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

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Fezzy126

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I am disappointed in Dahlin's play the first two games. For a #1 overall pick with his pedigree I expected a high impact, positive play driver from the backend starting in year #2 of his career. So far he has not met my own personal expectations (which if I'm being honest means f***all in the grand scheme of things). But the bottom line here is this, if a former #1 OA cornerstone piece plays like a liability, the team's chances for success decline subsantially.

I don't buy the coaching impact either, they have sheltered him and played him in favorable situations since the day he was drafted. He should be able to work on his defense while excelling offensively against weak competition in those situations, not floundering. The coaches still run him back over boards after eggregious turnovers in his own and failed finesse moves at the opponents blue line. I don't think they're reigning in anything for the kid, if anything it seems like they're encouraging his offensive creativity.

All that being said, we should be able to assess his play and discuss his impact on the team without people concluding that our criticsim means that we think he must be shipped out or he's being ruined by the franchise. I personally have no desire to trade him nor do I think he's trending towards bust territory, I just get pissed when he repeatedly gives the puck directly to the other team. There is no positive scenario that starts with us trading a former #1 overall pick, we lose in almost every conceivable scenario.
 

SundherDome

Y'all have to much power
Jul 6, 2009
14,367
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It's a valid after just 2 games and so many people giving up already, especially on our 20 year old future HOF defenseman. If things are still going south after 5 or 6 games, then the cause for concern will be more legit. 2 games, TWO!
Let's pump the brakes on future HOF talk. Also, he is 20. A long layoff should effect him less, he looks like he is skating in tar.
 

joshjull

Registered User
Aug 2, 2005
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Let's pump the brakes on future HOF talk. Also, he is 20. A long layoff should effect him less, he looks like he is skating in tar.
A long lay off is going to effect him the same as any other player when it pertains to timing and precision in decision making. I’d add to that the pressure he may have put on himself in game one coming in as our #1 dman for the first time.
 

joshjull

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Aug 2, 2005
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I am disappointed in Dahlin's play the first two games. For a #1 overall pick with his pedigree I expected a high impact, positive play driver from the backend starting in year #2 of his career. So far he has not met my own personal expectations (which if I'm being honest means f***all in the grand scheme of things). But the bottom line here is this, if a former #1 OA cornerstone piece plays like a liability, the team's chances for success decline subsantially.

I don't buy the coaching impact either, they have sheltered him and played him in favorable situations since the day he was drafted. He should be able to work on his defense while excelling offensively against weak competition in those situations, not floundering. The coaches still run him back over boards after eggregious turnovers in his own and failed finesse moves at the opponents blue line. I don't think they're reigning in anything for the kid, if anything it seems like they're encouraging his offensive creativity.

All that being said, we should be able to assess his play and discuss his impact on the team without people concluding that our criticsim means that we think he must be shipped out or he's being ruined by the franchise. I personally have no desire to trade him nor do I think he's trending towards bust territory, I just get pissed when he repeatedly gives the puck directly to the other team. There is no positive scenario that starts with us trading a former #1 overall pick, we lose in almost every conceivable scenario.

I think its worth remembering Dahlin was pretty raw as a defenseman when he was drafted. His status as #1 overall was due to his enormous amount of raw talent. But he played primarily center until he was 13 or 14 yrs old.

Adapting to the NHL as a teenager while also trying to develop defensive fundamentals is pretty hard to do. Most guys are trying to adapt their defensive game to the speed of the NHL not try to build a defensive game. That he has done as well as he has is remarkable to me.


An article leading up to his draft.

Five Questions with Rasmus Dahlin


How close were you to being a forward instead of a defenseman?

"It was close. I think I started to realize, though, that as a defender you could also play offensive but also defensive, and I like to help the team. I felt there was more responsibility as a defenseman and I liked that. I played center a lot until I was 13- or 14 years old and it was a lot of fun. But defense has always been a lot more interesting to me.
 

dortt

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Sep 21, 2018
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It's not just his turnovers, but his passing has been horrendous

I've long said Dahlin would be better as the #2 center behind Eichel, but so far this year, he'd be flopping as a center as well.

Jack is skating in tar, but his passes have been on the mark. Dahlin's have been wayward
 

apollo18

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Oct 20, 2018
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havent watched the past few games on Dahlin, what do you guys think? how has he played?
 

Fjordy

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Jun 20, 2018
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havent watched the past few games on Dahlin, what do you guys think? how has he played?
He looked better than against Washington, especially yesterday. He almost didn't make mistakes in his zone and made some smart passes and moves in the attack, but I wish he was more involved in the attack.
 

Fezzy126

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Should I be trading him away in my fantasy league before his value hits rock bottom?

He has 84 pts over the past two years combined, good for 18th among all defensemen.

He's also been top 10 among all defensemen in the league in power play points each of the past two years. So unless your league completely devalues PP scoring you should probably hold onto him...
 

67 others

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He has 84 pts over the past two years combined, good for 18th among all defensemen.

He's also been top 10 among all defensemen in the league in power play points each of the past two years. So unless your league completely devalues PP scoring you should probably hold onto him...
Im just not encouraged by what I have been reading among Sabres fans.

But it's a points league primarily
 

Paxon

202* Stanley Cup Champions
Jul 13, 2003
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Im just not encouraged by what I have been reading among Sabres fans.

But it's a points league primarily
He looked bad in game 1. Slow not just in speed but in movement. Everything he tried was just a bit off. He looks fine now. He still lacks an even remotely ideal partner (Montour, then Miller halfway through last game) which might hold him back a bit.
 
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truthbluth

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Feb 2, 2011
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He looked bad in game 1. Slow not just in speed but in movement. Everything he tried was just a bit off. He looks fine now. He still lacks an even remotely ideal partner (Montour, then Miller halfway through last game) which might hold him back a bit.
It’s hard to imagine a more ideal partner than Joker, but I’m probably dumb or something or Ralph would have at least tried it.
 
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Artemis Clyde Frog

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It’s hard to imagine a more ideal partner than Joker, but I’m probably dumb or something or Ralph would have at least tried it.

I've always felt that too and been hoping they will be the #1 pair for years to come. But suppose they might feel that they are too young still and neither of them physical enough to form a pair yet.

I truly long for the day we won't be seeing Risto and Mccabe lining up behind Eichel at every start of the game and so often during.
 

joshjull

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It’s hard to imagine a more ideal partner than Joker, but I’m probably dumb or something or Ralph would have at least tried it.
It was tried last season. Not a huge sample size but they didn’t do too well

103mins
GF% -> 38%
xGF%->38%

I think they ultimately will anchor the top two pairings, maybe even together. But need more development before they’re ready.

I've always felt that too and been hoping they will be the #1 pair for years to come. But suppose they might feel that they are too young still and neither of them physical enough to form a pair yet.

I truly long for the day we won't be seeing Risto and Mccabe lining up behind Eichel at every start of the game and so often during.

Thats pretty much it.
 

Fezzy126

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It’s hard to imagine a more ideal partner than Joker, but I’m probably dumb or something or Ralph would have at least tried it.

I see those two playing completely different roles - Joker in a shutdown role and Dahlin in an offensively tilted role, a la Vlasic & Burns.

It's possible that they compliment each other and form a dynamic pair, but long term I see them each anchoring their own pair.
 
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joshjull

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I see those two playing completely different roles - Joker in a shutdown role and Dahlin in an offensively tilted role, a la Vlasic & Burns.

It's possible that they compliment each other and form a dynamic pair, but long term I see them each anchoring their own pair.
It was interesting that Dahlin/Joker swap pairings last game. Dahlin was really struggling with the physical play from the Flyers. He was way too timid. Joker is hardly physical but wasn’t backing down from it.

Dahlin’s minutes have yo-yoed from game to game. Up game 1, down game 2, up game 3 and down again game 4.
 

Fjordy

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I hate the way our coaching staff plays him. Let this horse run. It just pains me. Look at the way Vancouver uses Hughes.
They should let him untie his hands in the attack and pair him with Borgen, who will insure him.
 

joshjull

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I hate the way our coaching staff plays him. Let this horse run. It just pains me. Look at the way Vancouver uses Hughes.

They are letting “this horse” run. All the dmen have had a green light from the start of the season to push things if this there. Even McCabe and Risto have been active. You’re not seriously going to suggest all the dmen have this green light but Dahlin doesn’t.

Dahlin came into this season on the top pair with the same green light every other dman. He even got 21mins in game one. But he has struggled defensively and his offensive game isn’t there at the moment. All fairly normal for a young guy getting his first shot at top pairing minutes.

But the thing that’s troubling me is how badly he’s getting intimidated by physical play. Especially since Dahlin said he added 10lbs or so of muscle in the offseason to handle that stuff better. But I’ve seen no signs of that at all. Quite the opposite so far.

Philly ran him off the top pair in the first period of last game. That led to Joker taking his spot. Joker isn’t intimidated by physical play even though he himself isn’t very physical. He’s also better defensively than Dahlin is.
 
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