Fansided

Each NHL team’s biggest burning question in 2018

By Simon Vacca

EDMONTON, AB - OCTOBER 23: Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers lines up for a face off against Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 23, 2018 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images)
EDMONTON, AB - OCTOBER 23: Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers lines up for a face off against Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 23, 2018 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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BUFFALO, NY – OCTOBER 30: Rasmus Dahlin #26 of the Buffalo Sabres during the game against the Calgary Flames at the KeyBank Center on October 30, 2018 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Kevin Hoffman/Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY – OCTOBER 30: Rasmus Dahlin #26 of the Buffalo Sabres during the game against the Calgary Flames at the KeyBank Center on October 30, 2018 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Kevin Hoffman/Getty Images) /

Buffalo Sabres: Is Rasmus Dahlin the answer to the club’s state of despondency?

Absent from the postseason since the 2010-11 campaign, the Buffalo Sabres shall aim to turn things around heading into 2018-19.

Central to the club’s ability to convince its fans that bumps in the path toward a full-fledged rebuild are a thing of the past is the question of what the current season holds for Rasmus Dahlin. Selected first overall at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Dahlin appears to embody everything that the Sabres need and more to succeed, marrying physicality with an impressive two-way game. Unexpectedly, the 18-year-old has been a feature of any and all scouting-related discussions for the better part of a year, as comparisons to the likes of Victor Hedman and Erik Karlsson is a staple of the defender’s résumé.

Yet to argue against a position of cautious optimism would be synonymous with ignoring the reality of the recent past. Not only have the Sabres have been through three general managers and five head coaches since their last appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs (2010-11), but the sport also has a rather peculiar tendency to counteract the hype surrounding teenage defensemen on the rise. Balancing the enormous degree of hype with a reasonable degree of consistency shall be particularly tricky for Dahlin, who will be left to tease out the intricacies of his game on NHL rinks that are significantly smaller than the Olympic-sized ice that is fundamental to European hockey.

Clearly, Dahlin cannot — and will not — go it alone. Coming off an offseason in which GM Jason Botterill scored big in shipping out veteran center Ryan O’Reilly, the Sabres’ rebuild looks to finally have reached a point at which it should be taken seriously. Signs of promise — Jack Eichel, Jeff Skinner, Sam Reinhart, Rasmus Ristolainen, Carter Hutton and then some — are there. Whether Dahlin can provide a volume of stability to a club has long lacked security, however, is a topic of rumination that remains unanswered.

Look for the 2018-19 campaign to serve as the introductory chapter to what promises to be a delightful career.

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