With pre-season over, I thought it would be a good time for those with the doom and gloom already hanging over their head to learn about some top prospects. This means you Habs fans! I'm going to be going through the players I feel are the top prospects in the 2018 draft.
Rasmus Dahlin – Left Defenseman – 6'2 181lbs - 17 Years Old - Frölunda HC in the SHL – 3gp 0g 1a 1p
The presumptive 1st overall favourite, Dahlin seems to be yet another dominant Swedish defensive prospect. A trend we’ve seen since 2008. Dahlin has risen to fame primarily on the back of making the Swedish U20 team at only 16 years old. A feat never done before in Sweden. Though he stands along Adam Larsson and Victor Hedman as defenseman that played in the tournament in the year before draft eligibility. Not only did he make the squad, but he was very impressive. Showing some serious offensive potential and puck moving, but more importantly, showing a head for the game in all facets. That’s extremely rare in a young defender.
As a 16 year old in the SHL he scored a goal and added two assists while dominating the SuperElit (their U20 league). It was the playoffs that really showed why he will be picked first or second. He scored 3 goals and had 5 points in the 14 game run, playing in more offensive situations and being trusted with more ice time. This season he has seen a 4 minute increase in ice-time and filters between the second and third pairing.
He’s an incredible skater and puck mover. Nay, majestic skater. His edge work is sublime. These two skills are at such an elite level that he has garnered the usual “Karlsson… comparisons. His strengths are numerous and his flaws very few. One might be his slapshot which is pretty “meh,… however if you watch him closely, you’ll notice his wrist shot is insanely accurate and very much a comparable to Oliver Ekman-Larsson and his ability to pick corners at ridiculous distances with “harmless… looking shots.
One thing you might not think about is that Dahlin is a very physical defenseman. This gets overlooked because the avenues we get to see him play in have him stacked against professional athletes or players older than him. In the SuperElit, he was the fifth most penalized player in the league. He’s not afraid to get involved in the nasty business.
Overall, Dahlin ranks favourably with his contemporaries. Those being defenders in the top-5. Hedman, Doughty, Larsson, Pietrangelo, Gudbranson, Juolevi etc. In fact, I think he compares most favourably to Hedman or Pietrangelo. Like Hedman he isn’t fully developed. He’s underweight and he’s not as much of a “finished… product as Gudbranson or Larsson. Being physically mature is one of the reasons those two went so early. Dahlin is basically 20lbs away from his ideal pro-frame. All in all, this is a good time to be a team with the cupboards bare on defense.
NHL Comparable : Drew Doughty