Sabres’ Rasmus Dahlin, Bills’ Josh Allen arrived in Buffalo in 2018. Both finally sharing in sports success

Rasmus Dahlin

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Rasmus Dahlin and Josh Allen arrived in Buffalo mere months apart in 2018 as foundational pieces for two franchises looking ahead to more prosperous futures.

The path to success proved far shorter for Allen and the Bills, with Dahlin — the Sabres’ captain — acknowledging feeling pangs of jealousy in seeing the out-pouring of love the quarterback and team enjoyed in becoming contenders.

And Dahlin is self-aware enough to understand why after spending his first seven seasons playing for a perennial disappointment before finally snapping an NHL-record 14-year postseason drought this year.

“I’ve gone to so many Bills games, and the whole city is just behind them. And then we just kept losing. It was a bit of jealousy in there for sure,” Dahlin told The Associated Press. “But I’ve always known that when we start having success, we’re going to have the same thing. So that’s what kind of drove me for sure.”

Welcome to the party, said Allen.

“I know what it’s like when we’ve got a packed stadium, and we’re rolling and that crowd gets buzzing. There is no other feeling,” the quarterback said. “They must be going out for their pregame skates and just be like, ‘Holy cow, this is freaking amazing.’”

Allen and Dahlin 1st-round picks in 2018

Allen arrived first when the Bills traded up seven spots to draft him at No. 7 in April. The Sabres followed in June by selecting Dahlin first overall.

Though they have much in common in competitive drive, athletic ability and being unquestioned leaders, Dahlin and Allen know each other only in passing due in part because of how their seasons overlap.

What they lack in friendship they make up for in mutual admiration.

“To see Rasmus and the way he’s progressed since he got here, you can tell by how much his teammates love him by how much they have his back,” Allen said about Dahlin. “He plays with heart. And I like to think that I play with heart, too. So very similar styles.”

It’s no different for how Dahlin views Allen.

“He’s a big role model. I love what he’s doing,” Dahlin said.

“Everybody knows what he can do, but I would say leadership, the type of teammate he seems to be and how much he means to his teammates,” Dahlin added, noting he’d like to one day pick Allen’s brain on leading. “I want to hear his journey. I want to hear where he comes from and his career, his ups and downs.”