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I realize there is a finite number of spots available on the Atlantic Division All-Star roster, and Tage Thompson is most certainly the deserving Buffalo Sabres player to be selected. But Rasmus Dahlin should be on there too.
It feels like a no-brainer for the 22-year-old Swede to earn his second straight All-Star Game nod. He’s third among defensemen in scoring (44 points) and second in goals (12). On Saturday, he had a five-point game with two goals in an overtime win against the Minnesota Wild and was named the NHL’s third star of the week. He was also a first star of the week in October.
The Sabres are scoring the most goals per game in the league, and in past years, in a different format, they’d probably have three or four guys in the All-Star Game. You could make a case for Alex Tuch or Jeff Skinner, but Dahlin is a legitimate Norris Trophy contender based on his offensive and defensive play this season (it’s the offense that gets votes, but shh).
The numbers back why he should go, but there’s also the flash he has in his game. The highlight-reel goals and assists he’s had this season are the kind of thing you’d want on hockey’s version of an And-1 Mixtape. Don’t you want players who can make defenders look silly trying to recover after faking them out of their boots while they slip by and score top-shelf? I know I do, but hey, everyone has different tastes.
Dahlin may still get voted onto the team, but there’s little doubt he deserves to have a working vacation in South Florida this February.
— Joe Yerdon