Super great that we have to keep attaching a boat anchor to Dahlin and the reasoning is, "Jokiharju doesn't tank him as much as he's tanked every other defenseman on the roster."
The Sabres seem to look at Joki as a jack of all trades, master of none type...when in reality, he's just mediocre at everything.
Dahlin hasn't looked all that much better than Joki so far, outside of two bonehead plays, and they only really play together at ES. Maybe a few shifts on the PK?
Joki also plays far fewer minutes at ES than any of the other 3 in the top 4, so I don't think he's the reason they're losing. He's not tanking anyone from what I've seen, at least not any more than the rest of the team.
If it wasn't for the PP, you might actually think that Power/Byram was the first pairing watching this team so far, which is interesting. They certainly been the best pairing by a lot, to my eyes at least.
There's also the fact that Ruff doesn't seem very comfortable playing either of Sammy of Clifton at all outside of the PK -- I don't think Ruff thinks he has any other options in the top 4 besides Joki.