Player Discussion Rasmus Dahlin Part 4 - D (1st Overall, 2018, Frölunda HC, SHL)

[Ace]

He’s definitely scoring tonight to break the Sabres record. I say this because one of the people he’s tied with is Vanek who expressed all kinds of dissatisfaction with Dahlin last week on the Peters and Rivet podcast. He’s breaking that record out of spite.

I see Vanek is on the podcast again today and haven’t listened. I assume he will be singing his praises in a last ditch effort to preserve his place in history. Too late Vanner. Too. Late.

Update…I listened to todays show and Vanek did, in fact, speak glowingly of Dahlin this time.

The best part though was Peters opening back up the contract discussion and jokingly asking if 11 mil was going to get it done now. I can’t believe Rivet didn’t completely bury him after the last two months of him crying about paying guys early and now he’s staring straight at the f***ing reason you do it and doesn’t realize it. Anyway…Vanek said you try to go to him with what Makar signed for. Completely ignoring that Makar didn’t take a bridge deal and the Avs were buying 4 RFA years on his 9 million. That ship sailed. Dahlins next contract only buys 1 RFA year.

In Dahlins case I understand why he would never sign long term last contract because he was coming off a Ralph year. But that’s no excuse for Peters who cried and cried that these damn kids haven’t earned anything when the Sabres try to cost control them by signing them early to be so oblivious that this is the exact reason he’s a moron.

Anyway…yeah…Dahlin is going to make a lot of money for a lot of time on a contract he signs next July.

 

[Chainshot]

32 Thoughts interview with Ras, published today. This is where he talks about Bjork diving through tables from a few episodes ago.

 

[Jim Bob]

Speaking of Ras:



Tonight's Embedded episode is a day with Dahls.

 

[Jim Bob]

 

[Jim Bob]

 

[MarkusKetterer]

 

[Jim Bob]

16 Stats: Devils on the rise, Lightning struggle on defense, Rasmus Dahlin's hot start

It’s just seven games of data, but the New Jersey Devils (and their numbers) look ready to break through and break out.

theathletic.com

14. Elsewhere in the Atlantic, the Buffalo Sabres are also surging and while I’m not quite as sold on their ascent, I am fully on board the Rasmus Dahlin bandwagon.

The surface-level stats are what many people will focus on most with Dahlin. He has nine points in six games to start the year, including an NHL-record five straight games with a goal to start a season for a defenseman. It’s impressive stuff, but what’s making me buy in on Dahlin is, as usual, his play under the hood. The points are nice, but it’s often more important to see a defenseman driving play and Dahlin has looked incredible so far.

Through the team’s first six games, Dahlin has a 58.7 percent expected goals rate, 6.7 percentage points ahead of his usual partner Mattias Samuelsson and well above the average Sabres. With Dahlin on the ice, Buffalo’s expected goals rate jumps 1.22 per 60 relative to teammates. That’s the highest mark in the league for a top-four defender.

Combine that with his point totals and Dahlin’s average Game Score to start the season is 2.24, the third-highest mark in the league behind only Jesper Bratt and Andrei Svechnikov. It wouldn’t be a shock to see him enter the Norris conversation this year for the first time in his career.

The expectation for him after being the No. 1 pick in 2018 was that he would be a fixture in that conversation for years, but that hadn’t manifested in his four seasons. Dahlin looked good — just not quite to the standard of his draft pedigree. Not elite.

That’s changing in real time in his fifth season. Dahlin has arrived.

 

[WhereAreTheCookies]

That’s changing in real time in his fifth season. Dahlin has arrived.

If Dom was paying attention he would have seen that changing in the 2nd half of last season, instead of him and most others saying Buffalo fans were just biased, or that it was too small of a sample.

 

[Jim Bob]

If Dom was paying attention he would have seen that changing in the 2nd half of last season, instead of him and most others saying Buffalo fans were just biased, or that it was too small of a sample.

I think the questions about Dahlin after last season is could he play like he did down the stretch last season for a full season.

Prior to this season, he has had a trend of slow starts, including last year where he had Granato as his coach from the start. Those were legit questions IMO. And Dahlin has answered them thus far.

Let's just hope that Dahlin keeps the strong play going.

 

[Fjordy]

 

[JLewyB]

EK has played 3 more games too.

 

[RecycledEichel]

That's a ton of minutes. Hopefully it doesn't negatively impact him going forward

 

[Fjordy]

 

[5 Minute Major]

When it’s all said and done, it will be Dahlin and Hasek mentioned together as the greatest Sabres to take the ice.

 

[Dubi Doo]

Imagine if Granato were Dahlin's coach since he was a rookie and Adams was the GM? We'd have Dahlin locked up long term on a cheaper deal.

 

[sabresfan129103]

His jump from last year this year is like Josh Allen's from year 2 to year 3. He went from pretty good to superstar. It crazy how good he is now. Whenever I see him on the ice I'm not worried at all about what the other team will do. It's kind of like how I felt about Hasek in the 90's. Whenever the Sabres scored 2 goals I knew they were at least going to get a tie because you weren't getting 3 past Dom.

 

[Faceboner]

His jump from last year this year is like Josh Allen's from year 2 to year 3. He went from pretty good to superstar. It crazy how good he is now. Whenever I see him on the ice I'm not worried at all about what the other team will do. It's kind of like how I felt about Hasek in the 90's. Whenever the Sabres scored 2 goals I knew they were at least going to get a tie because you weren't getting 3 past Dom.

I think he has another gear in him to go along with how great he already is.

 

[MOGlLNY]

can we please stop comparing everyone to josh allen lol

 

[WhereAreTheCookies]

can we please stop comparing everyone to josh allen lol

That's such a Josh Allen thing to say.

 

[Gabrielor]

can we please stop comparing everyone to josh allen lol

I didn't know Nick Wright was a Sabres fan...Hi Nick!

 

[MOGlLNY]

Vinny Hinostroza really reminds me of Josh Allen with his tenacity.

 

[joshjull]

I think the questions about Dahlin after last season is could he play like he did down the stretch last season for a full season.

Prior to this season, he has had a trend of slow starts, including last year where he had Granato as his coach from the start. Those were legit questions IMO. And Dahlin has answered them thus far.

Let's just hope that Dahlin keeps the strong play going.

It was legit to wonder if he could be the same player for a full season as he was the 2nd half of last year. It was an incredible level of play So its natural to wonder if he could sustain it for a full season.

But the slow start stuff is way off the mark.

Last season was Dahlin’s first being asked to be a #1 top pairing minute eating dman. Its pretty normal for a player to have an adjustment period to a new role/usage. Then add in losing Joker in game one and having to partner with Butcher or Pysyk for the bulk of the first half. So we add a little chaos on top of the transition to a new role.

You’re seriously suggesting he should have come into last season like he ended it? That the reason he didn’t is he’s a slow starter? Really?

I’m pretty baffled by your assertion that Dahlin has had a “trend of slow starts”. He hasn’t had enough continuity in coaching or usage for such an assertion to be made.

 

[Zman5778]

When it’s all said and done, it will be Dahlin and Hasek mentioned together as the greatest Sabres to take the ice.

With Perrault.

 

[Jim Bob]

It was legit to wonder if he could be the same player for a full season as he was the 2nd half of last year. It was an incredible level of play So its natural to wonder if he could sustain it for a full season.

But the slow start stuff is way off the mark.

Last season was Dahlin’s first being asked to be a #1 top pairing minute eating dman. Its pretty normal for a player to have an adjustment period to a new role/usage. Then add in losing Joker in game one and having to partner with Butcher or Pysyk for the bulk of the first half. So we add a little chaos on top of the transition to a new role.

You’re seriously suggesting he should have come into last season like he ended it? That the reason he didn’t is he’s a slow starter? Really?

I’m pretty baffled by your assertion that Dahlin has had a “trend of slow starts”. He hasn’t had enough continuity in coaching or usage for such an assertion to be made.

I am telling you that was the narrative around Dahlin heading into this season.

You can come up with a million reasons why players on the Sabres have had it tough in the past. But, that does not mean that you could count on any of them doing something this season that they had never done before.

Until someone does something, there are legit questions about whether they can do it.

Most people were optimistic about Dahlin heading into this season. But, he is off to the best start of his career even with injuries throughout the D corps causing issues with who his partner is and how much he is having to play. He played just shy of 30 minutes last night.

Dahlin has taken his game to another level so far this season. I don't get why you want to say that questions about whether he could do this were problematic?

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

I'm the Josh Allen of Mario Kart