The Athletic recently argued that this Sabres defenseman should make a bigger impact during the second half of the season.
In The Athletic's most recent NHL Power Rankings column, they not only ranked each club but also wrote down one player from each team that "should be better" during the second half of the season. For the Buffalo Sabres, writers Sean Gentille and Dom Luszczyszyn went with star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin.
Here's what they had to say about Dahlin: "We might be a little late on Rasmus Dahlin, given how good he’s been since Jan. 1. Ten points in 12 games and some dialed-up defensive impacts across the board? Pretty solid. Another few months of that, though, will help Buffalo forget its messy start and build momentum for 2024-25."
Rasmus Dahlin & Tage Thompson It is hard to argue against that opinion. Dahlin certainly has picked up his play as the season has gone on, and there's clear reason to believe that he can keep it up. Keep in mind, the 2018 first-overall pick is coming off a 73-point campaign in 78 games last season. Who's to say that he can't put up that kind of production for the remainder of this season?
Dahlin, 23, hasn't had a bad season, either. He is currently tied with Cale Makar (Colorado Avalanche) for the most goals (13) by an NHL defenseman this season and also has a solid 39 points and 111 hits. He also was an All-Star yet again. However, if he can increase his pace of production and play a steady game defensively, it would be a great way for him to end the campaign. Let's see if he does just that from here.