‘It’s fun to watch him’
16-year-old Swedish defenceman Rasmus Dahlin impressing observers at world juniors
You don’t have to be a scout or even a hockey fan to notice Rasmus Dahlin. You just need a set of working eyes.
As the only player on his team wearing a full-face mask, Dahlin sticks out. But even if he wore the same half-visor as everyone else, you’d be hard-pressed not to see why the Swedish defenceman is someone worth watching. He’s the 16-year-old with moves like Erik Karlsson, who one NHL general manager said “always has the puck on a shoe string,” and could be the No. 1 pick in the NHL Entry Draft if he wasn’t so darn young.
In that way, the full cage — which conceals a pubescent face with the usual acne — also acts as a harbinger.
It means that Dahlin, who is not old enough to wear a half-visor at the World Junior Championship, must be a special talent to be playing in an under-20 tournament. But his age also suggests that he might be prone to intimidation, something that Switzerland captain Calvin Thurkauf tested the other day when he finished a check on Dahlin after the second-period buzzer sounded and then slew-footed the kid to the ice for good measure.
“It’s how you say in English — those things happen?” Dahlin said of the attempted bullying. “I was a little angry. On the ice, yeah, I’m just trying to play my game and not focus on that.”
You cannot blame opponents for trying to get Dahlin off his game. Even though he is Sweden’s seventh defenceman, head coach Tomas Monten has been referring to the youngster as “a super seventh” — a player who can change the outlook of the game with just one shift. We’ve seen elements of that so far at the world juniors, where Dahlin scored and picked up an assist in a 6-1 win against Denmark on Boxing Day, in the process becoming the youngest defenceman to score a goal.
“We know we can throw him in the mix and he’ll stir things up,” said Monten. “It’s not usual that you have a D -man that can do that for you. It’s usually a forward. But he’s a defenceman that can change the pace of the game and the character of the game. That’s why we put him on this team.”
That Dahlin even made the team was particularly impressive, considering that he beat out Timothy Liljegren, a projected top-3 pick in the 2017, for the final spot. While Liljegren’s absence might also have had to do with the fact that recently recovered from mononucleosis, most scouts believe if Dahlin were one year older he would be a chosen ahead of Liljegren in the upcoming draft.
“He would certainly be in the mix,” said North American Central Scouting’s Mark Seidel. “With his skill-set and the way the game is going, he is a hugely attractive prospect. Timothy Liljegran is considered a sure-fire top-5 pick this year and yet (Sweden) didn’t take him on the team, but they did Dahlin.”
Dahlin, who this year became the second-youngest player to score in the Swedish Hockey League, has one goal and two points in 12 games with Frolunda’s senior team, and seven goals and 17 points in 16 games with Frolunda’s under20 team.
“Special is the word,” said Goran Stubb, NHL Central Scouting’s head European scout. “He’s the youngest guy who has ever played for Sweden at the under-20 championship, so it is a big deal for a 16-year-old to play at this level. It is a real big thing. Most players are just not as good as this guy is at that age.”
In some ways, his lack of maturity might be an advantage. Dahlin plays as though he is unaware of the magnitude of the games. His primary concern seems to be trying to put smiles on every face in the crowd, which might explain why he rushing the puck up the ice whenever possible and relies on spin-o-ramas and toe-drags to evade checks.
“It’s fun to watch him,” said teammate Lucas Carlsson. “When he carries the puck through the neutral zone, it’s like unbelievable.”
It is his skating and stickhandling abilities, as well as offensive instincts that have drawn comparisons to Karlsson. Some have suggested the 6-foot-1 defenceman might even become better — “I don’t agree with that, because I’m just 16 years old,” he said — since Dahlin also likes to play a physical game and is further along than the Norris Trophy winner was at this age.
“Just from my past experiences, if you’re a draft-eligible player at the world juniors then you’re a high-end player,” said Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill. “But if you’re a player that’s one year away being drafted, then you’re in the (Connor) McDavid territory. Dahlin’s a very special player.”
Of course, we will have to wait and see if Dahlin is just as special a year from now when he battles Russia’s Andrei Svechnikov and Canada’s Joseph Veleno for the No. 1 spot in the 2018 draft. Others, like Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, also played at the world juniors as a 16-year-old, but didn’t develop as everyone had predicted.
“Just trying to focus day to day and not look down the road. I’m just trying to do my best every day,” said Dahlin, who added going No. 1 is his goal.
“It’s a dream. I’m trying.”