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Sabres Young Defensemen Shine in Jersey |
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The Sabres look to have four defensemen with whom to move forward after this year.
In no particular order, Mattias Samuelsson, Owen Power, Rasmus Dahlin and Henri Jokiharu showed real progress against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on Thursday night. There’s a nice blend of size, poise, offense and steady play between those four players. Below are some thoughts on those guys from the game against Lind Ruff’s Devils.
But first we have to talk about Andrew Hammond.
The first goal he allowed was a brutal short-handed softy from Kyle Okposo who threaded a soft, sinking shot on the Devils’ goaltender from beyond the blue line. Hammond had the opportunity to see the puck the whole way – and yet! – he somehow totally whiffed on it. Okposo didn’t even really celebrate (maybe because he felt bad?) before smiling on his way to the bench. That was ugly.
It got uglier seconds later. The Devils gave up another shorthanded opportunity moments later as Victor Olofsson got in alone for a breakaway which Hammond foiled. Tuch then corralled the rebound and Hammond just weirdly didn’t react to him having the puck as Tuch fired the puck off the inside of the goalie’s pad for the second shorty of the night. Hammond’s lack of reaction was like a video game CPU player that got stuck in an animation. Lindy Ruff was incensed, and for all intents and purposes, the game was over following those two goals.
Anyway, back to the defensemen:
- Samuelsson flies under the radar among those following the Sabres due to the presence of two former first-overall picks in Dahlin and Power, but the 22-year-old second-round pick is developing nicely into the steady defensive conscience of this group. Anecdotally, the New Jersey native does an excellent job drawing penalties. He’ll be counted on to assume the role the Sabres hoped Jake McCabe could occupy for them before McCabe – himself a second-round pick – left for Chicago in free agency. Samuelsson should continue to grow into the defensive role as he gains experience, although the Sabres could still use a little more nasty from the 6’4” defenseman. The Sabres don’t have an intimidating presence on the backend, currently.
Maybe it’s not fair to expect him to be a physical force just because he’s tall. It's just that he could add so much more to this team if he were able to throw some big hits and toss some fists a little more often. The Sabres will have to look outside of the organization to fill that physical void next year if Samuelsson isn’t the guy to do it.
- Power continues to impress as a rookie this year. While he’s not consistently spectacular, he’s absolutely holding his own as a 19-year-old rookie just breaking into the NHL. His stride and ability to skate the puck out of the defensive zone was especially noticeable in the first period on Thursday, and he joined the rush on occasion while looking for his first goal.
It was Power’s head-up stride through the neutral zone that stood out when watching his pre-draft game tape during his time at Michigan, and the big man showed that on Thursday as he scored his first NHL goal by joining the rush and accepting a pass from Jeff Skinner before tucking the shot below Hammond’s pad. He also made numerous nice passes in the offensive zone. He’s going to be a solid presence for a long time.
- Is Henri Jokiharju a top-four defenseman moving forward? That’s still not clear. He looks more like a number five or six blueliner on a quality team who can play top-four in a pinch. He neatly played a 2-on-1 situation against the Devils where he showcased his best quality: his poise and calmness. The Finnish defenseman is most notable for that unflappable attitude and his solid transition skills. He’s a guy you definitely want on your team as an all-around defenseman who can chip in a bit of offense (18 points in 56 games) while still contributing well enough defensively. The only real knock against him is that he doesn’t have one outstanding positive attribute. Conversely, he doesn’t have one really bad attribute, either.
- And then there’s Rasmus Dahlin. Owen Power could be the best thing that ever happened to Dahlin. There are nights where the Swedish defensman looks like an absolute phenom, and there are nights where he simply doesn’t have it. The emerging presence of Power will allow the Sabres to deploy Dahlin according to the game flow of the night and the way Dahlin is reacting to the game. Dahlin’s vision was incredible on Thursday. Dahlin deserved an assist on his own goal in the second period. He made numerous beautiful passes in the offensive zone before ultimately accepting a pass and firing home his 12th goal of the season.
The presence of Power should prove to be a psychological boost for Dahlin who will be able to showcase his offensive acumen while knowing that there’s someone else on the team who can take the pressure off him if need be.
Buffalo Sabres Blogger • 
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