Athletic ranks Dahlin just outside the top 10 best players in the world

dudacek · 2025-09-11T20:55:33Z

Annual tiers ranking is out, with Ras landing in a group of 7 (with Crosby, Eichel, Heiskanen, Hellebuyck, Jack Hughes and Matthew Tkachuk) at the top of the 2nd tier.

Tier one: McDavid, Draisaitl, McKinnon, Makar, Barkov, Kucherov, Quinn Hughes, Matthews, Kaprizov and Pastrnak

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6594913/2025/09/11/nhl-best-players-list-2025-2026-season/

Why he’s here

We have been waiting for Dahlin to fully embrace his top-five potential. Our parting words last year were that he had to show the full picture across a full season to return to Tier 2, and that’s exactly what he did in 2024-25. While he started in 2B this year, the insiders rightfully gassed him up to 2A.

As one analyst put it, he is an “all-situations, everything player.”

Dahlin drives play from the back end. He’s an elite puck retriever who helps shift play from defense to offense. Despite a heavy workload, he makes the Sabres a better team on both ends of the ice.

What holds him back most years? His surroundings.

“The team he’s on is such a downer, man. They’re so bad,” a coach said.

The key is looking through the chaos in Buffalo to see the palm trees.

“Dahlin is unbelievably good,” an executive said. “If he wasn’t playing for the Buffalo Sabres, he would be so much more appreciated around the league.”

“He shows up, he plays gritty, he lugs the mail, he defends well, he’s mobile, he’s a great skater,” a former player added. “Everything Makar does, this kid does. He just can’t put up 90 points because they f—in’ suck.”