Rasmus Dahlin was a beast in the postseason. (Timothy T. Ludwig-USA Today Sports)
This week, Alex Newhook continued to build his resume of Game Seven heroics as Montreal advanced; Buffalo fans lauded their team despite an unhappy ending on Monday; and Filip Gustavsson may not be ready for training camp because he needs surgery on his hip. Other Fantasy hockey stories we’re tracking include…
Rasmus Dahlin’s Coming Out Party
Just under a year ago we were discussing the state of woe the Buffalo Sabres were embroiled in given their record setting playoff drought.
What a difference a year makes.
Not only did Buffalo enjoy its finest season since 2006-07, finally ending its 14-year exodus from the postseason, but it came within a single goal of going to the Eastern Conference Finals (also for the first time since 2006-07).
The Sabres looked dead and buried when early in Game Six on Saturday vs. Montreal they went down 3-1. All Buffalo did was rhyme off seven unanswered goals to win that game, at set up Sunday’s Game Seven showdown.
And while the Sabres again bounced back from an early two-goal deficit to tie things up, they ultimately lost in overtime. A misplay that Rasmus Dahlin was partially responsible for led to the winning goal, but that can’t take the shine off what he was able to accomplish in this series.
After being shut out in the first two game of the series, he absolutely went off, scoring three times with seven assists over the last five games, including 1-4-5 in Game Six and another goal in the finale (the game-tying effort in the third — see video below). That capped off a 14-point performance over 13 games in Dahlin’s first ever taste of the playoffs.
Oh, and did we mention that he had a career-best 74 points in the regular season? Man, this dude is so underrated, and his fingerprints were all over Game Seven, this series, these playoffs, and the entire Buffalo season. How dominant was Dahlin? How about 32 more points than the Sabres’ second-leading scorer among defenseman? We’re talking about a top 10 blueliner for Dynasty purposes here, folks.
After all, Dahlin is just 26 years old and already owns three seasons of 50 or more assists, twice reaching at least 55. The last three seasons he’s benefited from some luck in terms of the number of goals he’s scored above his shooting talent (+10), but however you dissect it, this is an elite defenseman who has lived up to his billing as the No. 1 overall pick in 2018.
Vegas Returns to Conference Final
Almost a year ago to the day, we bemoaned how annoyingly successful the Vegas Golden Knights had been since entering the NHL. However, they not only lost Game Four of that series against Edmonton, but also went down in the next one as they failed to reach the Conference Finals.
Well, Vegas has made it that far this season (and you can find out how good their chances are at FanDuel) for the fourth time in the franchise’s nine-year history. Yup, annoying is an apt description.
For the Golden Knights, these playoffs have been about redemption tours. Carter Hart is the most obvious one, but what about winger Mitch Marner? Vilified for years because of his inability to duplicate regular season success in the playoffs (although he did pretty well at the 4 Nations Face-Off, Marner has flipped the script this season.
While he “only” managed 80 points in 81 regular season games (the first time since 2017-18 that he was under a point per game), he’s gone berserk in the playoffs with an NHL-leading 18 points in just 12 games. Marner had an assist and this ridiculous goal in the deciding game, giving him a dominant 11 points over the six game series.
He still managed a robust 620.5 Fantasy points on Yahoo, but considering he had topped 725 four times over the previous seven seasons, this total seemed a letdown in comparison. Marner’s value continues to be driven by assists, but even at under a point per game, he remains a top 30 player.
And even if he’s not the fastest player on the ice, you can’t accuse him of not being a skater, ranking in the 96th percentile in the NHL in terms of skating distance for the season.
RotoRob Tune of the Day
Born Isabel Buarque de Hollanda Gilberto de Oliveira, she’s better known to the world as Bebel Gilberto. Here’s “Sem Contenção,” another track from her breakthrough album, Tanto Tempo.