Dahlin Listed In Top 20 Of NHL Players By NHL Network

The Buffalo Sabres are hoping to build on their success last season, and reach the postseason for the second straight year. That will require some of their young talent to fill the void left by the departure of Alex Tuch and Bowen Byram, and their core group continuing to play at a high level. 

Team captain Rasmus Dahlin persevered through personal adversity to score a career-high 74 points and led Buffalo to their first playoff appearance in 15 years, earning nominations for the Bill Masterton and Norris Trophies. 

Earlier this month, in their annual rankings of NHL players, The Athletic slotted Dahlin in the top tier, tied with Florida’s Aleksander Barkov, San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini, Boston’s David Pastrnak, and 2026 Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets.    

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In NHL Network’s rankings of the Top 50 players, Dahlin was ranked 17th, while Werenski was ranked just outside of the top 10 at 11. Multiple Cup winners Sidney Crosby and Andrei Vasilevskiy were #12 and #13, Minnesota Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov was at #14, Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews was #15, former Leaf Mitch Marner is at #16, followed by Dahlin; Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck is #18, followed by fellow Finnish members of the Dallas Stars, Mikko Rantanen (#19) and Miro Heiskanen (#20).

It may be possible that Dahlin is the only Sabre in the Top 50, although Sabres leading scorer Tage Thompson, who has scored 40 or more goals three times in the last four years, has not been listed as of yet.  

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