Player Discussion Rasmus Dahlin Part 3- D (1st Overall, 2018, Frölunda HC, SHL)

[SabresSharks]

This just in ... 19 year-old d-man has not perfected his game. Yet.

 

[WeDislikeEich]

For now, the Sabres are willing to live with Dahlin's mistakes in exchange for his brilliant offensive play - TheHockeyNews

 

[WeDislikeEich]

Dahlin's play at the point has contributed to power-play success

 

[Leksand]

So can someone tell what you think about yesterday’s game against the Panthers. I thought Dahlins PP quarterbacking looked really really good even if it did not result in goals this time - is he ever distributing! However, on defense he looked clueless to me, not just some 19 year old’s occasional mistakes. Hope he had a bad unrepresentative game. I’m a big fan, so, just interested to hear what those who have seen more of him think.

(I’m a Caps fan with strong personal reasons to have Sabres as my second favorite, so I promise I’ll stay away from this forum when we play you in the ECF)

 

[BuffaloGooner]

So can someone tell what you think about yesterday’s game against the Panthers. I thought Dahlins PP quarterbacking looked really really good even if it did not result in goals this time - is he ever distributing! However, on defense he looked clueless to me, not just some 19 year old’s occasional mistakes. Hope he had a bad unrepresentative game. I’m a big fan, so, just interested to hear what those who have seen more of him think.

(I’m a Caps fan with strong personal reasons to have Sabres as my second favorite, so I promise I’ll stay away from this forum when we play you in the ECF)

He’s had two suspect defensive games in a row now, but honestly he’s better than this. There’s a reason he’s being sat at the end of games but I think he’s such a hard worker that his game will improve at a quick pace over the next few outings.

 

[Gabrielor]

Missed this. Great review of our gem.

 

[sabrebuild]

Halfway thru the video they discuss the small stuff he does. Praise be Rasmus

 

[itwasaforwardpass]

It's been a weird start for him. Feast or famine game to game.

 

[SabresSharks]

What's up with our future Norris winner? He's looked slow, weak, and indecisive too many times this season.

I have the utmost confidence in his future, but can't help but scratch my head at what I've been seeing.

 

[Fjordy]

What's up with our future Norris winner? He's looked slow, weak, and indecisive too many times this season.

I have the utmost confidence in his future, but can't help but scratch my head at what I've been seeing.

Maybe he's tired? Wrong Krueger training? One can only guess.

 

[Buffaloed]

I think the problem is Dahlin-Miller pair doesn't communicate well/have any chemistry. Dahlin doesn't seem to know where Miller is on the ice. If you're expecting your partner to be somewhere and he's not and it causes you to get burned repeatedly, that results in a loss of trust. You don't have confidence to try to make the play in front of you if you're worried about not having support.

 

[sabrebuild]

It would be a sick irony if Kruger is a very good coach with everyone but Dahlin.

Damn this team.ha

 

[SabresSharks]

It would be a sick irony if Kruger is a very good coach with everyone but Dahlin.

Damn this team.ha

I think most of us would agree that every player on the roster, even the favorite whipping boys, are playing significantly better under Ralph's staff. Except one.

It's baffling.

 

[Rastin]

The Sophomore Slump is a thing. I'm not too worried. He's been good at times and bad at others. Not dissimilar to last years start, lets give it to 25 games before we start worrying.

 

[sabrebuild]

The Sophomore Slump is a thing. I'm not too worried. He's been good at times and bad at others. Not dissimilar to last years start, lets give it to 25 games before we start worrying.

Ya, I'm not even particularly worried about a sophomore slump.

His rookie year was stupid good. People's expectations have gone up accordingly.

And despite people making valid comments on mistakes he has made, he is still a scoring chance machine at 19, while learning with a new coach and facing a league that actually respects his ability to embarrass anyone at any moment.

 

[joshjull]

I think most of us would agree that every player on the roster, even the favorite whipping boys, are playing significantly better under Ralph's staff. Except one.

It's baffling.

Its not that baffling Dahlin is struggling in his own end. Its perfectly normal and almost expected that an offensive dman like Dahlin would struggle as a teenager**. He will round out his game as he learns to adapt. If he was struggling to produce offense then I would be surprised/baffled. Thats far and away his strength. If Krueger had somehow stifled that then I might be thinking its a coaching issue.

**Its worth remembering that teenage dman aren’t usually even in the NHL. Something to put Dahlin’s dzone struggles into perspective.

 

[SabresSharks]

Its not that baffling Dahlin is struggling in his own end. Its perfectly normal and almost expected that an offensive dman like Dahlin would struggle as a teenager**. He will round out his game as he learns to adapt. If he was struggling to produce offense then I would be surprised/baffled. Thats far and away his strength. If Krueger had somehow stifled that then I might be thinking its a coaching issue.

**Its worth remembering that teenage dman aren’t usually even in the NHL. Something to put Dahlin’s dzone struggles into perspective.

Normally I'd agree with all that, except ... He was more competent defensively last season. Otherwise, this wouldn't be worth discussing.

I guess it's unfair to expect linear progression in all aspects of his game. It's tempting though, because he's so gifted.

 

[joshjull]

Normally I'd agree with all that, except ... He was more competent defensively last season. Otherwise, this wouldn't be worth discussing.

I guess it's unfair to expect linear progression in all aspects of his game. It's tempting though, because he's so gifted.

He’s also producing at a point per game pace which didn’t happen last season. Can’t separate the good from the bad and try to say the bad might be due to to the coach. That seems like excuse making for poor play.

 

[sabrebuild]

Defense is such a high profile position for making mistakes while trying stuff out.

It's so crazy that his ceiling is so high, that a 19 year old defenseman that has 10 points in 11 games, still has the occasional awesome defensive play, is playing meh, by his standards.

The tank was an appetizer for the true gold. We got so lucky.

 

[Chainshot]

Start by not being limp on pucks. This isn't a shoot-around, this isn't practice. Move the puck with some authority. And pay f***ing attention - yes, the subtle stuff can work to make players miss, but trying to dangle through a guy right beside his own net again? f*** off. That shit is not NHL level, that's peewee star hubris and someone needs to sit his ass down to tell him to stop hurting the team.

 

[Panthaz89]

Start by not being limp on pucks. This isn't a shoot-around, this isn't practice. Move the puck with some authority. And pay ****ing attention - yes, the subtle stuff can work to make players miss, but trying to dangle through a guy right beside his own net again? **** off. That **** is not NHL level, that's peewee star hubris and someone needs to sit his ass down to tell him to stop hurting the team.

Its somewhat alarming that he keeps dropping down every time he gives the puck up which wasn't happening until recently before he would just try to take the puck immediately back instead of flailing on the ice making it easy to simply skate around him and make the pass.

 

[Chainshot]

Its somewhat alarming that he keeps dropping down every time he gives the puck up which wasn't happening until recently before he would just try to take the puck immediately back instead of flailing on the ice making it easy to simply skate around him and make the pass.

Not only that, he's trying to soft-touch the puck around NHLers, especially off his backhand. Stop it. Be harder.

 

[Jim Bob]

 

[Jim Bob]

 

[HaNotsri]

This is really an answer to the posts about Dahlin in the roster thread. I think expectations for Dahlin were too high like I argued in this thread:
Expectations for Dahlin (this season)

He obviously performed way better than I expected last year but him being up and down defensively and not having time to do his nifty moves still rings true.
It took Hedman quite a while to become a complete no 1D and he was much better defensively even as a kid.

When it comes to production he's up there with some pretty impressive names. Eichel was over ppg for the first time last season. It's not easy to dominate the NHL unless you are McDavid.

Before Dahlin's first season we all wanted a vet for him to be paired with. Didn't happen.