Sabres & NHL 2017-18 - Entry Draft on June 22

[shrader]

10 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Imagine that. 16 years old and playing in the third best pro hockey league in the world against grown men. The word prodigious comes to mind. 

 

Do you by any chance know how often someone that age does make that jump over there?

[bbb]

43 minutes ago, Alaska Darin said:

He was a rookie when he was 16.

 

How is that.  He's 18 now.  Wouldn't he have started the season at 17?

[Tiberius]

Casey Mittelstadt was the only Sabre to have a positive plus/minus last year 

 

https://www.nhl.com/sabres/stats

[26CornerBlitz]

 

 

Looks like Dahlin will wear #26.

[K-9]

1 hour ago, bbb said:

 

How is that.  He's 18 now.  Wouldn't he have started the season at 17?

He just turned 18 a couple weeks ago. 

1 hour ago, shrader said:

 

Do you by any chance know how often someone that age does make that jump over there?

I don't but I'm going to see what I can find out. Regardless, he's a generational talent at the position. 

[bbb]

3 minutes ago, K-9 said:

He just turned 18 a couple weeks ago.

 

Right - so how would he be 16 any time during this past season?

[K-9]

1 minute ago, bbb said:

 

Right - so how would he be 16 any time during this past season?

This past season was his second season. His rookie season began in the fall of 2016, just six months after he turned 16. 

[bbb]

15 minutes ago, K-9 said:

This past season was his second season. His rookie season began in the fall of 2016, just six months after he turned 16. 

 

Then either the Buffalo News was wrong (most likely) or he was still eligible for ROY this year because it looks like the 16-17 season, he played half his games in junior.  They had said ROY went to the Canucks #5 pick - I think Peterson - over Dahlin.

[K-9]

Just now, bbb said:

 

Then either the Buffalo News was wrong (most likely) or he was still eligible for ROY this year because it looks like the 16-17 season, he played half his games in junior.  They had said ROY went to the Canucks #5 pick - I think Peterson - over Dahlin.

He did play a portion of his rookie year in Swedish juniors before he played with Frolunda's big club. Still, it is exceedingly rare for a 16 year old to play in that pro league. I'm still researching how many his age have played in the past, but I did see he became the second youngest player ever to score in that league. 

 

Does the fact he didn't win rookie of the year diminish him in your eyes somehow? Pettersson had a great season putting up more than a point per game at age 19, after all. He's a deserving winner and a great prospect in his own right, picked #5 overall in last year's draft. I don't see what that has to do with Dahlin, though. If Dahlin were eligible last year, he would have gone #1 in that draft. He's the best D prospect since Potvin for a reason, after all. 

[bbb]

1 minute ago, K-9 said:

 

Does the fact he didn't win rookie of the year diminish him in your eyes somehow?

 

I'd rather have seen that he won it. 

[K-9]

1 minute ago, bbb said:

 

I'd rather have seen that he won it. 

Awards are nice but not winning it has absolutely nothing to do with his status as the best prospect in hockey. 

[BillsFan4]

 

$812,500 AAV. 

 

Great depth signing. He was showing some nice progress in his development. 

[26CornerBlitz]

 

 

Below is the ISS Top 31, highlighting the rankings for the top 31 skater and top 2 goalie prospects, which is released on the first Wednesday of every month

during the hockey season. An interactive page where the ISS Top 31 can be viewed, sorted, and commented on, and where users can interact with our scouts, can be viewed at: isshockey.com/iss-top-31

 

[BillsFan4]

http://www.wgr550.com/articles/news/dahlin-special-player

 

Quote

Dahlin came to the Swedish Hockey League, which is considered one of the top leagues in the world after the NHL, at the tender age of 15.  When he was 16 Dahlin became the youngest ever to play for Sweden in the World U20 Championships.  He was the youngest player overall at the 2017 World Junior Championships and when he earned a spot on Sweden’s olympic team back in February, Dahlin became the youngest player in the olympic mens hockey tournament since 1984.  Having watched him day in day out for the last two years, Ronnberg knows Dahlin is a special player.

 

"He has the edge that the best players have. He's a true winner.  He wants to win in everything he participates in” Ronnberg told WGR.  "He's so stubborn. He's the most stubborn player I ever coached. We were practicing today and it was like a war out there and he was in the middle of it. Every practice, every sitation he is there stepping up for his team and he wants to win the game for them.  He has the character the best Swedish players have had and I coached Peter Forsberg and those guys.”

 

When asked if by stubborn did Ronnberg mean they ask Dahlin to take it easy every now and then and he won’t do it, Ronnberg replied “every day”.

 

 

Sounds like exactly what the Sabres need. 

 

Feom everything I'd read, it seems like this kid wont give anything less than his all every single time he is on the ice. And he sounds soo driven to be the best. Hates losing with passion (which is also something the Sabres desperately need more of).

 

When your (potential) best player is also your hardest working player, that can really drive the whole team to try and match that work ethic. 

 

I am beyond excited that Dahlin will be a Buffalo Sabre

[4merper4mer]

8 hours ago, BillsFan4 said:

http://www.wgr550.com/articles/news/dahlin-special-player

 

 

 

Sounds like exactly what the Sabres need. 

 

Feom everything I'd read, it seems like this kid wont give anything less than his all every single time he is on the ice. And he sounds soo driven to be the best. Hates losing with passion (which is also something the Sabres desperately need more of).

 

When your (potential) best player is also your hardest working player, that can really drive the whole team to try and match that work ethic. 

 

I am beyond excited that Dahlin will be a Buffalo Sabre

Winners influence people.  This guy sounds like a huge step forward.  

 

With that said he is young.  The Sabres can't take the chance that he gets influenced by losers like ROR or neck tattoo.  They have to dump guys like that before Dahlin ends up hitting donut shops with his car instead hitting Senators and Bruins.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

Wait, does Dahlin currently play for Fromunda?

 

As in cheese?

 

[BillsFan4]

Well, just in case there was any doubt in anyone's mind that the Sabres will pick Dahlin, Brandon Beane just gave it away in his WGR interview a few days ago. 

 

http://www.wgr550.com/media/audio-channel/04-30-bills-general-manager-brandon-beane-howard-and-jeremy

 

the part about the Sabres starts right near the end of the audio clip around the 21 minute mark. 

 

It's a good listen. He says a lot of good stuff about Josh Allen, too (about how he went through his progressions and called plays at the line etc). 

[26CornerBlitz]

5-4: Former Sabres defenseman Mike Weber Talks Rasmus Dahlin on WGR (18:00)

 

Former #Sabres defenseman @Mike6Weber joins Howard and Jeremy next on WGR! He briefly spent some time with Frolunda and played with Rasmus Dahlin!

 

Weber - The city of Buffalo should be excited about the opportunity of somebody like Dahlin to anchor the blue line for years to come. I'm excited for the city as well. #Sabres

 

Weber - the regiment these Swedish guys play under... Dahlin was playing with the pro team at 16, and still working out with the junior team. He's a tremendous worker, a great work ethic. He wants to be better and the best at whatever he does. #Sabres

 

Weber - Dahlin's skating ability, his heads up ability. He never looks at the puck, he's always looking to make a play. His escapability is like Datsyuk. He wants to get things done every shift, he wants to contribute. You can build a team around him. #Sabres

 

Weber - Dahlin is 18, but he's already been playing against men in one of the best European leagues out there. This league is fast, hard, a lot tougher than some would think. He's been doing this since he was 16. That gives him a jump start. #Sabres

 

Weber - Buffalo has some good leader that can help push him and elevate him, and he will have a Hall of Fame coach there too. #Sabres

 

Weber - It's tough to see how bad things have been over the past few years, especially when you have some of the best ownership in the league. This finally gives the team a bit of hope, something to grab on to and build around. #Sabres

 

Weber - I talked to Bogosian and he asked me if he's the real deal. Dahlin is a great locker room guy. He's really funny, and his work ethic is contagious. This is real. The guys are extremely excited about this kid. #Sabres

 

Weber - Since he's been 16, he's been in an elevated situation. Dahlin has been dealing with it all over Sweden, and he's that special of a player. He's a star, and he's handled it extremely well. #Sabres

 

Weber - Buffalo is one of the bigger markets in the NHL. It's gonna be a bit of a change for Dahlin, but from the coaching staff to the leadership group, they will be there to help him. #Sabres

 

Weber - Dahlin only has one gear. Once that opening whistle sounds at practice, he just goes and he doesn't stop. It's kind of how he was brought up in the Swedish mentality and his personality. #Sabres

 

Weber - Dahlin is pretty solid in his own end. He works on it off the ice too. He tries to make something happen, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But again, he's 18. The game will eventually shrink down for him and he'll be that much quicker at adjusting. #Sabres
 

[BillsFan4]

Listening to Mike Weber talk about Rasmus Dahlin gets me even more fired up about this kid, if that's even possible... lol. 

 

I know ive already said this, but he really does sound like exactly what the Sabres need. 

 

Buffalo desperately needs more guys that give 100% effort at all times, in games and in practice. Yeah, they added some guys like Nolan and Wilson who work their tails off, and don't get me wrong, It's nice when you have a guy like Jordan Nolan who always works his ass off. But he's a 4th line guy. Nobody's going to follow a 4th line grinder. 

 

Now, when your best player is also your hardest worker.... that is something that IMO will trickle down through the whole team. Guys are going to want to match this kids work ethic. Maybe not immediately, but they will once he starts establishing himself among the NHL elite. That's how Crosby was in Pittsburgh. He's one of the hardest working hockey players in the entire NHL, and by year 2 he had kind of changed that culture in Pitts. Everyone on the team wanted to match his work ethic. 

 

 

 

[BillsFan4]