Dahlin is generational.

[Unspecified]

So the answer is no, thank you.

Give your head a violent shake!

 

[Unspecified]

Heiskanen should have been in the NHL last year. Nill made the choice to keep him in Finland, where he dominated.

The sheeple don't care about that but yet they seems to vilify him for him being 19 when being compared to Dahlin and completely not understanding what Heiskanen is doing by leading all Rookie D men in scoring, all rookies in TOI and completely dominating game in game out. Buffalo has had squat to be happy about the last 20+ years so any hype is good hype to them.

 

[Royal Thunder]

Heiskanen is an absolute stud, you can make the argument he is better than Dahlin today. But if you all want to talk about him so badly, feel free to make a thread or a poll and stop disparaging Dahlin and Sabres fans. "Any hype is good to sabres fans" lol like god forbid we get excited about having the best D prospect in at least a couple of generations.

 

[LongWayDown37]

The sheeple don't care about that but yet they seems to vilify him for him being 19 when being compared to Dahlin and completely not understanding what Heiskanen is doing by leading all Rookie D men in scoring, all rookies in TOI and completely dominating game in game out. Buffalo has had squat to be happy about the last 20+ years so any hype is good hype to them.

What on earth is all this? Taking it a little personal? By the way, he’d been trailing Dahlin all season till Sunday...

 

[Mattilaus]

Give your head a violent shake!

I am not the one who read the question, ignored it, and posted something irrelevant. I am also not the one vehemently pushing Heiskanen talk in a thread that has nothing to do with Heiskanen. Go make a Heiskanen thread if it bothers you that much. It's not me who needs a head shake

 

[Unspecified]

Heiskanen is an absolute stud, you can make the argument he is better than Dahlin today. But if you all want to talk about him so badly, feel free to make a thread or a poll and stop disparaging Dahlin and Sabres fans. "Any hype is good to sabres fans" lol like god forbid we get excited about having the best D prospect in at least a couple of generations.

Says who? HF?

 

[Elysian]

A thread about a d-man being generational is going to include comparison to other defensive talents. Not sure why that's such a concern to Dahlin fans.

 

[Mattilaus]

A thread about a d-man being generational is going to include comparison to other defensive talents. Not sure why that's such a concern to Dahlin fans.

Yes, comparisons to other talents which could be seen as generational or close to it. Heiskanen has no relevance. Dahlin is not generational, but we determine this by comparing him to generational D men, not to Heiskanen. You wanna talk about Lidstrom and how Dahlin doesn't compare then that's fine.

Honestly, myself and I assume many other fans, are just completely sick of every single Dahlin thread (including his prospect thread) being filled with people screaming about Heiskanen. It's stupid in the same way that we can't have an Eichel thread without it being completely filled with talk of how Matthews is better. Every thread doesn't need to be some variation of:

"Hey guys Dahlin is good!"
"Yea but what about Heiskanen?"

 

[WhatWhat]

So the answer is no, thank you.

Except he played LD and RD in the Liiga last year at 18 and also when he was 17. Now at 19 he takes shifts as LD and RD within the same period depending on who he is partnered with.

 

[WhatWhat]

Has there ever been an eighteen year old defenseman who can play both LD and RD as effectively as Dahlin? That seems to be a ridiculous trait that gets glossed over quite often.

Heiskanen as a 17-18 year old in the Liiga was good enough to be used interchangeably on either D side

 

[WhatWhat]

Yes, comparisons to other talents which could be seen as generational or close to it. Heiskanen has no relevance. Dahlin is not generational, but we determine this by comparing him to generational D men, not to Heiskanen. You wanna talk about Lidstrom and how Dahlin doesn't compare then that's fine.

Honestly, myself and I assume many other fans, are just completely sick of every single Dahlin thread (including his prospect thread) being filled with people screaming about Heiskanen. It's stupid in the same way that we can't have an Eichel thread without it being completely filled with talk of how Matthews is better. Every thread doesn't need to be some variation of:

"Hey guys Dahlin is good!"
"Yea but what about Heiskanen?"

Lol he is a rookie Dman who is playing just as well and is only 9 month older... Of course Heiskanen is relevant here. The 2 are on the same damn tier and neither is generational

 

[Mattilaus]

Lol he is a rookie Dman who is playing just as well and is only 9 month older... Of course Heiskanen is relevant here. The 2 are on the same damn tier and neither is generational

Cool, you should definitely go make a thread about it.

 

[Hokinaittii]

Finlands gonna Finlaaaaand!
(Can someone please make a meme that we can use whenever they try to talk down other prospect by comparing them to finns or something, like that old ”Everyone knows its Butters!”-jingle?)

You are trying way too hard to push this one man show of yours about Finns being the bad guys here in HfBoards. You might want to stop before it gets any more cringy.

Anyway, it's not just the Finns who think Heiskanen might actually be better than Dahlin. I guess even some stats prove that.

You can dwell in the thought that once Dahlin evens out the massive 9 months age difference, he becomes this generational defender who won't have any competition for the next 10 years in Norris voting but before that happens, we should focus on what we have.

 

[Mattilaus]

You are trying way too hard to push this one man show of yours about Finns being the bad guys here in HfBoards. You might want to stop before it gets any more cringy.

Anyway, it's not just the Finns who think Heiskanen might actually be better than Dahlin. I guess even some stats prove that.

You can dwell in the thought that once Dahlin evens out the massive 9 months age difference, he becomes this generational defender who won't have any competition for the next 10 years in Norris voting but before that happens, we should focus on what we have.

Seriously, go look at Dahlin's prospect thread and tell me the Finnish fans who went in there and ruined it are not the bad guys. You guys like Heiskanen? Start a thread about him. There is literally zero reason to invade every thread remotely connected to Dahlin and try to make it all about how good Heiskanen is.

 

[snowkiddin]

Yes, comparisons to other talents which could be seen as generational or close to it. Heiskanen has no relevance. Dahlin is not generational, but we determine this by comparing him to generational D men, not to Heiskanen. You wanna talk about Lidstrom and how Dahlin doesn't compare then that's fine.

Honestly, myself and I assume many other fans, are just completely sick of every single Dahlin thread (including his prospect thread) being filled with people screaming about Heiskanen. It's stupid in the same way that we can't have an Eichel thread without it being completely filled with talk of how Matthews is better. Every thread doesn't need to be some variation of:

"Hey guys Dahlin is good!"
"Yea but what about Heiskanen?"

Heiskanen absolutely has relevance.

Saying Heiskanen might be as good or better isn’t saying that Dahlin isn’t any good. We know Dahlin is good. Saying that Heiskanen is comparable is disputing OP’s post that Dahlin is generational. You absolutely can compare a defenseman to other defensemen in his generation if you want to call said defenseman generational.

The thread isn’t called “Dahlin is elite.” If it were, then I would agree that Heiskanen has no bearing on this.

The thread argues that Dahlin is generational. Bringing up defensemen who are arguably better than him while being in the same “generation” is just simply arguing that Dahlin isn’t generational because there are comparables.

 

[Gabranth]

Personally, I don't think that there is much difference between an 18 and 19-year-old if we're talking about maturity. Both of them are playing their rookie seasons in NHL right now, which means that both of them are still adjusting to the NHL. Now if Heiskanen was playing his second season that would be completely different.

I don't see generational in Dahlin tbh, but time will tell.

 

[Mattilaus]

Heiskanen absolutely has relevance.

Saying Heiskanen might be as good or better isn’t saying that Dahlin isn’t any good. We know Dahlin is good. Saying that Heiskanen is comparable is disputing OP’s post that Dahlin is generational. You absolutely can compare a defenseman to other defensemen in his generation if you want to call said defenseman generational.

The thread isn’t called “Dahlin is elite.” If it were, then I would agree that Heiskanen has no bearing on this.

The thread argues that Dahlin is generational. Bringing up defensemen who are arguably better than him while being in the same “generation” is just simply arguing that Dahlin isn’t generational because there are comparables.

So now your argument is literally semantics. Heiskanen is relevant because of the choice of your personal interpretation of the adjective used by someone to describe Dahlin? Do you realize how silly this is? It's like saying Dahlin is tall is fine but if you say Dahlin is very tall then the thread should be be filled with people saying "but what about chara?!?!?!"

Your argument makes no sense and again, just like the other replies, ignores half my post about how we can't have a single Dahlin thread without it being invaded by Heiskanen's PR team. Heiskanen is great, go make a thread about him.

 

[snowkiddin]

So now your argument is literally semantics. Heiskanen is relevant because of the choice of your personal interpretation of the adjective used by someone to describe Dahlin? Do you realize how silly this is? It's like saying Dahlin is tall is fine but if you say Dahlin is very tall then the thread should be be filled with people saying "but what about chara?!?!?!"

Your argument makes no sense and again, just like the other replies, ignores half my post about how we can't have a single Dahlin thread without it being invaded by Heiskanen's PR team. Heiskanen is great, go make a thread about him.

Now my argument?? My argument never changed and in fact that was my first post in the thread (well, second, my first was laughing at how every young player seems to be “generational” these days).

Anyway, this thread (and my argument) isn’t “Dahlin is good ... but what about Heiskanen?!” as you seem to think it is.

It’s “Dahlin is the best in his generation ... but what about Heiskanen?!” Heiskanen is a comparable player to Dahlin. I would argue that generational players should not have comparables in their generation. They should be in a class of their own.

FWIW (not much) I think Dahlin is better than Heiskanen but I don’t think Dahlin is generational. Bringing up Heiskanen is completely relevant in the context of this thread and I’ve never invaded Dahlin’s prospect thread to proclaim Heiskanen is better. I’m not arguing that Dahlin isn’t a superstar, I’m arguing that he isn’t generational. Isn’t the point of a discussion board to discuss?

On a bit of a side note, why are so many players given the generational tag?

Gretzky, Lemieux, Lindros, Crosby and McDavid were all called generational. Made sense as there was more or less a 10 year gap between those players.

But now we have the media and HFBoards hyping every second first overall as “generational.” Matthews, Dahlin, Lafreniere, Matthew Savoie, Connor Bedard ... 5 “generational” players in 8 years. How is that even possible?

Dahlin is damn good.

 

[Sabresruletheschool]

Personally, I don't think that there is much difference between an 18 and 19-year-old if we're talking about maturity. Both of them are playing their rookie seasons in NHL right now, which means that both of them are still adjusting to the NHL. Now if Heiskanen was playing his second season that would be completely different.

I don't see generational in Dahlin tbh, but time will tell.

Not trying to be an ass, but stats say different. 19 year old defencmen outperform 18 year old defenseman by a big margin. That extra year of your body maturing usually makes a big difference.

 

[PatrikBerglund]

Dahlin is +6, Heiskanen is -2.

/jk

They are both amazing.

Could be this era's Bourque and Lidstrom.

 

[Royal Thunder]

Says who? HF?

Uhhh scouts, pundits, his former coaches? Try paying attention. Dahlin being the best D prospect in decades isn't exactly breaking news.

 

[Unspecified]

Not trying to be an ass, but stats say different. 19 year old defencmen outperform 18 year old defenseman by a big margin. That extra year of your body maturing usually makes a big difference.

As someone who played hockey at a competitive level during the ages of 18 and 19 i can tell you there is not much of a difference if any at all. The fact that both Dahlin and Heiskanen are rookies within a year of each other in terms of age, size and experience kind of eliminates that as a non factor. Dahlin is a great young rookie and nobody is saying otherwise but to eliminate Heiskanen because he is 19 is ridiculous. Now if Dahlin was 18 and Heiskanen was 21 while both being rookies then i can see an argument.

 

[Unspecified]

Uhhh scouts, pundits, his former coaches? Try paying attention. Dahlin being the best D prospect in decades isn't exactly breaking news.

Yea former coaches of players they coached are never biased. Draft rankings means squat btw and if you think it does i want to show you Jamie Benn and Jere Lehtinen from a Stars perspective.

 

[nickdawg95]

Hesk and dahlin are not comparable because dahlin is 18 and hesk is 19, hesk will never have that chance to play as an 18 year old that's why what dahlin is doing is special BECAUSE HE'S 18, and now we have all these finnish and stars fans coming here saying Well hesk leads all rookie dman now (By 1 point) so he's comparable to dahlin, no he's not because once again he's 19 and dahlin is 18, stop trying to downplay what's he's doing y'all gonna look silly in a year or 2

 

[Jugitsu]

And it's always the same couple guys. One of which I swear is a nine year old. And a few who have followed the NHL since Laine and don't have a clue about the league up until then. All of Finland my sweet virgin ass.

All too familiar pattern. Happens every time a potential superstar is breaking out.

We Swedes have our share of idiot fans . I think Finnish fans are more engaged here on HF and among them a few are realy bias, but most are levelheaded.
As a Swede i admit i hate this boom of Finnish wunderplayers, and with forwards Sweden are a bit behind at the moment. Depth we have, and D, but not top end forwards near the Finns best forwards. But what to do? I just hope we beat you in WC and Olympic anyway. Most exciting games. I dont care about NHLs make belive cup or WJC, but fun to watch.

...And Dahlin is not generational i say again just to be a bit on topic

Every single nation shares that, no country is immune. Finnish fans especially right now seem like a swarm since a lot of new young Finnish players get talked about. That hasn't happened in like a decade honestly, so I'm not surprised to see 'us' out in force and quite frankly there are more than a few boneheads among us.

I personally have no bias against any single player based on their birth country. I've never really hated Swedes either - probably stemming from the fact that I'm not the biggest international competition fan out there. And some of my favorite players of all time are Swedish born. It's most of all media hype, not real rivalry.

On the topic: I too am inclined to think that the word generational gets tossed around way too easily. Is Dahlin the next young dman to light up the league and leave people in awe? I both believe so and hope so. He's got all the tools I value in a player and is extremely fun to watch. If he can find a physical game to his already impressive toolset, I'm going to be a fan.