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There were as many as a dozen cameras and two dozen more reporters packed three- and four-deep surrounding Dahlin, seated on a stool at the NHL pre-draft scouting combine in Buffalo.
”Yeah, it’s pretty awesome actually,” Dahlin said, his blond hair offset by the jet-black suit he wore. ”It’s the first time so many cameras, I think. It’s fun. I love it.”
Dahlin had better become accustomed to it, because the lean, play-making and smooth-skating blue-liner should remain the focus of attention in the days leading up to the NHL draft being held in Dallas in three weeks. That’s when Dahlin is projected to be the first overall pick and join Mats Sundin as the only other Swedish-born player to go No. 1.
”If that happens, I would be so glad and proud,” Dahlin said, his eyes growing bigger at the mention of Sundin, who was selected No. 1 by the Quebec Nordiques in 1989.
At 6-foot-2 and 181 pounds, Dahlin is considered the most NHL-ready prospect in this year’s draft class for his all-around ability. He’s already drawing comparisons to other elite Swedish defensemen, such as former Detroit star and seven-time Norris Trophy-winner Nicklas Lidstrom and Ottawa captain and two-time Norris winner Erik Karlsson.
”All those characteristics they bring to the game, Dahlin has the same potential to bring those same characteristics,” NHL Central Scouting director Dan Marr James Daniels Color Rush Jersey , told The Associated Press last week.
”It’s not fair to compare him to those players, but everything that made them successful National Hockey League players, this kid has it in his game,” Marr added. ”This here’s a player that could be a cornerstone to a franchise. And he’ll be a staple on their blue line for years and years to come.”
It’s not just one aspect of Dahlin’s game in which he excels, Marr said. It’s all of them.
Whether it’s hitting, scoring or defending, Marr said Dahlin has ”shown he can rise to the occasion or rise to perform whatever needs to be done for that situation.”
And the significance of Dahlin being in Buffalo for the combine wasn’t lost on anyone, given the Sabres own the top pick .
General manager Jason Botterill isn’t tipping his hand on whether he’ll select Dahlin, but coach Phil Housley has already been crowing about the youngster’s potential.
”I’ve been watching on YouTube, and boy it’s incredible,” Housley, a Hall of Fame defenseman, told The Buffalo News last month. ”He’s going to be a complete package in today’s NHL.”
Among the prospects ranked behind Dahlin by central scouting are Russian forward Andrei Svechnikov, who played in the Ontario Junior League last season, and Boston University’s Brady Tkachuk, the son of former NHL star Keith Tkachuk.
Dahlin is taking nothing for granted in saying Alex Colome Seattle Mariners Jersey , he’s not sure of the Sabres’ intentions.
”Of course, nothing is done,” he said. ”But yeah, if I’m coming here, I would love to be here. I heard they have great fans and everybody loves hockey here.”
Dahlin got his first taste of Buffalo’s hockey fans this past winter when he was part of Sweden’s silver medal-winning team at the World Junior hockey championships held in the city. Some five months later, the sting of a 3-1 loss to Canada in the championship game had mostly worn 
off.
”At that moment it was pretty bad,” said Dahlin, one of four Swedish players disciplined by the International Ice Hockey Federation for refusing to wear the silver medal during the postgame ceremony. ”But now, if I look back to the tournament, it was a great tournament. It was awesome to be here. We had a great team. We were so close.”
Dahlin was named the tournament’s top defenseman after finishing with six assists in seven games. At just 17, he then represented Sweden at the Winter Olympics, where he had an assist in two games. Add to that, Dahlin scored seven goals and 13 assists in 41 games with Frolunda of the Swedish Hockey League, and earned junior player of the year honors.
”I went through so many great experiences. I’ve been to so many new places. I’ve grown as a guy, too,” Dahlin said attempting to put the year into perspective. ”I’m a teenager that’s growing every day just as a person.”
Once the session with reporters ended Armani Watts Color Rush Jersey , Dahlin made his way to a bank of windows overlooking Buffalo’s newly redeveloped inner harbor, and soaked in the view.
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More NHL hockey: After working a quarter-century in the NHL, including two decades in management, Paul Fenton finally has the opportunity to run a team.
The new general manager of the Minnesota Wild has been tasked with retooling a roster that has produced a consistent regular season winner but, more importantly, scant success in the playoffs.
”I’m confident we have a very good team in Minnesota and believe Paul shares that same belief. The goal remains to bring a Stanley Cup to the state of hockey,” owner Craig Leipold said. ”No pressure, Paul, but that is where it starts.”
The 58-year-old Fenton was introduced on Tuesday at Xcel Energy Center, where the Wild have reached the postseason six straight times to match the longest streak in the Western Conference with the Anaheim Ducks. The problem is they’ve won only two series during that run, both in the first round. That’s why Leipold dismissed Chuck Fletcher after nine seasons and, after a month of interviewing and considering candidates, turned to Fenton for a fresh perspective .
”As we went through the process, we kept hearing good things about our team,” Leipold said. ”We kept feeling better and better, and it really reinforced what we thought. This is not a rebuild. It’s a tweaking.”
Existing contracts essentially make a teardown impossible. Center Mikko Koivu http://www.giantsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-kyle-lauletta-jersey , left wing Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter accounted for almost 30 percent of the Wild’s salary cap in 2017-18. Koivu’s two-year extension kicks in this summer. Parise and Suter are signed for seven more seasons. All three players attended the news conference, as did coach Bruce Boudreau and several holdover hockey operations staffers.
”It obviously doesn’t need to be overhauled,” Fenton said. ”We have a lot of really good veteran pieces, young guys that are coming, and I’m just looking forward to trying to put on some finishing touches to help us win.”
Even without no-trade clauses, the Koivu-Parise-Suter core would be difficult to move with their current deals. There are plenty of other valuable players that Fenton could use as assets in trades, though, and there’s precedent for him doing just that.
During his 12-year tenure as assistant general manager of the Nashville Predators, Fenton teamed with general manager David Poile to pull off several bold moves. They shipped Shea Weber to the Montreal Canadiens for P.K. Subban in a swap of standout defensemen two summers ago after sending defenseman Seth Jones to the Columbus Blue Jackets for center Ryan Johansen about six months earlier, deals that set the stage for the Predators to reach the Stanley Cup finals in 2017. They had the best record in the league in the 2017-18 regular season.
Fenton declined to make any evaluations or proclamations about the Wild during his session with reporters, but he did give a definitive answer to a question about whether he’d keep the aggressive approach to trading.
”I like to think outside the box,” he said, later adding: ”I’ll look at small trades. I’ll look at big trades. Whatever is going to improve this organization going forward to give us a chance to win the Stanley Cup, we’re going to look.”
As for feeling limited by the Koivu-Parise-Suter contract situation he inherited, well, if he was daunted by it he wouldn’t have been hired.
”Everybody has the same problem Jordan Whitehead Color Rush Jersey ,” Fenton said. ”We’re all cap driven.”
Fenton was accompanied by his wife, Nona, who was once his high school sweetheart in Massachusetts, and his two adult sons, P.J. and Owen, and daughter-in-law Stefanie. There’s a granddaughter in the family as well.
Suter was a familiar face to Fenton in the crowd, too. The Predators drafted him in the first round in 2003 while Fenton was director of player personnel. Leipold owned the Predators then, too.
”We have mutual friends that say good things about each other, so I don’t think it’s going to be a difficult transition at all,” said Boudreau, who will enter his third season with the Wild. ”We’re hockey guys, and when we’re getting together we’re going to be talking hockey all the time. That’s what we love to do. He spent a lot of years looking at the minors. I’ve been a lot of years in the minors. I think it should end up being a really good relationship.”
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