© Getty Images

PRAGUE — Rasmus Dahlin wants to step up as a leader and help the Buffalo Sabres turn themselves around, so the defenseman organized a weeklong training camp for a group of his teammates in late July in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The players would skate, work out and then play “some terrible golf,” goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen said with a laugh Wednesday during the European Player Media Tour, a day of interviews and video shoots here to promote the upcoming NHL season.

No, spending summer in Switzerland isn’t exactly difficult.

“Can’t complain,” forward JJ Peterka said with a smile.

But it says something about Dahlin, the Sabres’ chemistry and their hunger to improve.

“What is says most is about ‘Dahls,’ how much he wants to win, how much he wants to do stuff right and how much he wants to take care of everybody else in the team and make sure that we’re in the best shape to start the season,” Luukkonen said. “I think it’s a lot from him and how well he does things for us [that the players were] able to come there.

This also demonstrates the caliber of our group. Everyone is eager to improve, and there’s a shared joy in meeting up during the summer and traveling to Switzerland for practice. On the whole, I believe it yielded a great deal of positivity.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (@ukkopekkaluukkonen)

Buffalo has missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for 13 seasons, the longest drought in the NHL. Dahlin, the No. 1 pick of the 2018 NHL Draft, has been part of the past six seasons. He has been an alternate captain the past two.

Now he is 24, and the Sabres don’t have a captain after the departure of forward Kyle Okposo, who was traded to the Florida Panthers on March 8 and won the Stanley Cup.

“Dahlin had the idea that it would be cool for all the European guys to have a little training camp in Europe, to come all together to work out,” Peterka said. “That was the plan.

We had a great time. Numerous guys turned up, including some who flew in from North America specifically to practice that week. This just goes to show how close-knit our group is. We are so committed to one another that we even choose to train together during the summer months.

Peterka’s skills coach and Dahlin’s father, a coach in Sweden, ran the practices.

“Really high-quality stuff,” remarked Luukkonen. “Skating for the players was enjoyable and I had many shots, making it a great week overall.”

The group included Dahlin, Luukkonen, Peterka, forwards Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen, and defensemen Henri Jokiharju, Owen Power and Mattias Samuelsson. Each is 25 or younger.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by DUBE SKILLS (@dube.skills)

Luukkonen stated, “This demonstrates the readiness of our younger players to step up to the plate at this time. Dahls, for instance, no longer wants to stay in the background. He seeks to shoulder more responsibilities and ensure that we perform optimally during summer. This is indicative of the fact that we have numerous younger players who are prepared to assume a larger role and accept more responsibility now.”

The Sabres (39-37-6) finished seven points behind the Washington Capitals for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference last season.

Peterka said they can’t write off missing the playoffs to being a young team like they have in the past.

“It’s not an excuse anymore,” Peterka said. “We’re all a year older than we were last year, so I think for us it’s just time to take the next step right now.”

Luukkonen echoed that.

“You’re a young team, you’re an old team,” he said. “In the end it doesn’t matter. You’re in the League to win. You’re in the League to make the playoffs. You can’t hide behind it forever. It’s an easy way out from it.

“Even though we’re a young team, there’s a lot of players who have a lot of NHL games already, so it’s kind of now our time to prove everybody wrong and just make the playoffs.”

NHL.com independent correspondent Heather Engel contributed to this report