Rasmus Dahlin at 20

[In The Buff]

41 minutes ago, sabremike said:

Why don't people understand that Dahlin looks bad in comparison right now because those other guys play for credible NHL organizations with NHL quality coaching and NHL quality rosters while he has the misfortune of playing for what is an NHL organization in name only?

Great point. I was thinking the same thing. Not about others not realizing but just the different situation Dahlin has compared to those he's compared with the most. I'm not saying  its the only reason but it most definitely has to be a factor.

[Thorny]

5 hours ago, Randall Flagg said:

I'd be lying if I said my brow hasn't been furrowing watching Quinn Hughes

Why? Hughes looking this good and arriving, at that level, ahead of schedule doesn’t really have anything to do with Dahlin.

[Thorny]

2 hours ago, sabremike said:

Why don't people understand that Dahlin looks bad in comparison right now because those other guys play for credible NHL organizations with NHL quality coaching and NHL quality rosters while he has the misfortune of playing for what is an NHL organization in name only?

And this. Bogosian looks order of magnitudes better surrounded by capable talent. He didn’t all of a sudden get better. It’s crazy how underrated team strength is to the development schedule of prospects, still.

I’ll enjoy Dahlin falling down re-draft lists even while his metrics at his age look phenomenal in much the same way Eichel vaulted down the 2015 list.

Ya, he’s back in that number 2 position firmly after McJesus.

Edited August 18, 2020 by Thorny

[Randall Flagg]

4 hours ago, dudacek said:

Hughes right now is better than Dahlin despite being physically weaker.

Rasmus engages and loses his battles. Hughes doesn’t bother to engage, he just uses his feet.

Hughes also is more confident with the puck, despite the fact he his stick skills aren’t any better.

Rasmus still needs to learn he’s better than everyone else. Hughes never seemed to have any doubts.

Is this temperamental change more likely than Tyler Myers'? 
 

 

Edited August 18, 2020 by Randall Flagg

[dudacek]

3 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

Is this temperamental change more likely than Tyler Myers'? 
 

 

Not sure where you’re going with this.

Myers was a guy coaches wanted to play like Chara, but it wasn’t natural for him.

Dahlin is a guy who wants to engage and play with an edge. He did so successfully against his peers, but wasn’t strong enough to Do so at 18 against men. It won’t be an issue when he has a man’s body, which might be as soon as this year.

I don’t think he needs to change his temperament.

[Thorny]

11 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

Is this temperamental change more likely than Tyler Myers'? 
 

 

Confidence, not temperament.

[Randall Flagg]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

Not sure where you’re going with this.

Myers was a guy coaches wanted to play like Chara, but it wasn’t natural for him.

Dahlin is a guy who wants to engage and play with an edge. He did so successfully against his peers, but wasn’t strong enough to Do so at 18 against men. It won’t be an issue when he has a man’s body, which might be as soon as this year.

I don’t think he needs to change his temperament.

I just wish my generational prospect looked like 3 or 4 of his peers, including those within 1 year/season of him, and never thought I'd say that at any point along Dahlin's career, yes, even early.

There's something that hits different about the way that Heiskanen/Makar/Hughes are playing right now, and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that they dominate seasoned NHLers in the skating department. It's creating a total package, when watching those guys, that I never thought I'd see relative to my generational prospect 

Dahlin has not imposed his will on a game the way I see some of these guys do quite often

We can craft nuanced stories that paint Dahlin in a wonderful light, and he's really good, but it doesn't have the heart or blunt obviousness that naturally comes with once-in-a-decade-plus prospects 

It's eyebrow-furrowing

Edited August 18, 2020 by Randall Flagg

[Thorny]

23 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

I just wish my generational prospect looked like 3 or 4 of his peers, including those within 1 year/season of him, and never thought I'd say that at any point along Dahlin's career, yes, even early.

There's something that hits different about the way that Heiskanen/Makar/Hughes are playing right now, and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that they dominate seasoned NHLers in the skating department. It's creating a total package, when watching those guys, that I never thought I'd see relative to my generational prospect 

Dahlin has not imposed his will on a game the way I see some of these guys do quite often

We can craft nuanced stories that paint Dahlin in a wonderful light, and he's really good, but it doesn't have the heart or blunt obviousness that naturally comes with once-in-a-decade-plus prospects 

It's eyebrow-furrowing

It’s not eyebrow furrowing at all if you accept that players develop at a different rate. There is nothing about Dahlin’s development thus far that suggests he’s not on the track we should have been expecting of him. 

It wasn’t a prerequisite, for me at least, that Dahlin was better than each and every one of his peers at each and every stage of development. That seems pretty ridiculous, no offence. 

In Crosby’s rookie year folks were chanting “Parise’s better”. Dion Phaneuf finished ahead in many a Calder ballot.

Ovi was the consensus top rook that year over Sid, it wasn’t seen as close. Who’s better now? Does it even matter? 

Crosby is a top 5 player all time who looked overmatched, who didn’t look “special”, relative to some of his peers, early on. It doesn’t matter. Sometimes the peers are just really good too. And they develop at different rates. Of course we need to dive a little deeper on Dahlin right now to see his excellence, his game has always been more cerebral than flash. 

Edited August 18, 2020 by Thorny

[Thorny]

Like, is he not tracking better than Karlsson did at the same age? Didn’t Karlsson himself even say that? How did he turn out? 

Does this mean Makar, Hughes and Heiskanen are going to be better than Karlsson? 

Dahlin, Heiskanen, Makar, Hughes. The biggest difference I see? The latter 3 dudes are playing on playoff teams. Dahlin is playing on the Buffalo Sabres. It’s a pretty significant common denominator. 

Edited August 18, 2020 by Thorny

[Thorny]

Didn't Jack Eichel, as recently as last season, already FOUR seasons into his NHL career (and almost a year older than Dahlin will be, in his 4th season) look, objectively, on an entirely lower tier than Auston Matthews?  It wasn't close, if we removed our Sabres glasses. And that guy is younger than Eichel, nm OLDER. 

One year later it's a basic toss up and Jack is going to finish significantly higher in the Hart voting. 

Big Meh.

Edited August 19, 2020 by Thorny
O for austOn

[Curt]

In 1991 through 1997, who did people think was better Nick Lindstrom or Brian Leetch?  It was Leetch.

One was a great player, the other is no doubt one of the top 5 defensemen of all time.  It is Lindstrom.

Edited August 19, 2020 by Curt

[Weave]

2 hours ago, Curt said:

In 1991 through 1997, who did people think was better Nick Lindstrom or Brian Leetch?  It was Leetch.

One was a great player, the other is no doubt one of the top 5 defensemen of all time.  It is Lindstrom.

 

[Thorny]

I'm sorry @Weave but I lol'ed for real at the fact that being top 5 all time apparently isn't enough to get your name spelled right. 

At that point, what's the difference. 

Whoops. Reading fail. That's on you  @Curt?

 

Edited August 19, 2020 by Thorny

[LGR4GM]

Here is the thing I will say about Dahlin versus Makar or Hughes or whoever. Those guys are older and they have high ceilings, but Dahlin as a higher ceiling still. Makar might be the guy who is closest in terms of potential to Dahlin. Interestingly all those guys we talk about are shorter. Shorter players seem to be able to physically develop faster so there's that too. Bottom line is Dahlin's ceiling is the highest and I personally think he gets there. 

[ubkev]

29 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Here is the thing I will say about Dahlin versus Makar or Hughes or whoever. Those guys are older and they have high ceilings, but Dahlin as a higher ceiling still. Makar might be the guy who is closest in terms of potential to Dahlin. Interestingly all those guys we talk about are shorter. Shorter players seem to be able to physically develop faster so there's that too. Bottom line is Dahlin's ceiling is the highest and I personally think he gets there. 

I keep coming back to our offense being so much worse. The Sabres scored 193 goals this season. The Canucks scored 224 and the Avalanche scored 236. Dahlin has still put up over 80 points in a season and 3/4 as a teenager with a bad roster that has 2, maybe 3 finishers on it and one of them forgot how to score this year. He's the ***** man! 

[LGR4GM]

Where's that picture from over the summer of Dahlin? 

[Brawndo]

On 10/12/2020 at 12:59 PM, Brawndo said:

One of the best offseason plans is having Your Franchise Defenseman bulk up to this. 

 

[7+6=13]

Kid looks ridiculously strong.

[PerreaultForever]

prior to looking at the picture, to answer the question, I expect bigger, stronger, more assertive and better over all. He'll still make some mistakes and have a bad game now and again but he will be getting there.  like mentioned earlier by someone, he wont' reach full potential for a few more years yet, but I expect a steady progress to that point over the next 3 years or so.