Is Dahlin a generational talent?

[Sweetpotato]

Weird how people thought he was better than Matthews

He was a better prospect.

 

[GOilers88]

I feel like generational should apply to the guys who break into the league as kids and never look back. They kill it year in and year out and never seem to really slump. Or if they do slump they're still killing it relative to their peers.

 

[Unspecified]

Not even a little bit

 

[CherryToke]

What the hell did Buffalo do to him

 

[sdf]

Da

 

[The Macho King]

In terms of potential/talent, sure. It’s too bad his development has stunted him considerably

Also, the avatar is a joke, tia

See I don't necessarily get this. His development has no doubt been bad, so set that aside.

His toolbox is really good, but there's nothing in there that jumps out in a way like say McDavid's skating does. I don't see that as a generational talent. Elite talent? Sure. And you have to be patient with Dmen and put them in positions to succeed and grow steadily (which obviously did not happen with him). But I feel like the generational talk was never correct with him - it was more of a situation where 15/16 had elite #1s, 17/19 did not, and 18 he stood out relative to the drafts around him so the hype got a little out of control.

 

[Ben White]

I don’t see any clips of Yakupov as a 16 and 17 year old dominating professional adults.

 

[Ben White]

See I don't necessarily get this. His development has no doubt been bad, so set that aside.

His toolbox is really good, but there's nothing in there that jumps out in a way like say McDavid's skating does. I don't see that as a generational talent. Elite talent? Sure. And you have to be patient with Dmen and put them in positions to succeed and grow steadily (which obviously did not happen with him). But I feel like the generational talk was never correct with him - it was more of a situation where 15/16 had elite #1s, 17/19 did not, and 18 he stood out relative to the drafts around him so the hype got a little out of control.

His puck skills and poise were generational for a 16/17 year old playing against men - hence the hype. I’d say they still are but his development took a hit for some reason, the “Buffalo sucks” argument gets thrown around a lot, I don’t know if that’s the full explanation but could be one.

 

[The Macho King]

His puck skills and poise were generational for a 16/17 year old playing against men - hence the hype. I’d say they still are but his development took a hit for some reason, the “Buffalo sucks” argument gets thrown around a lot, I don’t know if that’s the full explanation but could be one.

I'm generally loathe to assume puck skills translate very well to the NHL from other leagues - even pro leagues. Time and space to make those moves are rarely there. See, e.g. Jonathan Drouin.

Poise is a bit ephemeral, but I feel that the same issue could present. It's easy to have poise when it's *insert SEL player here* closing in on you, but it's a bit different when it's Nathan MacKinnon.

 

[smokes lets go]

No, that ship has sailed. He can still be a very good player but he needs to figure it out and being on the Sabres doesn't help.

 

[McFlash97]

No

 

[Ben White]

I'm generally loathe to assume puck skills translate very well to the NHL from other leagues - even pro leagues. Time and space to make those moves are rarely there. See, e.g. Jonathan Drouin.

Poise is a bit ephemeral, but I feel that the same issue could present. It's easy to have poise when it's *insert SEL player here* closing in on you, but it's a bit different when it's Nathan MacKinnon.

I’m puzzled, from what I’ve seen from him this season, only a few games, he looked dominant. Yet the stats and reputation aren’t there, maybe I just got lucky catching him at the right moments or something.

 

[SotasicA]

Generational means in a tier of his own when it comes to all other players during his era. So, nope. Bobby Orr was generational. The only defenseman I can think of who fits the criteria.

McDavid is a tier above Dahlin. At least a tier.

 

[Midnight Judges]

Generational players find ways to have success even in the crappiest of environments.

Dahlin is not doing that.

 

[MakeTheGoalsLarger]

Of course he is. He was heralded as the best talent at defense since Orr. That's generational talent level. It doesn't matter what happens with his career.

But he is also a generational bust at this point.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Not even close

 

[Stuzchuk]

not voting... "Too early to tell" is missing from selection

 

[MadLuke]

In general generational player hit the floor right away, but not always:

1946-47	18	DET	NHL	58	7	15	22		52	7	0	0	0	15	0	0
1947-48	19	DET	NHL	60	16	28	44		63	14	1	1	2	23	5	0
1948-49	20	DET	NHL	40	12	25	37		57	10	2	0	2	21	4	0					AS-2
1949-50	21	DET	NHL	70	35	33	68		69	30	5	0	4	21	12	0					AS-2
1950-51	22	DET	NHL	70	43	43	86		74	38	5	0	9	32	11	0					AS-1,Hart-3,Ross-1

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Maybe if he does not start once the 06 team got stacked it is different and for the tier just below that we saw Jagr first top 10 season was is 4th one (21 year's old one), in both those example they were in stacked team situation too (Jagr didn't play much first wave powerplay for a while, which is rare for a talent like that) that do not apply to Dahlin, Hasek being an extreme example of that and he was a generational goaltender arguably the goat.

There is some room, even if the standard scenario is to start with a bang in your first 2 seasons a la Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr, McDavid, Crosby, etc...

 

[BCNate]

I'd say the list of young NHL D that I would take before him is growing, not shrinking. He will likely be very good, but an all time great? I really doubt it.

 

[Techcoockie]

I think Fox is closer to a gen talent than Dahlin

 

[Volica]

wouldn't that put him in the "generational" conversation? 2-3 before he's 30 probably means 4-5 total, there's only a few guys in that club

I don't disagree with your assessment, just think that would put him in the conversation for the best dman of his generation.

Well, Vic Hedman won once, and was top 3 multiple times.
He mostly lost out because guys with offence got more votes. I think in his prime Dahlin will have that offence to get those few extra votes.

The dude is 20 years old and will play 10 more seasons before he turns 30. This year is a write off for everything Buffalo, but you can’t look at last year and be like... this kid doesn’t have the skill kind of thing.

 

[beowulf]

People like to throw the term "generational" player around so much around here. No, he is not.

 

[Canovin]

No. Right now we are witnessing the Hedman era. Dude is likely to be winning another 3-4 Norris.

 

[Panthaz89]

How is a defenseman supposed to put up points when the forwards can't score? Even the best defenseman are lucky to put in 20 goals themselves in a season you need a team that can actually put the puck in the net and Dahlin doesn't have that this year with Eichel and Hall shooting sub 4% and half of the team(including the coaches) has gotten either injured or missed several games due to Covid. They had AHL and even ECHL level goalies in net for most of the season what defenseman is going to look good in that shit of a situation stuck in top pairing with a team that can't score and had goalies they couldn't rely on for most of the season? Sabres could have the best defenseman ever and they would still be last in the NHL this season you can't play the season with goalies giving up 5 goals per game in this era and expect to win or dominate.

 

[DitchMarner]

How is this thread still open? lol.