Rasmus Dahlin, the coaches need to stop

[Thorner]

5 minutes ago, inkman said:

Comparing him to a 6’6” player feels weird 

True. 

Stylistically he's definitely way more Lidstrom, but overall aptitude I see a reasonable path to Hedman. 

[SwampD]

Having rewatched the game, I’m not buying it.

The system and this so-called below the puck initiative have nothing to do with his bad play. Right now, he’s not even making or receiving routine passes where there is no thinking involved.

In my opinion, he's rusty. Nothing more. He’ll get better.

[mjd1001]

I want Dahlin to be great right now and to start controlling games of course, and I wish he would have hit the ground running doing that now, but I can't say he is a bust of a high pick NHL D-man yet.

Some players look great right away...Makar and Hughes....but then look at someone like Tyler Myers who looked like he would be all-world his after his first season but that might have been his best year ever.

On the other hand, some D-men take years to get to where you want them to be.   Chara maxed out at 11 points per season until after he hit his 5th year (and was clumsy at best in his own end also.)  Remember Hedman didn't make a big impact until his 6th year...I remember he was the 2nd overall pick and people in tampa (fans and media) saying he would only be a slightly above average D-man through is 3rd and 4th years.  Erik Karlson didn't start putting up major points until his 3rd year..and most people considered him a trainwreck in his own zone until at least his 5th or 6th year.

Everyone develops differently.  It looks like at WORSE Dahlin is going to be as good as a solid 2nd or 3rd defensemen (above average point production and skating, sometimes below average but mostly average in his own end). He is there already.  There is likely more upside...how much more is the question.

 

Its only 2 games, but right now he is leading the team in minutes per game, up about 3.5 min per game since last year....that means the coaches trust him (or feel they need him) a lot more this year than last year..and that is a good sign.

Edited January 16, 2021 by mjd1001

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, Taro T said:

If he hits his absolute ceiling, Potvin.

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

Potvin with the physical aspect maybe.  

[LabattBlue]

6 hours 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 I’m still around in 5 years, we’ll see how well you did with this prediction.  😂

[triumph_communes]

Kid hasn’t played in 11mo. Oh he’s still a kid. Defenseman always take longer, and he’s playing 25 min a night. 
 

He has magic talents and he’s just making small missteps. Calm the hell down

[PerreaultForever]

imo the problem with Dahlin's development is he hasn't been paired with a solid experienced D man to mentor him every shift. Boston paired McAvoy with Chara for 2 years and he had some struggles but grew and now looks like an allstar. We've been tossing D men around for years now and had no set pairs and Dahlin doesn't get the support he needs.

and I seriously question Steve Smith's abilities as a coach. 

[Thorner]

31 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

imo the problem with Dahlin's development is he hasn't been paired with a solid experienced D man to mentor him every shift. Boston paired McAvoy with Chara for 2 years and he had some struggles but grew and now looks like an allstar. We've been tossing D men around for years now and had no set pairs and Dahlin doesn't get the support he needs.

and I seriously question Steve Smith's abilities as a coach. 

This is a great point. Who did we pair Dahlin with his rookie year most commonly? Scandella? Bogosian? He was much steadier that year. 

[Brawndo]

33 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

imo the problem with Dahlin's development is he hasn't been paired with a solid experienced D man to mentor him every shift. Boston paired McAvoy with Chara for 2 years and he had some struggles but grew and now looks like an allstar. We've been tossing D men around for years now and had no set pairs and Dahlin doesn't get the support he needs.

and I seriously question Steve Smith's abilities as a coach. 

He’s not missed in Carolina. 
 

Dahlin, Montour and Tage were the players were responsible. 
 

They have to be being told to do that by the coaches. 

[Stoner]

Charlie Woods will break Nicklaus' record.

[Andrew Amerk]

Ramson will be fine 

[SwampD]

1 hour ago, Andrew Amerk said:

Ramson will be fine 

Perfect.

[LGR4GM]

I thought occurred to me yesterday while watching that game, I don't recognize Dahlin anymore. 

I watched a ton of him during his draft year and in his first year in the league, I saw that player. The aggressive, sometimes sloppy, creative puck handling defender. Now I see a sad shell of that player, the creativity is dead. He looks terrible and other than his passing the rest of his game has completely vanished. The only logical explanation I can find is the coaching because, and I can't stress this enough, the player is no longer playing hockey the way they can. Idk if they are in his head or have coached his natural ability out of him but other than 1 rush yesterday, Dahlin was a completely different player and not in a good way. I hate this coaching staff because I do think it is their fault. They have completely neutered Dahlin. 

[WildCard]

Team is just depressing, I honestly don't have any answers anymore. Fire everybody, hire an experience HC and GM, and pray

[Doohicksie]

KA needs to fire Krueger and step behind the bench.

[LGR4GM]

1 minute ago, WildCard said:

Team is just depressing, I honestly don't have any answers anymore. Fire everybody, hire an experience HC and GM, and pray

Depressing and boring. 

[Doohicksie]

Well they're underachieving for sure.

[WildCard]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Depressing and boring. 

They just fired the old and hired a sycophant replacement too so it's not like it's going to change anytime soon. At BEST we have one more year with these morons. More than likely it's 2 more years and another GM/HC pairing at that time

Edited February 1, 2021 by WildCard

[LabattBlue]

1 minute ago, WildCard said:

They just fired and hired a sycophant too so it's not like it's going to change anytime soon. At BEST we have one more year with these morons. More than likely it's 2 more years and another GM/HC pairing at that time

This is likely the case, but still makes me sad.  😞

[WildCard]

2 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

This is likely the case, but still makes me sad.  😞

Same here man. And it's just so incredibly frustrating; you legitimately could not have done a worse job at running a franchise than the Pegula's have with the Sabres. There is simply no way it can be this freaking hard to hire a competent staff, it's just insane.

Edited February 1, 2021 by WildCard

[JohnC]

On 1/16/2021 at 10:33 AM, 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. 

I think you are underestimating the Capitals. They have a well rounded team and depth to handle the loss of players. Although there were players who missed (I believe) 4 games this team didn't miss a beat. They also used a backup young goalie who played up to a level of a #1 goalie. The coaching change has seemed to invigorate a team that was stale. He didn't bring in a complicated system where the players would have to adjust to. He simplified things and told the players to play hard and don't overthink the game. I'm not predicting that the Capitals will win the cup. But I'm comfortable to say they will be cup contenders. So far this team is on track. 

[pi2000]

He has that 1000yard stare we're so used to seeing from players on this team.   

Welcome to Hockey Hell.

[Pimlach]

On 1/16/2021 at 8:16 AM, Trettioåtta said:

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

 

 
Big deal!    That means he got one more point every 7 games.  Woohoo. What development!  At this rate in 3 years he just might crack the top ten in points for defenseman.   Meanwhile the rest of his game is terrible.  

[LGR4GM]

On 1/16/2021 at 7:35 PM, triumph_communes said:

Kid hasn’t played in 11mo. Oh he’s still a kid. Defenseman always take longer, and he’s playing 25 min a night. 
 

He has magic talents and he’s just making small missteps. Calm the hell down

Pull a moment from this season where we have seen the Dhalin magic?

Where is the kid who even attempts this? Because he certainly isn't on the Sabres right now. 

 

[Trettioåtta]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

Pull a moment from this season where we have seen the Dhalin magic?

Where is the kid who even attempts this? Because he certainly isn't on the Sabres right now. 

 

I disagree. I think we have seen him try those moves and it just hasn't resulted in a goal yet