Dahlin's expectations

[inkman]

This isn't going to be popular but I expected more.

[Weave]

I hoped for more, certainly.  I didn't expect the frequency of the gaffs in his own zone.  Probably too much to ask I guess.

[LGR4GM]

2nd best 18yr old defender to ever play in the league but here we are. This thread just exists for people to bitch about something else. 

Averages 20minutes a night, has piled up points for a rookie defender, positive corsi, best zone exits of anyone not named Eichel but here we are. But sure let's bitch that the guy has tried some crazy moves and they only work 75% of the time. 

 

[Scottysabres]

Defense is such a difficult position I believe. I went with the kid is a pup, I'm not on one side of the fence or the other.

[LGR4GM]

Oh and if I sound angry in here, good. Freaking rediculous. What'd you want the kid to do? Win the Stanley Cup, Heart, Vezina, and Calder this year? Or would that not have been enough. 

[Radar]

Fans are so prone to fantasy and going with media hype they are bound for disappointment. He's a high school age kid playing in the highest level of hockey and playing big minutes. I'm not at all negative about him. Only bad thing is we don't have enough Dahlins.

Edited February 21, 2019 by Radar

[Weave]

32 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Oh and if I sound angry in here, good. Freaking rediculous. What'd you want the kid to do? Win the Stanley Cup, Heart, Vezina, and Calder this year? Or would that not have been enough. 

You don't sound angry.  You sound childish.

[inkman]

34 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Oh and if I sound angry in here, good. Freaking rediculous. What'd you want the kid to do? Win the Stanley Cup, Heart, Vezina, and Calder this year? Or would that not have been enough.

38 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

2nd best 18yr old defender to ever play in the league but here we are. This thread just exists for people to bitch about something else. 

Averages 20minutes a night, has piled up points for a rookie defender, positive corsi, best zone exits of anyone not named Eichel but here we are. But sure let's bitch that the guy has tried some crazy moves and they only work 75% of the time. 

 

I try to appreciate fancy stats. For the most part I do but when I watch him, I see bad plays more often than good.

[dudacek]

I'm amazed that a high school kid living on his own in a foreign country is essentially the same player at 18 that Brian Campbell was at 24.

I'd be lying if I didn't hope to see more "wow" plays and fewer mistakes, but he is the 23rd-highest scoring defenceman in the entire NHL right now. And he's done it on a mediocre scoring team with a mediocre power play, that he hasn't consistently played on. Every defenceman ahead of him but one (Chabot) is at least 24 and Jones and Risto are the only others under 27.

And he is doing this despite the fact he doesn't have a man's body yet and is clearly still adjusting to NHL speed.

His passing and lateral mobility are already elite. The rest will come.

Sure he is an inconsistent second-pairing NHL defenceman right now, but that already puts him ahead of pretty much everyone but Bobby Orr at the same age. I have seen nothing this year to change my prediction that he will be the best Sabre defenceman of all time and challenge Hasek for the best Sabre.

Edited February 21, 2019 by dudacek

[StuckinFL]

6 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I'm amazed that a high school kid living on his own in a foreign country is essentially the same player at 18 that Brian Campbell was at 24.

I'd be lying if I didn't hope to see more "wow" plays and fewer mistakes, but he is the 23rd-highest scoring defenceman in the entire NHL right now. And he's done it on a mediocre scoring team with a mediocre power play, that he hasn't consistently played on. Every defenceman ahead of him but one (Chabot) is at least 24 and Jones and Risto are the only others under 27.

And he is doing this despite the fact he doesn't have a man's body yet and is clearly still adjusting to NHL speed.

His passing and lateral mobility are already elite. The rest will come.

I have seen nothing this year to change my prediction that he will be the best Sabre defenceman of all time and challenge Hasek for the best Sabre.

I'm inclined to agree

[Derrico]

Now I know this place is in meltdown mode.  Dahlin play is one of the only bright spots in this whole season imo.  On many nights he's the teams best dman and does things no d on either team can do.  At 18 years old in the best league in the world and playing his first year in North America.  I have no idea what some people were expecting if they don't think he has at minimum lived up to expectations.

[Weave]

2 minutes ago, Derrico said:

Now I know this place is in meltdown mode.  Dahlin play is one of the only bright spots in this whole season imo.  On many nights he's the teams best dman and does things no d on either team can do.  At 18 years old in the best league in the world and playing his first year in North America.  I have no idea what some people were expecting if they don't think he has at minimum lived up to expectations.

I don't really know what I was expecting.  He's a helluva talent.  He has flaws.  That's not unexpected.  Maybe a more dominating presence was what I expected?  Again, I don't know.  Might be as simple as, the shadow over another year of unfulfilled team expectations has clouded my impression.

 

Whatever.  I'm way past being interested in analysis of this team.

[Taro T]

Provided he stays healthy, he'll likely end up with a handful more points than I'd expected.  His shot is a little weaker than I'd expected at this time, but it'll get there, and his passing is right where I'd hoped.

Heis weaker against the rush than I'd expected but shows he'll be a force in front of the Sabres net when he grows into a man.  

He should've started the year on the 3rd pairing in an ideal world & should be swapping between 3rd & 2nd pair at this point again in that ideal world.  He's oftentimes been 1 pairing higher than where he should be, but hasn't looked as out of place as I'd've feared he would in that situation.

He's a darn good rookie (likely a Calder finalist) & will very likely wind up the best D-man the Sabres ever had.  (When Schoenfeld, Ramsey, & Zhitnik are the main competition, sadly not that high a bar.)

[Derrico]

25 minutes ago, Weave said:

 

Whatever.  I'm way past being interested in analysis of this team.

Yep I’m with you on this.  Another year pissed down the drain.

[Carmel Corn]

Too soon to judge for me.  He has played more than I might have expected.  He has certainly made some rookie mistakes as well.  I wish his shot was a bit stronger, but that will get better.  In his defense, he has been constantly subjected to playing with different defense partners, which is a general complaint I have with the coaching staff.  I would also like to see him on the left side more.

[Gatorman0519]

He is 18 and putting up numbers not seen very often.  He is young and learning the North American game.  He is right where he should be.

[Indabuff]

Maybe it's an overreaction to the season or a lack of hockey knowledge but my concern is his development.  If he's around players with lazy work ethic and/or piss poor attitudes and lousy coaches I fear the worst. 

[irregularly irregular]

Liger has a point. Actually a very good take on the situation. If this team had 80 points right now, would anyone have started this thread? I think not.

Is a rookie Dman, regardless if he was the #1 pick or not, going to single handedly give the Sabres an additional 17+ points in the standings. I think not.

Is everyone disappointed with the way this season has played out. I think so. Some of us more than others, especially if you listen to Harrington blow steam.

Does that mean point a finger at any one player and say he has been disappointing, is going to make it better? I think not.

I believe it was Dennis Green who said "you are what your record says you are". Is that record because of any one player? I think not.

It would have been great if every single Sabre played to the very best of their abilities all season long. Does that mean the Sabres would have 80 points? I think so.

Is that realistic? I think not. In fact, we all know it is not.

Was Dahlin going to win the Norris in his first NHL season? I think not. 

Don't let your expectations cloud the reality. Dahlin is going to be very good, if not great and a joy to watch for many years. Give him a chance.

[SwampD]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Oh and if I sound angry in here, good. Freaking rediculous. What'd you want the kid to do? Win the Stanley Cup, Heart, Vezina, and Calder this year? Or would that not have been enough. 

Says the guy who started the trade Risto thread.

[PerreaultForever]

6 hours ago, inkman said:

This isn't going to be popular but I expected more.

and you'll get it. 

At age 18 he's played full  time minutes and is second in rookie scoring on an offensively challenged hockey team. what more did you want????

In his rookie season Erik Karlsson had 26 pts. Dahlin already has 32. Give the kid a break and let him become the best player on our team, which he will be in 2-3 years and that is a very reasonable timeline for a defenseman.

[skaught]

One thing I've noticed is that when he does make a mistake, he usually ends up recovering and makes a good play to steal the puck back or manages to make a pass out of trouble. There have been a few bad mistakes, but no worse than any of our other D men.

[LTS]

He's lived up to my expectations.

Those are probably different than everyone else's though.

 

 

[LGR4GM]

13 hours ago, Weave said:

You don't sound angry.  You sound childish.

There's an ignore feature, you should use it. If you want I will get you the instructions. 

[LTS]

Just now, LGR4GM said:

There's an ignore feature, you should use it. If you want I will get you the instructions. 

Is there an ignore thread function?  I don't like to ignore posters, but I would love to not have to click through these threads every day.

Yes, I know i could go to the main listing, but using the next unread topic at the bottom is super convenient.

[LGR4GM]

11 hours ago, SwampD said:

Says the guy who started the trade Risto thread.

I think a player with 405 NHL games to his name over almost 6 seasons should be traded because he already is who he is. Risto isn't going to suddenly stop making the dumb defensive plays we have come to know. I bet you think apples are oranges too.