Dahlin better than the best?
Hype over potential No. 1 pick hits a fever pitch before world juniors
In terms of hype, this one is getting a bit out of hand.
It’s one thing to be called the next Nicklas Lidstrom or to get compared to Erik Karlsson, Victor Hedman or Oliver EkmanLarsson. It’s quite another for scouts to flat out say that Rasmus Dahlin is going to be even better than those giants on defence. And according to some, it’s not even up for debate.
“He is probably the next big superstar,” said one Europeanbased scout.
“I never seen anyone like him,” said a veteran Swedish hockey reporter. “No one was even close to what he is doing creatively with the puck.”
Only 17 years old, Dahlin is expected to be a breakout player for Sweden at the under-20 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship, in Buffalo. From there, he will likely represent the country at the Olympics and the world championships, before becoming the first Swede since Mats Sundin in 1989 to be picked first overall in next year’s NHL Entry Draft.
Based on what people are saying about him, you might as well also start engraving his name on the Norris Trophy.
“Compared to guys like Erik Karlsson and Victor Hedman, this guy is better,” said Anders Forsberg, a former Ottawa Senators scout who drafted Karlsson and coached Hedman and Ekman-Larsson as junior-aged players. “I had a lot to do with Hedman and know him like a friend also, but this is better. I coached Oliver Ekman-Larsson. He was not even close to this. This is something special.”
Just how big is the hype surrounding Dahlin? Media requests have been so frequent this year that Swedish men’s team Frolunda, where Dahlin has five goals and 11 points in 26 games, has at times cut off access to their young star, something Sweden’s national junior team has done in the days leading up to the world juniors.
Prior to coming over to Buffalo for this year’s tournament, Dahlin conducted a news conference separate from the rest of the team (“Totally unheard of when it comes to Swedish players,” said Swedish hockey reporter Uffe Bodin), and he has been off-limits since then.
“It’s fun that people appreciate what I do, but I’d like to focus on hockey, the world juniors, eating and sleeping,” Dahlin said at last week’s news conference. “Those are my priorities. On the ice, I’m prepared for anything. There will be some whacks and slashes, but you just have to keep on going. There’s not a whole lot else you can do.”
Whether or not he speaks much, Dahlin is likely to be a talking point during the tournament and in the months leading up to the draft. “I think it’s kind of going to be a yearlong party for him,” said Dan Marr, director of scouting for NHL Central Scouting.
“I’m sure he’s going to be one of the big stars at the world juniors,” said Goran Stubb, the NHL’s director of European scouting. “He’s more or less a complete player. He’s an excellent skater, an excellent puck-handler and he sees the ice very well. His only weak point right now is that he is so good that he tries too much. He should try to make his game a little easier and simpler.”
An offensive-minded defenceman, 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 rushes the puck up the ice whenever possible and relies on spin-o-ramas and toe-drags to evade checks.
But the 6-foot-2 and 185-pound Dahlin also has a physical edge to his game, often catching opponents with the kind of big hits that Niklas Kronwall has made a career out of.
“He has the whole package,” said Forsberg. “I haven’t seen that with anyone before. If you take Erik Karlsson at the same age, he was like a disaster in his own zone when he was in his draft year. This guy is already at the top of the men’s league already. Normally, these skilled guys from Sweden don’t play the physical game and they have a little bit of a problem with it. But this guy plays hard. He can be mean. The timing is so good when it comes to that part of the game.”
It was at last year’s tournament in Montreal where Dahlin made his world junior debut at the age of 16, something Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and few others have been able to do. He scored a goal and an assist in seven games, becoming the youngest Swede to record a point in the tournament. But his ice time and role were limited to what his coach described as a “super seventh” defenceman.
This year, the shackles are coming off.
“We look at him as a top-two D-man,” said Swedish head coach Tomas Monten. “He’s going to carry a lot of ice time and be a big part of everything. He’s going to play on our power play and our PK and be one of the go-to guys.”
It’s a lot to ask of a 17-year-old in a tournament that is typically dominated by 19-year-olds. But Dahlin, who Swedish national team coach Rickard Gronberg said is also “in the mix” for the Olympic team, should be able to handle it.
After all, this is the next Nicklas Lidstrom we’re talking about.
“All sports need the superstars,” said Stubb. “It’s not easy to be a superstar because there is a lot of pressure on you. And now we have Rasmus Dahlin. I think he’s one of those special players, for sure.”