Rasmus Dahlin at 20

[Zamboni]

I must be in the minority as a fan ...

I wasn’t at this frame of mind. At all. ... “We were all waiting with bated breath for him to hit theice and all of a sudden the Sabres would be great.” ?‍♂️

[inkman]

3 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

I must be in the minority as a fan ...

I wasn’t at this frame of mind. At all. ... “We were all waiting with bated breath for him to hit theice and all of a sudden the Sabres would be great.” ?‍♂️

He's a first overall generational talent. If you weren't the least bit hopeful that Dahlin's arrival would signify a marked improvement on the ice, you are either psychic, omnipotent or dead inside.  ?

[Zamboni]

Just now, inkman said:

He's a first overall generational talent. If you weren't the least bit hopeful that Dahlin's arrival would signify a marked improvement on the ice, you are either psychic, omnipotent or dead inside.  ?

To use your words ... I was hopeful he’d be pretty good and not look out of place in his rookie year.
Big difference from thinking he’d “make the Sabres great” during his rookie year. Apparently like I said, I must be in the minority.

[LGR4GM]

30 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

To use your words ... I was hopeful he’d be pretty good and not look out of place in his rookie year.
Big difference from thinking he’d “make the Sabres great” during his rookie year. Apparently like I said, I must be in the minority.

He looked almost exactly like I thought his rookie year. 

[Thorner]

On 6/25/2020 at 9:01 PM, dudacek said:

He went fourth, after McDavid, Matthews and McKinnon.

I'm pleasantly surprised. 

Especially considering the "Necessarily M" requirement to finishing top 3. 

- - - 

MacKinnon is better than Mathews. 

Edited June 27, 2020 by Thorny

[Thorner]

On 6/26/2020 at 12:51 PM, Taro T said:

Yeah, why would you want Dahlin to add PK to his tool box?

They've never been down late in a game killing a penalty & needing a goal.  Would really stink if we could trust him enough out there 4v5 to be able to feed the puck to Eichel for a rush.  And then maybe even finish if off.

Sorry, he needs to add that to the tool kit to reach the levels we believe he can & he might as well learn to do it sooner than later.  Hopefully, it makes sense to get him out there this year.  (Obviously, don't play him there if it costs the team games & don't make him their #1; but he was the 6.  He needs to be at least 5 & ideally 4.)

I agree, get him in all situations. Like @dudacek alluded to when he posted the ranking....the allure of a 30 minute d-man. If we EVER get back to the playoffs..the idea that one of our top 2 most talented players can play over half the game in special circumstances is...appealing. 

[French Collection]

4 minutes ago, Thorny said:

I'm pleasantly surprised. 

Especially considering the "Necessarily M" requirement to finishing top 3. 

- - - 

MacKinnon is better than Mathews. 

Agree 100% that is better than Matthews, and not just because I hate the Leafs and his moustache and.....

[Thorner]

On 6/26/2020 at 1:37 PM, LGR4GM said:

To compare Dahlin to Makar, we would need to compare Dahlins 2020 season to Makars 2019 season. So we'll have to wait a year to see. 

One last Makar to Dahlin point to consider. Makar is only 5'11" and has been for what? 3-4 years at least. Dahlin is 6'3". Makar is physically matured. He will probably add some weight and muscle for sure but he spent 2 years in college where he could easily adapt his 5'11" frame. Dahlin is taller and it will take him just a hair longer to fill that out. We know he was light coming into his draft year. Dahlin was 6'2.75 inches tall and only 185lbs at the combine. He is now somewhere around 205lbs according to Elite which means that guy has been working to fill out his frame. Makar was 5'11" at the combine and 187 lbs. He is still listed at 187 pounds. I am just commenting that Dahlin hasn't reached the same physical level of maturity that Makar has. 

And even then, Makar will have been 21 for most of that season, and Dahlin only 20. You can almost look at Dahlin's season starting in '21. 

So, imagine Dahlin, in two seasons, and on a team with the talent Colorado has. It's not even close, in my estimation. 

Edited June 27, 2020 by Thorny

[dudacek]

9 minutes ago, Thorny said:

I'm pleasantly surprised. 

Especially considering the "Necessarily M" requirement to finishing top 3. 

- - - 

MacKinnon is better than Mathews. 

Agreed. The guy picking 1st agreed with us too. The guy picking second said they are close but picked porn-stache boy for his goal-scoring ability.

[Thorner]

On 6/26/2020 at 5:37 PM, Randall Flagg said:

You'll get that fix when we win Lafreniere tonight!

Arse. 

- - - 

When I called the Dahlin win, we won it.

Edited June 27, 2020 by Thorny

[Thorner]

23 hours ago, inkman said:

He's a first overall generational talent. If you weren't the least bit hopeful that Dahlin's arrival would signify a marked improvement on the ice, you are either psychic, omnipotent or dead inside.  ?

Jack elevated to a Hart level talent this year, and there was no marked improvement in our hockey team. 

Hockey, man.

[LGR4GM]

So one of the things I talk about when it comes to liking certain prospects more than others is chaos. I want guys that create chaos, it is why I prefer Jarvis to a Holtz because IMPO Jarvis is creating more chaos. Dahlin is a great example of Chaos. The way he moves and passes in the offensive zone forces defenders to react and creates chaos. 

 

[DarthEbriate]

On 7/1/2020 at 8:36 AM, LGR4GM said:

So one of the things I talk about when it comes to liking certain prospects more than others is chaos. I want guys that create chaos, it is why I prefer Jarvis to a Holtz because IMPO Jarvis is creating more chaos. Dahlin is a great example of Chaos. The way he moves and passes in the offensive zone forces defenders to react and creates chaos. 

Dahlin is going to continue to generate more and more chances. And recall, his rookie year he'd try random stuff...cough up the puck, and then routinely break up the threat. His ability to recover, along with increased defensive awareness, increased bulk/size and ability to physically impose some will... those are all the exciting things.

And another Jarvis note --- if he's an Agent of Chaos, and manages to go through a variety of doors --- I'm more and more intrigued. But this is not the thread. I need to find that thread.

[dudacek]

Great analytics piece here on the NHL’s best defencemen in transition.

https://theathletic.com/1892364/2020/07/09/by-the-numbers-identifying-the-nhls-best-puck-moving-defensemen/

Rasmus just missed the top 10 cut because although he scores very well in the relevant categories, he commits far too many exit turnovers.
Jokiharju is also among the 40ish players highlighted as “excellent” Where he falls down is in his low zone entry volume.

Josi, Karlsson and Slavin among the league studs in this area.

[Thorner]

6 hours ago, dudacek said:

Great analytics piece here on the NHL’s best defencemen in transition.

https://theathletic.com/1892364/2020/07/09/by-the-numbers-identifying-the-nhls-best-puck-moving-defensemen/

Rasmus just missed the top 10 cut because although he scores very well in the relevant categories, he commits far too many exit turnovers.
Jokiharju is also among the 40ish players highlighted as “excellent” Where he falls down is in his low zone entry volume.

Josi, Karlsson and Slavin among the league studs in this area.

Just missing the top 10 at 19 is very, very solid. 

What did the article do, list the top ten and then 40ish near-misses? Or are some near misses ranked ahead of others?

 

Edited July 9, 2020 by Thorny
I ain't paying

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, Thorny said:

Just missing the top 10 at 19 is very, very solid. 

Understatement of the week.  Might be in the running for the entire off-season.  (Sabres off-season that is, not the NHL's on-again off-again off-season.)

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

 

What did the article do, list the top ten and then 40ish near-misses? Or are some near misses ranked ahead of others?

 

"Thus, the goal of this analysis isn’t to definitively rank these puck movers in a particular order but to simply highlight which ones are posting elite numbers in the data available to us. With this in mind, here’s the criteria I used to find the cream of the crop puck movers.

• Possession exit %: Top 10 percent of defensemen
• Possession exits per 60 minutes: Top 20 percent of defensemen
• Exit %: Top 50 percent of defensemen
• Minimum 400 minutes of 5v5 time-on-ice

So, the data comes from about 60 games played over the past three years, which he explains has proven to be enough of a sample that the numbers hold.

I think the players listed are the ones that met all four of those criteria, from which he creamed a top 10.

 

[Thorner]

@dudacek and it was said, what, that RD was close? 

[inkman]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

"...from which he creamed..."

 

?

[Refuting]

Should have picked Svechnikov

[LGR4GM]

8 hours ago, Toilet_Mop said:

Should have picked Svechnikov

[Refuting]

44 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Lol 

Yeah, because picking a power forward is exactly what the Sabres don't need. 

Offensive defenseman are overrated. You dont need them if your FORWARDS are doing their job. 

We have too many finesse guys that are worthless. 

[LGR4GM]

12 minutes ago, Toilet_Mop said:

Lol 

Yeah, because picking a power forward is exactly what the Sabres don't need. 

Offensive defenseman are overrated. You dont need them if your FORWARDS are doing their job. 

We have too many finesse guys that are worthless. 

You know what, I'll bite. 

Explain to me why Dahlin is worse than Svechnikov. 

Also explain to me how Dahlin is a finesse guy and what you mean by finesse. 

[Refuting]

4 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

You know what, I'll bite. 

Explain to me why Dahlin is worse than Svechnikov. 

Also explain to me how Dahlin is a finesse guy and what you mean by finesse. 

Besides goaltending, our biggest problem is defenseman who can't play defense. Picking Svechnikov somewhat solves our "secondary scoring" issue. 

I would rather have a scoring power forward than an offensive defenseman any day of the week. 

I'm not explaining to you what finesse means. Look it up if you have to. If you can't tell why Dahlin is more finesse than anything, you're not trying. 

[LGR4GM]

6 minutes ago, Toilet_Mop said:

Besides goaltending, our biggest problem is defenseman who can't play defense. Picking Svechnikov somewhat solves our "secondary scoring" issue. 

I would rather have a scoring power forward than an offensive defenseman any day of the week. 

I'm not explaining to you what finesse means. Look it up if you have to. If you can't tell why Dahlin is more finesse than anything, you're not trying. 

That's it? Talk about not trying.