Rasmus Dahlin vs The Field

In 3 years will Rasmus Dahlin be the best defenceman in the NHL, or will it be someone else?


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Registered User
May 26, 2010
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Field and it's no fault of Dahlin.

He was setup to fail by being named the McDavid of Defensemen before he was drafted.
When expectations are so high, they're that much harder to reach.
 
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EXTRAS

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Jul 31, 2012
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There are a lot of uber-good young dmen in his age bracket. Will he be among the best? Yeah. Clear best? Nah.

Heiskanen/makar/hughes and a couple more should all be elite.
 
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avsfan9

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Jul 28, 2011
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It’s very possible but he’s competing against some good young talent who are ahead of him right now who are going to develop and get better as well.
 

Bounces R Way

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Nov 18, 2013
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He'll probably have a year or two in his career where he'll be considered the best. Whether or not that's 3 years from now or before or after is impossible to say. Don't really think there'll be all that many consecutive years someone will get to hold the title of best like Lidstrom or Orr did.

As good as Victor Hedman is he's only got the one Norris.
 

joe dirte

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Sep 28, 2017
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Really tough to say. If i had to bet on one dman it might be him, but the odds against the field....
 

bobholly39

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Mar 10, 2013
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3 years is too soon imo. He might be the best by then, and he might not. He's only going to be 23. Had Karlsson peaked yet at this age? Can never tell with him. Hedman at 23 was nowhere near the best, nor even his best. Lidstrom won 7 Norrises all after age 30.

I think Dahlin is the most likely to be the best defensemen in the world in 5, or 7 years, and so I might have picked him for a prediction. 3 years it's more likely no than yes.
 

loosemoose

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May 31, 2020
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The field has an inherent advantage and Dahlin hasn't done anything to suggest he's better than other young top defencemen in the league.
 
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The Abusement Park

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I’m going to pick the field but I really think he will be the best dman in the league soon. Kind of getting Hedman vibes from him.
 

Northern Avs Fan

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May 27, 2019
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3 years is too soon imo. He might be the best by then, and he might not. He's only going to be 23. Had Karlsson peaked yet at this age? Can never tell with him. Hedman at 23 was nowhere near the best, nor even his best. Lidstrom won 7 Norrises all after age 30.

I think Dahlin is the most likely to be the best defensemen in the world in 5, or 7 years, and so I might have picked him for a prediction. 3 years it's more likely no than yes.

I think by 23 he should be very close to getting to his prime when you consider that he will be entering his 6th season in the NHL.

Certainly there’s been a bunch of defenceman who peeked a little later than that in their career, but he should have 370+ games under his belt by then.

Some of his best hockey might come after that point, but I think we’ll certainly be seeing what Dahlin is at that point.
 

nowhereman

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Jan 24, 2010
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Right now, the field (Heiskanen, Hughes, Makar, McAvoy, Jones, etc.) is clearly ahead of him. He'll need to achieve some pretty rapid growth and hope the other don't continue their rapid trajectory.

IMO, Dahlin is a tremendous player but people were overestimating his impact as a potential McDavid-level "generational" defenseman. There are a lot of stellar young defenders in the league and any one of them could end up being the best. Personally, I'd put my wager on either Heiskanen or Hughes.
 

Pavel Buchnevich

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Dec 8, 2013
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I think Dahlin will be the best in three years, but no current player is good enough that you should take them over the field.

Taking someone over the field is reserved for Tiger Woods in the early 2000’s, Mike Trout now, maybe what we are approaching with Mahomes. No one in hockey is that good.
 

The Moose is Loose

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Jun 28, 2017
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I think Dahlin will be the best in three years, but no current player is good enough that you should take them over the field.

Taking someone over the field is reserved for Tiger Woods in the early 2000’s, Mike Trout now, maybe what we are approaching with Mahomes. No one in hockey is that good.
Who you think will be considered the best player in hockey in 3 years? McDavid vs the field?

I'd take McDavid
 

Fatass

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Apr 17, 2017
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Good young player, but there are several young D ahead of him (by a fair bit actually) right now.
Personally I’d take these (young) guys ahead of Dahlin right now:
Heiskanen
Hughes
Jones
Makar
McAvoy
 

Hale The Villain

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Right now, the field (Heiskanen, Hughes, Makar, McAvoy, Jones, etc.) is clearly ahead of him. He'll need to achieve some pretty rapid growth and hope the other don't continue their rapid trajectory.

IMO, Dahlin is a tremendous player but people were overestimating his impact as a potential McDavid-level "generational" defenseman. There are a lot of stellar young defenders in the league and any one of them could end up being the best. Personally, I'd put my wager on either Heiskanen or Hughes.

Heiskanen and Hughes are both 1YR older ('99s)
Makar is 2YRs older ('98)
McAvoy is 3YRs older ('97)
Jones is 6YRs older ('94)

Obviously most of those players should be better given most are a good amount older than he is, but Dahlin is far superior than players like McAvoy and Jones at the same age.

He's right in that Heiskanen, Hughes, Makar tier, and I expect in 5YRs he'll be considered the best of them. Hopefully the Sabres will have their shit together by that time. Still have yet to see how he looks on a team that isn't bottom 10.
 
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