Dahlin already impressing coaches, teammates at development camp

Victor Olofsson still remembers the precise moment he became aware of Rasmus Dahlin. The latter had just joined Frölunda of the Swedish Hockey League, a 16-year-old practicing amongst men. Olofsson was in the midst of his third full SHL season.
In his initial practice with the team, Dahlin carried the puck near the blue line and Olofsson went to defend him. Dahlin pulled the puck between Olofsson's legs, then drove to the net and scored.

"That was probably the first time I really noticed him," Olofsson said. "I thought it was a fluke at first. When he did it again and again, it's not just a fluke."

Likewise, the people who packed the stands at Harborcenter on Wednesday will remember the day they watched Dahlin take the ice for his first practice with the Buffalo Sabres. The defenseman dazzled throughout the hour-long Development Camp session, burying what felt like shot after shot.
Rochester Americans coach Chris Taylor, who is leading the on-ice sessions at camp, joked that each time he heard the ping that accompanies a shot off the crossbar and a subsequent cheer from the crowd, he knew who it was that shot the puck.
Taylor played in 766 professional games and has coached at the AHL level since hanging up his skates, but just the hour he spent on the ice with Dahlin on Wednesday was enough to impress even him. Taylor lauded the defenseman's lateral movement, his stride, his ability to catch and receive passes.
"He's one of those guys that, you can tell," Taylor said. "And just his shot. Like, every time he went down, I don't know if he missed one. His composure, his willingness, his love for the game. Just everything on the ice, he's a special person."
Dahlin joked that it had been years since he scored as much as he did on Wednesday, perhaps the product of the atmosphere around him. If Harborcenter wasn't packed to its 1,800-seat capacity, it was close, and he was the main attraction.
Dahlin signed autographs for Sabres fans at the NHL Draft in Dallas and toured the city of Buffalo with Sabres legend Gilbert Perreault on Tuesday, but the turnout at development camp still caught him off-guard.

"Yeah, I was surprised," he said. "There hasn't been a crowd that cheered for me when I scored a goal in training, so that was pretty special too."
Defenseman Brendan Guhle is familiar with the hype and expectations that come with being a highly regarded prospect, having stood out from the moment he took the ice for his first camp after being selected in the second in 2015. It's no accident that Dahlin and Guhle have been paired as roommates during camp.
"There's always a lot of hype that goes with Brendan, and I think he can help him with that," Taylor said. "There's going to be a lot of things going on with Rasmus that people are going to expect, and maybe it's not going to happen right away. So, I think he can help him with that along the way."
Then again, Guhle said that even he has been impressed with how relaxed Dahlin has been in their interactions. Taylor tried to have a conversation with Dahlin about the attention that will be surrounding him, and Dahlin responded by saying that people wanted to come see all the Swedes at camp.
"He's funny that way," Taylor said. "[You notice] his composure and again, he has a sense of humor, he's human. He's still young obviously, but you can tell the maturity on the ice."

Olofsson played one-and-a-half seasons as Dahlin's teammate with Frölunda and said it's rare to see him get stressed out on the ice. He also said the defenseman can do things with the puck that most forwards can't do, all part of a line of questioning on Wednesday that had as much to do with Dahlin as it did him.
The question was posed to Olofsson, a much-talked-about prospect in his own right, having led the SHL with 27 goals last season: Aren't you getting tired of answering questions about someone else?
"Not at all," Olofsson said, smiling. "He's a special kid."