Rasmus Rising: The Ascension of Dahlin

[LGR4GM]

First, there are 1-2 plays every game where I am like "OMG WHY!!! YOU GOT TO COVER THAT!!" then I remember he is 18 and I then I watch him do something ridiculous like skate around the entire ice surface for 20 seconds because he can or attempt a backhand pass to himself because he has the agility to turn faster than Eric Karlsson. So for fun I went in to Elite Prospects and I decided to look up defenders by points this season.

I limited it to U20 at first and there are only 3 guys on the list (minimum 10 games) and Dahlin is the leader. Sorry Miro Heiskenen. 

U21. There are 9 guys on the list and Dahlin is the leader.

U22... there are 20 defenders on the list and Dahlin ranks 2nd behind Chabot. 

U23.... 30 players and Dhalin is 2nd in scoring. 

U24... he is now 3rd in scoring and there are 42 players on the list. 

U25... 7th in scoring with 69 players on the list. 

 

So to recap, at this moment in time, Dahlin is outscoring all the other defenders under 21. You have to go all the way to Under 24 to get him to drop out of 2nd and the first guy is Thomas Chabot. Rasmus Dahlin is outscoring guys that are anywhere from 3-5 years his senior. Now imagine him at Chabot's age of 21. 

[French Collection]

He is on a development curve that excites me. 18 years old!

He is going to be better defensively and physically than Chabot in the near future. 

Playing keep away for half a shift and his elite passing will tilt the Sabres possession numbers like an anvil on an empty teeter-totter.

[LGR4GM]

Dahlin is on pace for 7goals and 39assists in 82 games this season. 46points as an 18yr old NHL defender. 

[Taro T]

30 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Dahlin is on pace for 7goals and 39assists in 82 games this season. 46points as an 18yr old NHL defender. 

He is, and at the end of the Kings game he was on pace for 36 points.  5 points in 2 games will goose ones stats quite nicely.

Kid is special but we'll probably just continue to see the glimpses & not the full player until sometime 2 years from now.  And it is pretty cool that he'll likely become the Sabres best D-man at 20-21 yo & not for the reasons that Ristolainen assumed that mantel at that age.  And it would be even cooler if he doesn't clearly take that title until 23-24 as that will likely mean Risto is still improving as well.

[tom webster]

55 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Dahlin is on pace for 7goals and 39assists in 82 games this season. 46points as an 18yr old NHL defender. 

If I’m not mistaken, only Bobby Orr and Phil Houskey exceeded 40 points as 18 year old defenseman.

[WildCard]

What did Ekblad end up hitting his freshman year?

[LGR4GM]

2 minutes ago, WildCard said:

What did Ekblad end up hitting his freshman year?

... I mean... you could google it. 

But I already did because I love you. He had 39pts in 81 games. 

[WildCard]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

... I mean... you could google it. 

But I already did because I love you. He had 39pts in 81 games. 

Figured I'd try and drive conversation a little more this way ?

So Dahlin should blow past that. Good, because there was a ton of talk about if Dahlin could even snigg Ekblad's rookie calder season. Then again, Ekblad didn't have Pettersson to compete with

And btw, Ekblad has never hit 40 points

Edited December 17, 2018 by WildCard

[Brawndo]

 

[GASabresIUFAN]

Ekblad also had Campbell covering up his mistakes, like Myers had in Tallinder in his great rookie campaign.  Neither guy has ever really been the same since they lost those initial partners.  

Dahlin is on another level.  He has been partnered with pretty much everyone on the Sabres roster this season and he has played his game with all of them.  Although it would be interesting to see who Rasmussen has played the best with.  McCabe, Scandella and Bogo all bring kind of similar games when healthy.  Bogo is the most physical and McCabe the better skater, but all are reasonably physical, all move pretty well and all can add some O. McCabe maybe the best of the 3 in his own zone as well.

LGR, Chabot is having a hell of a season.

3 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

Wow a Shawn Anderson sighting.  I remember when he came up.

[LGR4GM]

Chabot is going crazy. I expect Dahlin to be like him in a year. 

[pi2000]

Dahlin needs to get faster... well, I guess he doesn't need to... but if there was one thing he could improve, that would put him on a level with the all-time greats, would be to get faster and more explosive.     That said, a guy like him already has this self-realization and has probably already figured out what he needs to do next off-season to get there.     I'm still giddy about winning that lottery... every time he does something special... it's just a reminder of that lottery win and it feels so good.   

[Mustache of God]

In his first 17 games Dahlin had 7 points, in his 2nd 17 he put up 12 points. He's only going to continue to put up more points as he gets comfortable and his confidence grows. I don't think it's unrealistic for him to break 50 points this season. 

If he breaks 50 points, is that enough to win the Calder? Depends on how Peterson keeps rolling but playing at his level at D is much tougher than putting up goals as a winger.

[Doohicksie]

Tanking wasn't worth Reinhart, Eichel, Nylander and Mittelstadt.  But it was 100% worth it to tank to get Dahlin.

[pi2000]

3 minutes ago, Mustache of God said:

In his first 17 games Dahlin had 7 points, in his 2nd 17 he put up 12 points. He's only going to continue to put up more points as he gets comfortable and his confidence grows. I don't think it's unrealistic for him to break 50 points this season. 

If he breaks 50 points, is that enough to win the Calder? Depends on how Peterson keeps rolling but playing at his level at D is much tougher than putting up goals as a winger.

Pettersson is that good tho... he deserves to win it even if his production tails off... which is likely as the season moves along.     

[pi2000]

4 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Tanking wasn't worth Reinhart, Eichel, Nylander and Mittelstadt.  But it was 100% worth it to tank to get Dahlin.

The tank was only ever about McEichel... because they were guaranteed one of them by finishing last. 

Dahlin was luck... that said, consider this... if BUF won the McDavid lottery it's very likely they don't end up with Dahlin.

So would you rather have McDavid and one of Svechnikov, Kotkaniemi, or Tkachuk....   OR Eichel and Dahlin?

[Derrico]

1 minute ago, pi2000 said:

Dahlin needs to get faster... well, I guess he doesn't need to... but if there was one thing he could improve, that would put him on a level with the all-time greats, would be to get faster and more explosive.     That said, a guy like him already has this self-realization and has probably already figured out what he needs to do next off-season to get there.     I'm still giddy about winning that lottery... every time he does something special... it's just a reminder of that lottery win and it feels so good.   

All of this.  He's certainly not slow but his straight line speed is not as fast as I thought it would be.  But he more than makes up for it with his edge work and unbelievable hockey iq.  The decision making is top notch.  He makes difficult passes look routine and has dramatically improved the ability to break out of the zone.  We are truly lucky to have a franchise centre and franchise dman.  We won't be winning the cup this year but we should have some fun watching hockey over the next few years.

[Mustache of God]

1 minute ago, pi2000 said:

The tank was only ever about McEichel... because they were guaranteed one of them by finishing last. 

Dahlin was luck... that said, consider this... if BUF won the McDavid lottery it's very likely they don't end up with Dahlin.

So would you rather have McDavid and one of Svechnikov, Kotkaniemi, or Tkachuk....   OR Eichel and Dahlin?

That's a tough question. Two weeks ago I would have gone the McDavid option but something has clicked with Jack recently and his play has reached a new level. I'll take Eichel & Dahlin (especially if in this scenario the Oilers would have gotten Dahlin & Eichel).

[PalmTreeMafia]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

 

 

Good stuff. 5 of top 12 on that list are/were Sabres: Dahlin, Bogo, Anderson, Bodger, and Svoboda.

[Cheektorado]

6 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

The tank was only ever about McEichel... because they were guaranteed one of them by finishing last. 

Dahlin was luck... that said, consider this... if BUF won the McDavid lottery it's very likely they don't end up with Dahlin.

So would you rather have McDavid and one of Svechnikov, Kotkaniemi, or Tkachuk....   OR Eichel and Dahlin?

I prefer to consider it Karma.

[pi2000]

6 minutes ago, Mustache of God said:

That's a tough question. Two weeks ago I would have gone the McDavid option but something has clicked with Jack recently and his play has reached a new level. I'll take Eichel & Dahlin (especially if in this scenario the Oilers would have gotten Dahlin & Eichel).

McDavid should've gone to BUF, and Eichel to ARI... then EDM ends up with Hanifin and therefore keeps Taylor Hall around.      The entire league would look different.

With everything that happened, ARI is the true loser.   They get neither McDavid, nor Eichel... all because they won an OT game in BUF on March 23 1015.     The tank centered on that one game.   Mission accomplished.

Edited December 17, 2018 by pi2000

[LGR4GM]

14 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

Pettersson is that good tho... he deserves to win it even if his production tails off... which is likely as the season moves along.     

True but keep in mind Pettersson is 17months older than young Dahlin. That said, I believe Pettersson will mostly likely win the Calder. 

[That Aud Smell]

11 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

So would you rather have McDavid and one of Svechnikov, Kotkaniemi, or Tkachuk....   OR Eichel and Dahlin?

Hmmmmm.

I like where we're at, I'll say that.

[Marions Piazza]

46 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Tanking wasn't worth Reinhart, Eichel, Nylander and Mittelstadt.  But it was 100% worth it to tank to get Dahlin.

 

[darksabre]

37 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

The tank was only ever about McEichel... because they were guaranteed one of them by finishing last. 

Dahlin was luck... that said, consider this... if BUF won the McDavid lottery it's very likely they don't end up with Dahlin.

So would you rather have McDavid and one of Svechnikov, Kotkaniemi, or Tkachuk....   OR Eichel and Dahlin?

I'm having too much fun to worry about questions like this. It's time to switch off our nerd brains and just enjoy geeking out over how good our guys are.