Rasmus Dahlin, the coaches need to stop

[LGR4GM]

Idk who has been wearing his jersey but that's not the player they drafted. They have completely neutered him by clearly forcing this above the puck crap in him. 

Dahlin looks like a player who is being over coached. Reminds me of Eichel under Bylsma. 

[Trettioåtta]

Dahlin is also responsible. He has miss played the puck repeatedly. This isn't just coaching. But it's only a few games, after a 10 month hiatus. So I am not too worried yet.

[Carmel Corn]

Dahlin took a step backwards last year under RK's coaching as well.... this is not a new problem.  He has regressed under RK's leadership.

[Trettioåtta]

1 minute ago, Carmel Corn said:

Dahlin took a step backwards last year under RK's coaching as well.... this is not a new problem.  He has regressed under RK's leadership.

He went from 0.536 to 0.678 points per game last year. He didn't regress.

[GASabresIUFAN]

He was also better in his zone.  

He also started slowly last year if I remember correctly leading to a very similar thread.

[JohnC]

54 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Idk who has been wearing his jersey but that's not the player they drafted. They have completely neutered him by clearly forcing this above the puck crap in him. 

Dahlin looks like a player who is being over coached. Reminds me of Eichel under Bylsma. 

The Sabres have played two games after not having played for a year. The first game the whole team played raggedly. That was to be expected. The second game against a cup contending team the Sabres tightened up and played much better with more structure and less sloppiness. My point is that we are only into our third game in the season where we had a brief training camp with no preseason games. Making judgments right now as to how players are playing is a tad premature. Don't you think? 

In general, I liked the play of Ullmark and I thought that Skinner looked a lot better in this game. 

[French Collection]

He is my biggest disappointment so far. He has not been a factor on the positive side of the ledger.

I need to relax as it is only 2 games in and he is 20 years old.

I just expect a lot and hate the chatter of Makar, Hughes and Heiskanen winning all of the Norris trophies for the next 15 years.

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

The Sabres have played two games after not having played for a year. The first game the whole team played raggedly. That was to be expected. The second game against a cup contending team the Sabres tightened up and played much better with more structure and less sloppiness. My point is that we are only into our third game in the season where we had a brief training camp with no preseason games. Making judgments right now as to how players are playing is a tad premature. Don't you think? 

In general, I liked the play of Ullmark and I thought that Skinner looked a lot better in this game. 

lol Washington is not a cup contender. 

This is the 2nd year in a row where this coaching staff has made Dahlin look distinctly non Dahlin. 

[JohnC]

1 minute ago, LGR4GM said:

lol Washington is not a cup contender. 

This is the 2nd year in a row where this coaching staff has made Dahlin look distinctly non Dahlin. 

Washington is a cup contender. They are not favored but they certainly are in consideration. 

Dahlin is playing in his third game after not playing NHL games for almost a year. This is like jumping to a conclusion about a book after reading the first couple of pages. That makes little sense. 

[LTS]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

lol Washington is not a cup contender. 

This is the 2nd year in a row where this coaching staff has made Dahlin look distinctly non Dahlin. 

He's been slow, grabbing opponents, missing pucks, making bad passes. I don't see that being on the coaches.  He simply does not look good at all and I dare say he might be the worst player on the ice at the moment.

 

[inkman]

First overall.  Consensus.  The ledger runs deep with HOF, All-Stars and generational talent.  Sid the kid, Nathan MacKinnon, John Tavares.  We end up with Swedish Erik Johnson.   Sigh.   

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Is this not his 3rd season?  Just his third season.  He is a kid and is only 20 years old.

Rasmus II will be fine.  He will be finer than fine.

He will be the top Dman in the NHL in 5 years and will dominate the league for at least another 7 after that.

He won't be Orr, but he will be Lidstrom.

Edited January 16, 2021 by New Scotland (NS)

[jsb]

Still young but shows no signs of explosiveness, can't hit the net with a shot to save his soul and still getting knocked on his keister way too often. Good player overall but he reminds me of Reinhart and not Jack in terms of controlling a game.

[pi2000]

he's added weight which is good, but short term he will be adjusting to his new playing weight so don't expect too much out of the gate... trust the process

[Trettioåtta]

8 minutes ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

Is this not his 3rd season?  Just his third season.  He is a kid and is only 20 years old.

Rasmus II will be fine.  He will be finer than fine.

He will be the top Dman in the NHL in 5 years and will dominate the league for at least another 7 after that.

He won't be Orr, but he will be Lidstrom.

If we end up with the second best defenceman to ever play the game, I don't think we should consider it a consolation prize 😛

 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

41 minutes ago, Trettioåtta said:

If we end up with the second best defenceman to ever play the game, I don't think we should consider it a consolation prize 😛

 

Me either.  @Taro T, who really knows the game, thinks maybe Potvin (probably 3rd best to play the game ... top 5 anyway).  I still say Lidstrom.

[tennessee dan]

He's just another puck moving defenseman.  Nothing special.  Good shot on the powerplay, but can't keep it in at the point.  That might be who he is.  So don't pay him like the player you want him to be.  Pay him for who he is.  

[Curt]

51 minutes ago, tennessee dan said:

He's just another puck moving defenseman.  Nothing special.  Good shot on the powerplay, but can't keep it in at the point.  That might be who he is.  So don't pay him like the player you want him to be.  Pay him for who he is.  

Who are you describing?  Dahlin doesn’t have a good shot on the PP.

[Thorner]

6 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Idk who has been wearing his jersey but that's not the player they drafted. They have completely neutered him by clearly forcing this above the puck crap in him. 

Dahlin looks like a player who is being over coached. Reminds me of Eichel under Bylsma. 

You'll know better than me here but I always thought/read that Bylsma gave Jack free reign within his system. Whereas others were handcuffed by the dump and chase he was allowed to free-wheel. Jack wasn't really Jack though at that time, development wise. 

4 hours ago, French Collection said:

He is my biggest disappointment so far. He has not been a factor on the positive side of the ledger.

I need to relax as it is only 2 games in and he is 20 years old.

I just expect a lot and hate the chatter of Makar, Hughes and Heiskanen winning all of the Norris trophies for the next 15 years.

I hear you, and I'm not trying to absolve all your worries, but there is a *significant* common denominator between the teams those 3 guys play on and the one Dahlin does. 

It does matter a lot. 

Edited January 16, 2021 by Thorny

[Thorner]

3 hours ago, LTS said:

He's been slow, grabbing opponents, missing pucks, making bad passes. I don't see that being on the coaches.  He simply does not look good at all and I dare say he might be the worst player on the ice at the moment.

 

Brandon Montour would like a word

2 hours ago, inkman said:

First overall.  Consensus.  The ledger runs deep with HOF, All-Stars and generational talent.  Sid the kid, Nathan MacKinnon, John Tavares.  We end up with Swedish Erik Johnson.   Sigh.   

Sid is in a separate category. 

Bold - ouch. He'll be much better than that, though, and has been over comparable years so far. 

Though, I'm glad you brought that up because it highlights a discrepancy between the average level of player you see when the 1 pick is a forward v a D man. 

Edited January 16, 2021 by Thorny

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

Me either.  @Taro T, who really knows the game, thinks maybe Potvin (probably 3rd best to play the game ... top 5 anyway).  I still say Lidstrom.

If he hits his absolute ceiling, Potvin.

Hedman or Lidstrom w/ just a little luck is very much possible.

[Thorner]

2 hours ago, jsb said:

Still young but shows no signs of explosiveness, can't hit the net with a shot to save his soul and still getting knocked on his keister way too often. Good player overall but he reminds me of Reinhart and not Jack in terms of controlling a game.

This is a really good observation. 

I see a bit of Reinhart, too, in the lack of speed. A difference though is Dahlin is a sublime skater (not fast, but his edgework is exceptional). I agree we need to see some of that push and drive from him, some "explosiveness", but my thought is a lot of what lacks comes from the fact he often looks pretty timid out there. 

You can practically *FEEL* him thinking out there. Even Reinhart added a bit of jam over the years, I think if Dahlin gets his confidence his raw skills (which are significantly above Reinhart) will take over. 

He's big and strong now yet we keep seeing him getting knocked on his ass. That's just physics - the force coming at him has an opposing vector and at an indecisive stand still, Dahlin is going down. 

[Thorner]

1 hour ago, tennessee dan said:

He's just another puck moving defenseman.  Nothing special.  Good shot on the powerplay, but can't keep it in at the point.  That might be who he is.  So don't pay him like the player you want him to be.  Pay him for who he is.  

It would be pretty exceptional for a player of his raw talent to stagnate permanently at 20. *Especially* considering the average learning curves of d-men. 

We already know he has the ability, we saw it year one, it's documented. It absolutely needs to be unlocked, and it's a group effort. 

Edited January 16, 2021 by Thorny

[Thorner]

10 minutes ago, Taro T said:

If he hits his absolute ceiling, Potvin.

Hedman or Lidstrom w/ just a little luck is very much possible.

Lidstrom is so lofty IMO it doesn't bear projecting anymore. 

He has a pretty good line on Hedman so far. 

[inkman]

29 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Lidstrom is so lofty IMO it doesn't bear projecting anymore. 

He has a pretty good line on Hedman so far. 

Comparing him to a 6’6” player feels weird