Two-Day Player
No one rode the bust label more than Dahlin in 2020-21. To be fair, the Sabres struggled in 56 regular season games, but Dahlin’s point total dropped from 40 in 59 games in 2019-20 to 23 in 56 games in 2020-21.
He posted a sickening -36 in the +/- category and converted just 4.3% of his shots. Overall, Dahlin’s offensive prowess went null despite showing more puck control. He also logged more shots on goal than he did in 2019-20, but overall, Dahlin looked no better than a low-tier defenseman on the second pairing.
That all changed in 2021-22, Don Granato’s first full season as the team’s head coach. Granato brought out the best in Dahlin, who now looks like the two-way player the Sabres saw in 2018-19. It was a season where Dahlin finished in third place for the Calder Memorial Trophy while he logged 44 points in 82 games.
Through 62 games in 2021-22, Dahlin is threatening to set a new career-high in points, with 39. He’s taking more chances, having recorded 254 total shots and 136 shots on goal. He has multiple game-winning goals for the first time since his rookie season, and one more goal will notch a new career-high in the scoring category.
Dahlin’s prowess as a two-way player earned him a trip to the NHL All-Star Game, where he put on a respectable performance. While he still struggles with giveaways, he has also minimized them to just over a half per game. And you can expect even fewer giveaways in the future.