LW/C Jonathan Dahlen (2016, 42nd, OTT; traded to VAN; traded to SJS)

[Appleyard]

5'11, 176lbs, LHS

Surprised there is no thread for him already. Also surprised he is not in any 1st round mocks or lists tbh as a potential late 1st rounder. (generally in the 40-60 range.)

Very good skater. Super agile, makes people miss regularly and can weave past guys.
Pretty creative with high offensive IQ.
Great, pro level, release.
Competes hard, puts effort in to back-checking.

He is Ulf's son so has bloodlines, and is currently doing very, very well in the Allsvenskan, which while the 2nd level in Sweden is still a pretty good pro league. I have seen him play maybe ~8-10 times for Timrå this year and he rarely has a bad game and shows some great offensive ability quite regularly vs pro's. He is already one of Timrå's best 3 players for sure.

11g, 10a, 21p, -4 in 41 gp on the season.

His production is better than Filip Forsberg, Andre Burakovsky, Victor Rask & Jacob De La Rose in same league at same age as well.

He does not play on some high powered offensive team either... he leads Timrå in scoring and is 2nd in PPG. They are the 2nd lowest scoring team in the league.

Also anyone who saw any of him at both the Hlinka and WJC-18 will know he was one of Sweden's best players in both on teams that included Eriksson Ek, Asplund, Grundstrom, Ahl, Kylington, Larsson, Carlsson & Looke. His production in the Swedish juniors last season (1.25 PPG) was also great for his age.

If he was 12 days younger (and therefore be a 98) I reckon he would be getting a lot more notice.

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[TT1]

Kovacs was the leading scorer of his team (28 pts in 52 games for AIK in Allsvenskan), he was also great at the U19's in his draft year but ended up being a 3rd round pick (early 3rd tho).

That's where i see Dahlen going aswell, that being said he might get picked a bit earlier (late 2nd). Personally i've been picking him in the 3rd/4th rounds in most mock drafts and i couldnt be happier .

But that being said Dahlen had fantastic production in the SuperElit in his draft -1 year like you mentioned.

 

[Jyrki Lumme]

Are the Lightning trying to trade him too?

 

[Appleyard]

Kovacs was the leading scorer of his team (28 pts in 52 games for AIK in Allsvenskan), he was great at the U19's in his draft year but ended up being a 3rd round pick.

That's where i see Dahlen going aswell, that being said he might get picked a bit earlier (late 2nd). Personally i've been picking him in the 3rd/4th rounds in most mock drafts and i couldnt be happier .

But Kovacs was never close to as good against his own age group as Dahlén was both in J20 and U18s at Hlinka/WJC, when all the best players are there internationally. (ah, just saw you added that in, yeh, it is a consideration for sure.)

And he was on a higher scoring team (0.2 GPG more) that had better offensive players around him. (Ekarv, Hagos & Stromberg all spent time with him... they were injured/not on AIK all year, but better than what Dahlén has to play with offensively.)

Kovacs also does/did not 'look' as dangerous as often, he relied/relies so much on his wristshot, which is fantastic (better than Dahlén's, who has a great shot himself) ... but I do not feel he got/gets himself in as good/dangerous positions as Dahlén does, in other words Kovacs is not going to be able to consistently score wristers from the circles at a higher level. (he will score some though, his release is to die for.)

Also I am not sure Kovacs had/has the upside that Dahlén has, and having watched both play in the Allsvenskan this year Kovacs I do not feel is that far ahead as a player even at a year older.


I have a really hard time seeing him go past the mid-late 2nd really. I mean, when he was playing on the same team as Eriksson Ek, Asplund, Grundström, Lööke, Ahl etc he looked as good as any of them really (better than all but Eriksson Ek & Asplund tbh, and a similar level to them)... and his skill-set is certainly not deficient/no obvious holes to his game that could warn people off.

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

Ranked as #30 by hockeyprospect

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

Watched him today and was impressed. Good speed and hands. Very underrated prospect imo.

 

[Appleyard]

He has been a major, major part (if not the biggest) in dragging Timrå back into the play-off spots recently and away from relegation playoffs. (it was a legit possibility ~10 or so games ago.)

15g, 12a, 27p, +0 now through 48 games played. Leads the team in scoring by 5 points.

His team have scored the 2nd least amount of goals in the league as well.

5g, 5a, 10 points in last 10 games he has played for Timrå.

They have won 8/10 in that time, and have scored 27 goals... he has been in on 37% of their goals... which is fantastic in any league, never-mind a mens league.

I have seen 2 of those last ten games and he was very impressive in both.


If Dahlén goes in the mid-late 2nd round like many project someone will be getting themselves a steal of a prospect in my mind.

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

Didnt stand out much in the U19 tournament as I thought he would do.

 

[Appleyard]

Didnt stand out much in the U19 tournament as I thought he would do.

Yeh, he played ok... played well even... but from the 2 1/3 games I saw while he had flashes he was not as 'dominant' as I expected going off his previous U-18 performances for Sweden at WJC and Hlinka.

The whole team though seemed a bit, well, not very 'team-ish' at times, disjointed really and lacking in some chemistry. The Carlsson--Lindgren pairing was the only line/pair that seemed to really mesh.

I mean, I would say Dahlen was one of the best ~4-5 players for Sweden from what I saw... but I would have expected him to be the best .

 

[fredligh]

15 goals in 48 gp (so far) in his draft year. Filip Forsberg had 8 in 43. This guy is a potential steal.

 

[VictorLustig]

15 goals in 48 gp (so far) in his draft year. Filip Forsberg had 8 in 43. This guy is a potential steal.

Forsberg was a year younger though.

 

[fredligh]

Forsberg was a year younger though.

Closer to half a year (8 months), still remarkable considering Filips year after the draft, he scored 15 goals. I guess the scouts saw a lot of potential in other areas than scoring.

 

[Loffer]

Is there much Jonathan Drouin in his game. A Drouin Lite perhaps? :wow:

 

[ulvvf]

Dahlen is a very intresting talent, he is leading his team in scoring by 5 p margin and was better in superelit last season than Nylander. To bad that he is a few days to old for WJC 18, would have been very intresting to see him there. That could have made a big difference when it comes to the draft.

 

[Appleyard]

2 assists today in last regular season game of the season to help Timrå squeeze into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth.

12 points in last 13 games to help get them in.

Finished the season with: 15g, 14a, 29p, +0 in 51 gp.

Led team in scoring. No silly high shot % either, right around 10%, he has just been creating a lot of chances.

 

[thefeebster]

I really like him as well; pretty under-rated by most agencies at this point. Seems like a guy who will be a late riser on those lists.

He's a skilled waterbug type of player, a bit under-sized but he battles hard in front of the net to gain position. Not afraid to drive the net. I find his offensive game very balanced. Can dangle. He has a good shot and slapper too. He has an innate ability to find open areas around the net and generates a lot of scoring chances this way. But he has also shown some really nice vision, finding seams, or making some really nice short passes in transition.

I think his skating has room for improvement, a bit more speed would be nice. Edgework is pretty good though.

Here's a look at his game:

 

[Appleyard]

I really like him as well; pretty under-rated by most agencies at this point. Seems like a guy who will be a late riser on those lists.

He's a skilled waterbug type of player, a bit under-sized but he battles hard in front of the net to gain position. Not afraid to drive the net. I find his offensive game very balanced. Can dangle. He has a good shot and slapper too. He has an innate ability to find open areas around the net and generates a lot of scoring chances this way. But he has also shown some really nice vision, finding seams, or making some really nice short passes in transition.

I think his skating has room for improvement, a bit more speed would be nice. Edgework is pretty good though.

Here's a look at his game:

Thanks for posting that, really nice video.

Yeh, I think one great thing about him is that unlike a lot of 'smaller' (I mean, he is not small enough for it to cause him a problem making next level, but still a bit small) skilled forwards he has no problem going to the hard area around the net and on the boards, and will also work hard backchecking.

Ie he may not have his Dad's size, but he does have some of his Dad's grit, grime and heart.

 

[Zaddy]

I really like him as well; pretty under-rated by most agencies at this point. Seems like a guy who will be a late riser on those lists.

He's a skilled waterbug type of player, a bit under-sized but he battles hard in front of the net to gain position. Not afraid to drive the net. I find his offensive game very balanced. Can dangle. He has a good shot and slapper too. He has an innate ability to find open areas around the net and generates a lot of scoring chances this way. But he has also shown some really nice vision, finding seams, or making some really nice short passes in transition.

I think his skating has room for improvement, a bit more speed would be nice. Edgework is pretty good though.

Here's a look at his game:

Nice video. Looks incredibly skilled and also seem to have a really good motor. Terrific edgework. Reminds me a bit of Nikolaj Ehlers. Hard to see how this guy doesn't have more hype, leading his team in scoring in a men's league too. Looks to have the tools needed to become a prolific scorer at the NHL level. Feels like some team is going to get a steal with this kid if they get him in the 2nd round.

 

[VictorLustig]

I did not expect Dahlén to be so good this year. I hope he stays in Allsvenskan one more season.

Nice highlight video.

 

[docbenton]

Really like the combination of high motor, IQ and skill with him. You really see the smarts shine through. Upside could be a Zetterberg type player.

 

[Uchiha]

I'm a fan of young forwards spending time in Allsvenskan and getting big minutes.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

Sounds like a guy Detroit would draft.

and I'm not just saying that because he's Swedish.

 

[Mark Edwards]

Ranked as #30 by hockeyprospect

Up to #26 this month.

 

[Franck]

Sounds like a guy Detroit would draft.

and I'm not just saying that because he's Swedish.

I get that feeling too.

The Red Wings are one of those teams that are big on drafting kids with NHL pedigree, and they have an established history of valuing skill over size.

 

[hockeey]

Size isn't a huge issue for him. He has tons of skill, great vision, and even better edgework. He kind of reminds me of rookie season Jeff Skinner before he got all those concussions. Only reason he isn't ranked higher is probably the fact that he isn't 6' 200lbs