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Rasmus Dahlin

Oliver Ekman-Larsson To Play In World Championship

May 3, 2022 at 5:54 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment

After a disappointing season in Vancouver, Oliver Ekman-Larsson is set to head overseas for a few weeks. The team announced today he’ll join Team Sweden for the upcoming 2022 IIHF World Championship.

Ekman-Larsson had a near career-low season, although his lows were previously set in shortened seasons. While he did improve defensively from his last few years in Arizona, he had just five goals and 29 points on the year, the only time he hasn’t hit 30+ points when playing 50+ games.

The veteran defenseman will look to reset this offseason, as the Canucks are still on the hook for his retained-salary $7.26MM cap hit through 2027.

Ekman-Larsson joins fellow NHLers Rasmus Dahlin, Erik Gustafsson, and Adam Larsson on the blueline. Other NHLers slated to join team Sweden are Rasmus Asplund, Emil Bemstrom, and Magnus Hellberg.

The tournament will run from May 13 to May 29.

Adam Larsson| AHL| Emil Bemstrom| Erik Gustafsson| IIHF| Magnus Hellberg| NHL| Oliver Ekman-Larsson| Rasmus Asplund| Rasmus Dahlin| Team Sweden| Vancouver Canucks

0 comments

East Notes: Chara, Hamilton, Dahlin, Brassard

February 22, 2022 at 8:59 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 5 Comments

The Islanders are starting to receive trade interest in veteran defenseman Zdeno Chara, Pierre LeBrun reports in the latest TSN Insider Trading segment.  While the 44-year-old is no longer the top pairing player he was for a lot of his time in Boston, some contending teams could use him as a shutdown and penalty kill player in a limited role.  He carries a $750K AAV although there are bonuses of up to another $750K in the existing deal but those could roll over and be applied on next year’s cap with the bonus cushion.  While Chara doesn’t have any trade protection, LeBrun adds that GM Lou Lamoriello will go to the veteran to see if he indeed wants to move.  He has seven assists in 42 games this season while still averaging over 18 minutes a game.

More from the Eastern Conference:

  • New Jersey is set to get blueliner Dougie Hamilton back on Thursday, notes NHL.com’s Mike Morreale. The veteran has missed the last 17 games due to a broken jaw although he still sits second in scoring by Devils defenders with 20 points in 30 games.  New Jersey is currently carrying a full roster and will need to make a move in order to free up a spot to activate Hamilton from IR.
  • The Sabres should have defenseman Rasmus Dahlin back in the lineup on Wednesday in Montreal after he missed Sunday’s game with an upper-body injury, relays Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. The 21-year-old is on pace to surpass his career highs offensively from back in his rookie season as he already has 33 points in 49 games this season while logging just shy of 24 minutes a game.
  • The Flyers have transferred center Derick Brassard to injured reserve, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). The placement was not backdated so it appears the veteran – who has battled hip injuries all season long – will miss at least another week.    Brassard played in one game two weeks ago after coming back from hip trouble and clearly, the injury hasn’t fully healed yet.  When healthy, he has been productive with 11 points in 20 games.

Buffalo Sabres| Derick Brassard| Dougie Hamilton| New Jersey Devils| New York Islanders| Philadelphia Flyers| Rasmus Dahlin| Zdeno Chara

5 comments

Sabres Place Zemgus Girgensons On IR; Activate Dahlin, Olofsson From Protocol

January 30, 2022 at 8:14 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 2 Comments

The Buffalo Sabres activated defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and forward Victor Olofsson from COVID protocol ahead of tonight’s game against Colorado after erroneous COVID tests held them out of their last game on Saturday. The team also placed center Zemgus Girgensons on injured reserve retroactive to January 28th with an undisclosed injury.

Girgensons, the longest-tenured Sabre, missed the entirety of the 2020-21 campaign with a hamstring injury suffered during training camp. Back and healthy for this year, he’s brought his extremely solid defensive game to the team’s bottom six.

He’s been in and out of the lineup the past few weeks, though, missing time earlier in the month with another unknown injury and some time in December while on COVID protocol. The Latvian centerman has seven goals and 12 points in 34 games.

Getting Dahlin and Olofsson back in the fold is a large factor for the Sabres and head coach Don Granato. Dahlin, the 2018 first-overall pick, is playing some of the best hockey of his career right now and has 28 points through 42 games. Olofsson is a valuable depth piece who can put pucks in the net and is an important piece with Tage Thompson already out of the lineup.

Buffalo Sabres| Injury| Rasmus Dahlin| Victor Olofsson| Zemgus Girgensons

2 comments

2022 NHL All-Star Game Rosters Revealed

January 26, 2022 at 1:00 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 31 Comments

Jan 26: After Batherson was injured last night, the league has announced that Brady Tkachuk will replace him and be the Senators’ representative.

Jan 13: During a live reveal on ESPN’s SportsCenter program in the United States, the National Hockey League unveiled their four divisional rosters for the 2022 NHL All-Star Game in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Eight skaters and two goalies were announced for each team, leaving one skater spot open for each division. That last spot will once again be decided by a fan vote, who they can select by voting at NHL.com/LastMenIn.

The head coaches of each team were announced earlier, decided by the teams in first place (by points percentage) in their division on New Years Day. Florida’s Andrew Brunette heads the Atlantic Division, Carolina’s Rod Brind’Amour will coach the Metropolitan Division, Colorado’s Jared Bednar is the bench boss for the Central Division, and Vegas’ Peter DeBoer will serve as the Pacific Division’s coach.

Below are the full rosters for each division.

Atlantic Division

F Auston Matthews “C” (Toronto Maple Leafs)
F Drake Batherson (Ottawa Senators)
F Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins)
F Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida Panthers)
F Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings)
F Nick Suzuki (Montreal Canadiens)
D Rasmus Dahlin (Buffalo Sabres)
D Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning)
G Jack Campbell (Toronto Maple Leafs)
G Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning)

Metropolitan Division

F Alex Ovechkin “C” (Washington Capitals)
F Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes)
F Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Flyers)
F Jack Hughes (New Jersey Devils)
F Chris Kreider (New York Rangers)
D Adam Fox (New York Rangers)
D Adam Pelech (New York Islanders)
D Zach Werenski (Columbus Blue Jackets)
G Frederik Andersen (Carolina Hurricanes)
G Tristan Jarry (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Central Division

F Nathan MacKinnon “C” (Colorado Avalanche)
F Kyle Connor (Winnipeg Jets)
F Alex DeBrincat (Chicago Blackhawks)
F Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota Wild)
F Clayton Keller (Arizona Coyotes)
F Jordan Kyrou (St. Louis Blues)
F Joe Pavelski (Dallas Stars)
D Cale Makar (Colorado Avalanche)
G Juuse Saros (Nashville Predators)
G Cam Talbot (Minnesota Wild)

Pacific Division

F Connor McDavid “C” (Edmonton Oilers)
F Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers)
F Jordan Eberle (Seattle Kraken)
F Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary Flames)
F Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles Kings)
F Timo Meier (San Jose Sharks)
F Mark Stone (Vegas Golden Knights)
D Alex Pietrangelo (Vegas Golden Knights)
G Thatcher Demko (Vancouver Canucks)
G John Gibson (Anaheim Ducks)

Adam Fox| Adam Pelech| Adrian Kempe| Alex DeBrincat| Alex Ovechkin| Alex Pietrangelo| Andrei Vasilevskiy| Auston Matthews| Cale Makar| Cam Talbot| Chris Kreider| Claude Giroux| Clayton Keller| Connor McDavid| Drake Batherson| Dylan Larkin| Frederik Andersen| Jack Campbell| Jack Hughes| Joe Pavelski| John Gibson| Johnny Gaudreau| Jonathan Huberdeau| Jordan Eberle| Jordan Kyrou| Juuse Saros| Kirill Kaprizov| Kyle Connor| Leon Draisaitl| Mark Stone| Nathan MacKinnon| Nick Suzuki| Patrice Bergeron| Rasmus Dahlin| Sebastian Aho| Thatcher Demko| Timo Meier| Tristan Jarry| Victor Hedman| Zach Werenski

31 comments

Buffalo Sabres Sign Rasmus Dahlin

September 22, 2021 at 9:49 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

The Buffalo Sabres have agreed to terms with star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin on a three-year contract that will carry an average annual value of $6MM. The young defenseman was a restricted free agent but was listed on the Sabres’ training camp roster yesterday, suggesting a deal was coming soon. CapFriendly has the full breakdown:

  • 2021-22: $3.0MM salary + $2.0MM signing bonus
  • 2022-23: $5.8MM salary
  • 2023-24: $7.2MM salary

Dahlin, 21, certainly hasn’t been a disappointment since being selected first overall in 2018, but he also hasn’t been the franchise-changing savior that many Sabres fans were hoping for. The young defenseman stepped directly into the NHL and showed his offensive chops, recording 44 points in his rookie season and finishing third in the Calder Race, but has been dragged down–whether by his teammates or his own inconsistent defensive play–in his own end.

There’s no doubt that Dahlin is one of the most dynamic puck-movers in the NHL, but even that offensive output dropped this season as the Sabres collapsed into a league bottom-feeder once again. A contract like this, which ties Dahlin for the 30th highest cap hit among defensemen this season, certainly doesn’t leave room for a ton of surplus value unless he really gets back to the player he showed early on.

With no Rasmus Ristolainen in the fold now, Dahlin should take on even more responsibility for the Sabres. He heads into this season leading a defense corps that is made up almost entirely of pieces acquired through trade, some of them just cap dumps, and may have another difficult season as he waits for the help of Owen Power, the team’s latest top pick. When he gets him, which by all accounts should be at the end of the upcoming season, Dahlin and the 2021 first-overall pick should form a dynamic duo for the Sabres to build around, each logging big minutes on the left side.

Even though this contract may actually be a bit on the expensive side–Zach Werenski, with comparable if not better numbers, signed a similar bridge deal that was worth just $15MM over three years in 2019–it’s not really an issue for the Sabres who are fighting just to get to the cap floor. The team can certainly afford to pay Dahlin a little bit more to keep him in the fold while they go through another rebuild.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Buffalo Sabres| Newsstand| Rasmus Dahlin

1 comment

RFA Profile: Rasmus Dahlin

September 6, 2021 at 9:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

After his sophomore season, Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin looked primed to take another step forward and potentially establish himself as one of the premier blueliners in the NHL.  Unfortunately for him and Buffalo, that didn’t happen.  Instead, he struggled considerably (as did many others on the team) and the end result was a step backwards while he remains unsigned with training camp fast approaching.

Despite the dip in production last season, Dahlin has shown himself to be a capable offensive blueliner already with a pair of 40-point years under his belt.  He’s not going to be at the level of someone like Cale Makar or Quinn Hughes offensively but the 21-year-old has already shown himself to be above average at that end of the ice.

But what about his play in his own end?  That hasn’t progressed anywhere near as well and part of the reason his ATOI hasn’t jumped up much at all since his rookie season is that Dahlin still doesn’t kill penalties.  His in-zone play under Ralph Krueger left a lot to be desired although there was some improvement following the coaching change to Don Granato.  Offensive numbers drive contract negotiations but Dahlin can’t command top dollar since he isn’t as well-rounded as others around the league are and some of his potential contractual comparables were at the time of signing.

That might seemingly push Dahlin towards a short-term deal, giving him a chance to improve defensively and bounce back offensively while getting arbitration rights along the way.  Buffalo has shown a willingness to do that in the past although the end results haven’t been pretty with recent examples of that approach (Sam Reinhart and Linus Ullmark) now playing on other teams.  Accordingly, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them try for a long-term pact here even if it might carry a little bit of risk.

Statistics

2020-21: 56 GP, 5-18-23, -36, 26 PIMS, 115 shots, 21:36 ATOI
Career: 197 GP, 18-89-107, -56, 98 PIMS, 382 shots, 20:44 ATOI

Comparables

Zach Werenski (Columbus) – While Werenski didn’t take a big step forward in his platform year, he didn’t take a step back either.  The offensive numbers are somewhat similar from a per-game perspective although Werenski was better in his own end then compared to Dahlin now.  Even so, this would likely represent the low end of what a bridge deal would cost as Dahlin’s draft status gives him a leg up on most of the options here.

Platform Year Stats: 82 GP, 11-33-44, -12, 18 PIMS, 168 shots, 22:54 ATOI
Career Stats at ELC Expiration: 237 GP, 38-90-128, +13, 48 PIMS, 563 shots, 22:08 ATOI
Contract: Three years, $15MM
Cap Hit Percentage: 6.14%
Current Equivalent: Same as above

As this contract was basically the top standard, there aren’t really other viable comparable players for bridge deals.  $5MM would be the starting point on a bridge contract with anything over two years exceeding this price tag quickly.  Accordingly, let’s now look at longer-term options.

Ivan Provorov (Philadelphia) – Like Dahlin, Provorov entered his platform season as someone looking primed to take a big step forward but ultimately underachieved, leading to some questions as to whether a bridge deal would come his way.  He was more of a number one than Dahlin has been which could be a factor.

Platform Year Stats: 82 GP, 7-19-26, -16, 32 PIMS, 145 shots, 25:07 ATOI
Career Stats at ELC Expiration: 246 GP, 30-67-97, -6, 86 PIMS, 509 shots, 23:45 ATOI
Contract: Six years, $40.5MM
Cap Hit Percentage: 8.28%
Current Equivalent: Same as above

Aaron Ekblad (Florida) – For years, this was the top standard that any young blueliner would want to use as a comparable and like Dahlin, he’s a number one pick.  Ekblad’s better defensive game looms large here so from a comparable standpoint, this one is a little weaker but it’s possible Dahlin still gets something like that (more on why that could be the case shortly).

Platform Year Stats: 68 GP, 10-11-21, -23, 58 PIMS, 225 shots, 21:28 ATOI (deal was signed pre-platform)
Career Stats at ELC Expiration: 227 GP, 37-59-96, +7, 131 PIMS, 577 shots, 21:40 ATOI
Contract: Eight years, $60MM
Cap Hit Percentage: 10.27%
Current Equivalent: Eight years, $66.96MM ($8.37MM AAV)

Dougie Hamilton (Calgary) – After acquiring him from Boston, Calgary quickly inked Hamilton to the contract that he just wrapped up before signing with New Jersey.  The development path was the opposite of what Dahlin’s has been so far (his was a slow start and annual improvement) but the overall numbers are relatively close.

Platform Year Stats: 72 GP, 10-32-42, -3, 41 PIMS, 188 shots, 21:20 ATOI
Career Stats at ELC Expiration: 178 GP, 22-61-83, +23, 95 PIMS, 385 shots, 19:32 ATOI
Contract: Six years, $34.5MM
Cap Hit Percentage: 8.05%
Current Equivalent: Six years, $39.365MM ($6.56MM AAV)

Tyler Myers (Buffalo) – Let’s use another Sabres deal as the final comparable.  Myers’ first two seasons were a lot better than his third year (and as it turns out, those two remain his top years offensively) so at the time, Buffalo was thinking they had a core two-way player on their hands.  Of course, it didn’t work out that way in the end but the numbers are somewhat comparable to Dahlin’s so far.

Platform Year Stats: 55 GP, 8-15-23, +5, 33 PIMS, 84 shots, 22:29 ATOI
Career Stats at ELC Expiration: 217 GP, 29-79-108, +18, 105 PIMS, 310 shots, 22:57 ATOI
Contract: Seven years, $38.5MM
Cap Hit Percentage: 8.55%
Current Equivalent: Seven years, $48.778MM ($6.968MM AAV)

Projected Contract

In terms of fits for a long-term deal, Dahlin’s comparables appear to be in the high-$6MM range.  But if that’s the baseline for that type of contract, his camp would argue that a bridge contract would be the better way to go and rightfully so.  If Buffalo wants to buy out a couple of UFA years, they’ll need to go a bit higher, perhaps around the $7.5MM range to persuade Dahlin to go that route; a max-term (eight-year) deal could push it closer to $8MM.  Otherwise, a bridge contract starting at over $5MM for an AAV (one that is back-loaded to yield a higher qualifying offer) could very well wind up being the outcome here.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information via CapFriendly.

Buffalo Sabres| Rasmus Dahlin| RFA

1 comment

East Notes: Laine, Dahlin, Ullmark, Kravtsov

July 21, 2021 at 8:48 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 4 Comments

Blue Jackets winger Patrik Laine has received his $7.5MM qualifying offer from the team and is giving strong consideration to simply accepting it, suggests Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch.  The 23-year-old disappointed after being acquired from Winnipeg, notching just 21 points in 45 games.  While he’s eligible for salary arbitration, Laine would be hard-pressed to land considerably more than that in a hearing even factoring in his previous success with the Jets.  If Laine does indeed accept the offer, he will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights again next summer and will be owed a $7.5MM qualifier once again.  Notably, he’d also be a year away from unrestricted free agency at that time.

More from the Eastern Conference:

  • The Sabres have started contract discussions with pending RFA defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, reports Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News. The number one pick in 2018 took a considerable step back offensively in 2020-21, notching just 23 points in 56 games after putting up 40 in 59 contests in his sophomore season.  As a result, it seems unlikely that Dahlin and Buffalo will be able to work out a long-term agreement that satisfies both sides so instead, a shorter-term pact that leaves the blueliner as a restricted free agent at the end of it is a more realistic outcome.
  • Still with Buffalo, the Sabres are continuing discussions with goaltender Linus Ullmark who is set to become an unrestricted free agent, relays John Vogl of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 27-year-old was one of three pending UFAs protected from Seattle in expansion but that was more of a case of Buffalo not having another one worth protecting than a sign that talks were progressing.  They opted not to trade him back at the trade deadline in the hopes that they’d be able to Ullmark under contract and they now have less than a week to do so before the free agent market opens up.
  • Rangers winger Vitali Kravtsov has changed agents, PuckPedia reports (Twitter link). He’s now represented by Gold Star Hockey’s Dan Milstein, an agent that represents several Russian-born players.  Kravtsov is eligible to sign a contract extension this summer and will be a restricted free agent next summer.

Buffalo Sabres| Columbus Blue Jackets| Linus Ullmark| New York Rangers| Patrik Laine| Rasmus Dahlin| Vitali Kravtsov

4 comments

COVID Notes: Dahlin, Wild, Kuznetsov

February 8, 2021 at 12:44 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 3 Comments

The Buffalo Sabres will have another big name on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list when it comes out later today as they have already announced that Rasmus Dahlin has been added. The team now has nine players in the protocol, plus head coach Ralph Krueger.

Technically, Dahlin was actually added to the list last night. It originally had just Casey Mittelstadt joining the other seven players previously listed—Taylor Hall, Jake McCabe, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Rasmus Ristolainen, Dylan Cozens, and Curtis Lazar—but Dahlin was an update given later. Like with any other player, being on the list does not necessarily mean you have tested positive for COVID-19. The Sabres are currently scheduled to resume play on February 11.

  • The Minnesota Wild will also likely have some names added today, or at least in the near future. GM Bill Guerin implied that to Michael Russo of The Athletic, who did a very interesting examination of the outbreak with the Wild and the related league protocols. The Wild are also off until February 11, though that game against the St. Louis Blues seems very much in jeopardy should the team add several names today. Minnesota currently has nine players on the CPRA list.
  • Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilya Samsonov of the Washington Capitals spoke to reporters today following their own bouts with COVID-19 and provided a bit different experiences. When asked if he was scared at any point while experiencing symptoms, Kuznetsov told Samantha Pell of the Washington Post “no, I’m from Russia.” Samsonov meanwhile told Pell through an interpreter that there were a few days where he had trouble breathing and walking. Both players were on the ice today at practice.

Bill Guerin| Buffalo Sabres| COVID Protocol Related Absence| Evgeny Kuznetsov| Ilya Samsonov| Minnesota Wild| Rasmus Dahlin| Washington Capitals

3 comments

PHR Panel: Revisiting The 2018 Draft

May 15, 2020 at 5:00 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

We’re now two months into an NHL postponement and there is still no clear timeline on when professional hockey will return. While fans of the sport have received small tidbits of news over that time, including college signings and contract extensions, the thirst for discussion has rarely been quenched.

With that in mind, we’re happy to continue our new feature: The PHR Panel. Our writing staff will give our individual takes on a question many hockey fans have been wondering about. If you’d ever like to submit a subject for us to discuss, be sure to put it in the comments.

To catch up on the previous edition, click here.

Today, with the 2020 draft still not set in stone, we take a look at how some top picks are performing a few years into their careers.

Q: Who will end up being the best player from the 2018 draft?

Brian La Rose: 

Back in 2018, the answer was Rasmus Dahlin. Nearly two years later, I don’t think that answer has changed.

While the Sabres have continued to struggle even with Dahlin in the fold, it certainly hasn’t been because of him. He had a lot thrown at him during his rookie season, perhaps too much for an 18-year-old defenseman. Despite that, he still did quite well. He was even better this season and was on pace to set new career-highs in points in spite of a dip in playing time if it wasn’t for a concussion and a minor upper-body issue that cost him ten games combined.

Defensively, Dahlin is still a little shaky at times but that’s par for the course for a young blueliner. He has made considerable improvements over his first two years and that should continue as he plays more and gets stronger.

At the end of the day, I’m not sure he’ll be the top offensive defender from this class but Dahlin’s all-around game will be enough to put him ahead of Quinn Hughes in terms of value. There will be some quality scorers from the 2018 draft (there already are) but they won’t be able to impact the game like a franchise defender that should consistently log over 25 minutes a night in his prime. Buffalo picking Dahlin back in June of 2018 signaled that they felt he was the best player in his draft class. There’s little reason to think otherwise at this point.

Holger Stolzenberg:

There are quite a few players that I like from this draft, but I’m going to go with the belief that the Buffalo Sabres got it right. Yes, Dahlin may not be that flashy defenseman who immediately dominated the league like fellow young blueliners Cale Makar and Hughes. Yet Dahlin is exactly what the team needed and has filled a major role in the two years he’s been in the league.

While his numbers look rather pedestrian through two seasons with 84 combined points, considering his status as the first-overall pick in 2018, those are actually impressive numbers for a teenaged blueliner. While they hardly compare to the first two seasons that Phil Housley had with Buffalo (he had 143 points), the league was quite different back in the early 80s with more goal scoring. In fact, the Sabres average more than one fewer goal per game now than they did back then, suggesting that Dahlin is much more comparable.

Now 20 years old, Dahlin is getting close to hitting his prime and should eventually have that breakout year to prove that he’s the best player in this draft. The blueliner has proven to be solid defensively and has good offensive skills, both of which should only get better. He will be a great player for years to come. We just might have to wait a little longer to see that play out.

Zach Leach: 

The 2018 draft class has yet to produce enough players with considerable NHL experience to truly make an educated guess on this question. Many, like college standouts Scott Perunovich (STL) and Tyler Madden (LAK), have yet to even debut, while some top picks like Oliver Wahlstrom (NYI) and Evan Bouchard (EDM) have only played in a handful of games. I like all four of these players to have good NHL careers, but I simply don’t have the sample size I need to say that any could be the best player of the class.

For now, I still consider the players that I personally felt were the top four players in the 2018 class to be the leading contenders to have the best NHL career: Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov, Buffalo’s Dahlin, Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk, and Vancouver’s Hughes (I had Wahlstrom at No. 5). Even in the midst of Dahlin mania back in June 2018, I felt Svechnikov was a special talent and a dynamic presence that was deserving of being the top overall pick. That’s why I listed him first and will stick with him as the player that I feel has the best chance to be the top player in his class. Dahlin, Tkachuk, and especially Hughes have certainly shown that they can be elite players and difference-makers for their respective franchises, but I feel that Svechnikov will outplay and outlast the field.

Svechnikov, who leads the 2018 class in goals, points, and games played, has already asserted himself as a franchise centerpiece for the Hurricanes. He has the natural offensive instincts as well as the willingness to play physically and win puck battles to be a scoring threat and key presence on offense for a long time still to come. I do not see Svechnikov’s offense drying up; in fact, his growth from year one to year two shows me that he is absolutely still on the rise and his near point-per-game pace this season is just the beginning of his offensive upside and I feel he will have staying power among the NHL’s elite once he arrives. I see Alex Ovechkin as the ceiling for Svechnikov, which would certainly give him a good chance at the title of best player in the 2018 class, both in ability and longevity.

Gavin Lee:

While I may not quite be on the same level as Zach when it comes to Svechnikov—what a comparable!—I too had him ranked as the best player in 2018 over Dahlin. There’s simply nothing that Svechnikov can’t do offensively. I was actually surprised he didn’t have a better rookie season, but the Hurricanes brought him along slowly with severely limited even-strength minutes and often only had him on the second powerplay unit. There’s nothing wrong with that, but when the team let him loose this season you started to see what Svechnikov is truly capable of.

No, it’s not all lacrosse goals and nifty dangles. The 6’2″ forward is a force when he gets to full speed, and can seemingly still make crisp passes with a defender hanging onto his back. He was on a 73-point pace this season while still averaging fewer than 14 minutes of even-strength ice time. When 16:44 (total) per game starts creeping close to 20:00, watch out for a player who one day may legitimately contend for both the Rocket Richard and Art Ross (remember, he only just turned 20).

There are some outstanding players in the field, but I’ll still put my money on the big Russian.

Andrei Svechnikov| Brady Tkachuk| PHR Panel| Rasmus Dahlin

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Erik Cernak Suspended Two Games

November 26, 2019 at 5:44 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 2 Comments

The Department of Player Safety has had a busy few days. Their latest discipline has been handed out to Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak, who has been suspended for two games. Cernak elbowed Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin in the head, resulting in a concussion for the young player. As the accompanying video explains:

It is important to note that while we acknowledge the Lightning argument that they believe Dahlin’s glove drove Cernak’s elbow upward and caused the head contact on this play, we disagree.

While Dahlin’s glove does make glancing contact with Cernak’s forearm, it is clear to us that Cernak’s elbow is already on a trajectory where head contact is inevitable. 

The Lightning will be without Cernak for the next couple of games, but the concern now is how long Dahlin will be out after being placed in the concussion protocol. The young phenom has had his share of struggles this season but the Sabres were already looking to move one of their other defensemen to upgrade the forward ranks.

AHL| Buffalo Sabres| Rasmus Dahlin| Tampa Bay Lightning

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