Curious case of Rasmus Dahlin

[Gatorman0519]

when we drafted him, you had to think the stud d-man he will become would not be seen for 5-6 years... he's doing well for his age 

[calti]

I see no comparison to Bobby Orr

[inkman]

1 hour ago, Gatorman0519 said:

when we drafted him, you had to think the stud d-man he will become would not be seen for 5-6 years... he's doing well for his age 

It's not what the hype suggested. It's difficult to swallow growing pains when so many rookies are difference makers on winning teams.  Dahlin is putting up historical numbers yet his impact is measured how?  The number of tape to tape passes that are flubbed into the corner, and those are the good ones.  It's just frustrating. 

Hey we got this really good player but we aren't winning games because of him and most of the stuff he does goes unnoticed but man you should see his corsi.  

 

[Neo]

4 hours ago, Tondas said:

Being a pedant, I can't believe I made that gaffe.  Thanks for the correction and education.  I am disappointed in myself.  

You are a fine poster.  “Gaff” is most delicious irony.

[Neo]

4 minutes ago, calti said:

I see no comparison to Bobby Orr

Well, as The Tablets read before they were dropped ...

XI   THERE WILL BE ONLY ONE ROBERT GORDON ORR of PARRY SOUND, ONTARIO. 

[calti]

6 minutes ago, Neo said:

Well, as The Tablets read before they were dropped ...

XI   THERE WILL BE ONLY ONE ROBERT GORDON ORR of PARRY SOUND, ONTARIO. 

God only knows if there were others...Those who had a torn up knee at age 12 instead of age 27.

[LabattBlue]

I expected more based on the hype prior to the draft.  I know he is only 20(or will be next month), but he looks a long way from being an all-star, let alone Norris Trophy contender, or worthy of anything close to a "max contract".

[Curt]

16 minutes ago, inkman said:

It's not what the hype suggested. It's difficult to swallow growing pains when so many rookies are difference makers on winning teams.  Dahlin is putting up historical numbers yet his impact is measured how?  The number of tape to tape passes that are flubbed into the corner, and those are the good ones.  It's just frustrating. 

Hey we got this really good player but we aren't winning games because of him and most of the stuff he does goes unnoticed but man you should see his corsi.  

I understand the frustration with the team in general, but Dahlin is the best D his age on the planet, and the best D his age we have seen in many years.

[dudacek]

38 minutes ago, Curt said:

I understand the frustration with the team in general, but Dahlin is the best D his age on the planet, and the best D his age we have seen in many years.

I think two things weigh heavy in the perception of Dahlin:

1) He hasn’t made many gamebreaking plays or statement games where we’re left saying ‘we won the game because of what he did’

2) He has at least three peers in Makar, Hughes and Heiskanen who aren’t much older and have arguably had more successes.

I think that when the dust settles Rasmus will be the better player, he is younger and burdened by playing on a worse team. But the hype says he should separate himself from the pack and lead us out of the wilderness and that hasn’t happened yet.

Until it does people will be wanting more.

As for as I’m concerned he will be the best Sabre defenceman ever. The offensive big play flash is revealing itself more often and the too-casual-or-soft turnovers are becoming fewer and farther apart all the time.

He still gets over powered too often and doesn’t shoot the puck hard enough, but that will come with age. He’s got all the tools and the will to use them.

Edited March 4, 2020 by dudacek

[Weave]

37 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I think two things weigh heavy in the perception of Dahlin:

1) He hasn’t made many gamebreaking plays or statement games where we’re left saying ‘we won the game because of what he did’

2) He has at least three peers in Makar, Hughes and Heiskanen who aren’t much older and have arguably had more successes.

I think that when the dust settles Rasmus will be the better player, he is younger and burdened by playing on a worse team. But the hype says he should separate himself from the pack and lead us out of the wilderness and that hasn’t happened yet.

Until it does people will be wanting more.

As for as I’m concerned he will be the best Sabre defenceman ever. The offensive big play flash is revealing itself more often and the too-casual-or-soft turnovers are becoming fewer and farther apart all the time.

He still gets over powered too often and doesn’t shoot the puck hard enough, but that will come with age. He’s got all the tools and the will to use them.

Well stated.

His stats are comparing to Housley, but Housley made game breaking plays.  He was VERY noticeable on the ice.  Granted, he couldn't play in his own end to save his life, but he was an offensive dynamo.  Given the hype, I expected that out of Dahlin.

I'm not ready to say with utmost confidence that Dahlin is going to be an all star.  I don't know that his game garners that kind of attention.  He's doing things at that age that very few have done, but he doesn't have the super high end flash that gets media attention.  Maybe it shows up as his game matures?

[PerreaultForever]

15 hours ago, Kruppstahl said:

He has regressed offensively and more so defensively, but he's so young and the long term prognosis remains strong.

Don't look for him to blossom until Year 4 or 5 of his career, IMO.

 

 

 

A second year regression for a kid D man is perfectly normal. 

[dudacek]

21 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

A second year regression for a kid D man is perfectly normal. 

And he hasn’t regressed offensively. His Points per game is up over last year by a pretty good margin.

To my eye he’s better defensively as well.

Edited March 5, 2020 by dudacek

[Gatorman0519]

D-men generally don't make the same impact forwards do at a young age.  If he continues to develop to potential it wont be fully felt until he is 25 on a cup contender.

[Thorner]

5 hours ago, Weave said:

Well stated.

His stats are comparing to Housley, but Housley made game breaking plays.  He was VERY noticeable on the ice.  Granted, he couldn't play in his own end to save his life, but he was an offensive dynamo.  Given the hype, I expected that out of Dahlin.

I'm not ready to say with utmost confidence that Dahlin is going to be an all star.  I don't know that his game garners that kind of attention.  He's doing things at that age that very few have done, but he doesn't have the super high end flash that gets media attention.  Maybe it shows up as his game matures?

I'm not sure this is true. 

In honesty, I've seen him make more than a few highlight-reel dangles, turning players inside out in a way even Jack doesn't do, and then he gets in for the shot/final pass and things fail to finish off. Leaving me thinking - damn, that would have been highlight of the night!

He's making the flashy plays, especially for a d-man, but he's not finishing yet. Assuming he develops that part of his game along with the rest, I think the highlights will be his oyster. 

[Tondas]

10 hours ago, Weave said:

Well stated.

His stats are comparing to Housley, but Housley made game breaking plays.  He was VERY noticeable on the ice.  Granted, he couldn't play in his own end to save his life, but he was an offensive dynamo.  Given the hype, I expected that out of Dahlin.

I'm not ready to say with utmost confidence that Dahlin is going to be an all star.  I don't know that his game garners that kind of attention.  He's doing things at that age that very few have done, but he doesn't have the super high end flash that gets media attention.  Maybe it shows up as his game matures?

Maybe Dahlin matures into a defenceman where at the end of the game you say, "I didn't notice Dahlin out there."  Then you look at the stat line and he had 3 assists, 4 blocked shots, 5 hits and was a plus 4.

[pi2000]

He hasn't really opened up offensively yet... he's shown flashes, but he's still working on the defensive part of his game.

The offense will come, not worried in the least.

[grinreaper]

On 3/4/2020 at 12:47 PM, Tondas said:

Being a pedant, I can't believe I made that gaffe.  Thanks for the correction and education.  I am disappointed in myself.  

I thought you were talking about fishing. 

[Tondas]

10 minutes ago, grinreaper said:

I thought you were talking about fishing. 

Nope.  This is a pedant.

[grinreaper]

4 minutes ago, Tondas said:

Nope.  This is a pedant.

I was referring to this:

 

[Tondas]

5 minutes ago, grinreaper said:

I was referring to this:

 

Nope. I learned my lesson.  Gaffe not gaff.

[Crusader1969]

Looks like Chychrun has broken out and has that " future Norris trophy winner" look to him 

Not to bring up the 2016 draft again but there were many of us on this site who wanted the Sabres to take Sergachev or Chychrun.

Chychrun is breaking out at 23, Rasmus is (or will be soon) 21.  I believe it will be sooner rather than later that we see Rasmus look like the Dman we all envisioned. 

As for this years draft, its exactly the reason why I don't draft Powers. Not that he won't be great, they just cant afford to wait 5 years for him to develop. 

 

[Thorner]

I was on record as wanting Chychrun that year. Nice to see him playing well 

[LGR4GM]

1 minute ago, Crusader1969 said:

Looks like Chychrun has broken out and has that " future Norris trophy winner" look to him 

Not to bring up the 2016 draft again but there were many of us on this site who wanted the Sabres to take Sergachev or Chychrun.

Chychrun is breaking out at 23, Rasmus is (or will be soon) 21.  I believe it will be sooner rather than later that we see Rasmus look like the Dman we all envisioned. 

As for this years draft, its exactly the reason why I don't draft Powers. Not that he won't be great, they just cant afford to wait 5 years for him to develop. 

 

Rasmus needs a coach who tells him to focus on his short burst and trusting his instincts in the defensive zone. 

Power taking 5 years honestly seems right. 

[inkman]

I figured someone bumped this thread due to Rasmus’s recent elevated level of play.  What I get is conjecture about other players we could have drafted.  Sigh.  
 

Well let me be the first, in some sort of bizarro world alternate reality, to pump this kids tires.  He’s looked like a completely different player.  Not hesitating because he doesn’t want to upset RK, using his well honed instincts to make plays and even prevent some of the opposition’s.  I’m not saying he’s arrived but I am on the Dahlin train.  He still gets a little too cutesy trying to break up plays with his stick but it works more often than not.  

[Kruppstahl]

On 3/4/2020 at 5:26 PM, calti said:

I see no comparison to Bobby Orr

Not close.  If he was going to be Bobby Orr, we would know it by now.

As I've said before, we now know he will never even be a Norris Trophy candidate.

That ship has sailed.

There is a lot of room for improvement in his game, and he's going to get better, but he's nothing close to a Bobby Orr, just as Eichel is not close to a generational, once-in-20-years talent.

If Eichel was Canadian and it was an Olympic year, and NHL athletes were allowed in the Olympics again, he would not make the Canadian team.

Still a great player, and on his best day, probably something like the 10th best center in the league.