. He was incredible in both ends of the ice.

Dahlin needs to be extended by general manager Kevyn Adams and the Sabres are rumored to be giving Dahlin a hefty raise by the start of the regular season.

According to After the Whistle with former Sabres Andrew Peters and Craig Rivet, Dahlin's new extension in Buffalo will be an 8-year deal worth $10.5 million per season. That's an $84 million extension.

Dahlin's currently entering the final year of his current contract, with a $7.2 million base salary and a $6 million cap hit.

This contract would not be a surprise. It had to be $10 million per season, since that's now the market value for the best defensemen in the NHL. The eight years would mean the Sabres wouldn't have to worry about it for the foreseeable future.

It looks like Dahlin will be in Buffalo through 2031.

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