Rasmus Dahlin is one of the NHL's most complete defensemen. In fact, he may be the league's best player at the position, a status that won't receive more mainstream support until the Buffalo Sabres start playing meaningful games for the first time in decades.
Dahlin's status as an elite player doesn't go completely unnoticed, though. Zach Berta of The Hockey Writers selected the 2018 first overall pick to win the James Norris Memorial Trophy as one of his bold predictions for the upcoming 2025-26 campaign.
"Some may not see this as such a hot take, but when you play in the same league as Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes, it is a hot take," Berta wrote. "Rasmus Dahlin finished the 2024-25 season sixth in Norris voting, which was the highest in his career. Dahlin gets overlooked because the Sabres are not great, so people don't pay attention, but people who watch him play understand he is a Norris-winning talent."
There are a couple things working in the 25-year-old Swede's favor that will help in that quest to capture his first Norris Trophy.
Most notably, Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams has spent the past 17 months rebuilding the team's defense corps. It's a process that began with the acquisition of Bowen Byram from the Colorado Avalanche in March 2014.
Since then, Buffalo brought in Michael Kesselring as part of this summer's blockbuster JJ Peterka trade, made a separate deal to acquire Conor Timmins from the Pittsburgh Penguins and signed Zac Jones in free agency to provide some defensive depth.
It's resulted in a far deeper group that should take some pressure off Dahlin in 2025-26, while also giving him more support on a nightly basis.
In addition, the three-time All-Star has slowly but surely started to gain more respect throughout North America. He finished in the top 10 of Norris voting in two of the past three years, which is essentially a prerequisite to ultimately winning the award.
Dahlin also finished fourth in points by a defenseman last season with 68 (17 goals and 51 assists). He trailed only Makar (92), the Columbus Blue Jackets' Zach Werenski (82) and Hughes (76). His career-high point total is 73.
All three of those players, along with the likes of the Edmonton Oilers' Evan Bouchard and New York Rangers' Adam Fox, are threats to capture the Norris Trophy in 2025-26. So, the competition for one of the NHL's top individual honors will be stiff for the Sabres superstar.
That said, Dahlin has become an often unstoppable two-way force in Buffalo despite years of being asked to single-handedly carry the team's blue line. Finally having a more competent group of defensemen around him can only help his overall production.
An 80-point season combined with a long-awaited Sabres playoff berth may be enough for Dahlin to take home the award.