Every few years the team with the top pick in the NHL Draft is rewarded with a can't-mi s, no-brainer franchise player. Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Patrick Kane, Sidney Crosby, and so on.

Yes, an AlexandreDaigle and Patrik Stefan has been sprinkled in here and there, but for the most part forward prodigies taken first overall live up to the hype.

This is not the case with defensemen. Outside Yadier Molina Jersey of Denis Potvin, who was drafted practically half a century ago, it's an underwhelming list. There are some solid, even very good, defensemen here. However, nobody comfortably fits the mold of franchise defenseman (we'll see on Aaron Ekblad).

NHL DRAFT 2018:|

There are a Mike Shannon Jersey number of reasons why teams have a difficult time identifying elite defensemen at the draft, and it shows both in the reluctance to take them first overall as well as in the aforementioned lack of succe s with the pick. In that context, it is remarkable how defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, the a sumed top pick of the 2018 NHL Draft, is so confidently portrayed as the cornerstone of whichever team lands him.

The distinction is not unearned, though. Dahlin has been favorably compared to both Erik Karl son and Victor Hedman. Statistically, he stacks up incredibly well.

Dahlin's production this season is better than Hedman's was in his pre-draft year. It's particularly notable with further context. Hedman's team, MODO, wasone of the top offensive squads in Sweden at the time and featured a number of dynamic offensive forwards such as Mats Zuccarello.

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Dahlin's Frolunda, meanwhile, isrelatively average offensively and Steve Carlton Jersey lacks high-end scoring talent. To summarize, Rasmus Dahlin is producing better than Victor Hedman did in his pre-draft season despite being younger and playing with worse players.

Now, let's compare Dahlin's numbers to Karl son's in the J20 SuperElit, the top junior league in Sweden.

Let's be clear about what this chart shows. Karl son played in the league as a 17-year-old during his pre-draft season. Dahlin played in the league last year, when he was 16 and two years removed from the draft. Erik Karl son is far and away the best offensive defenseman in the NHL, and Dahlin more or le s matched his production, including a better goal scoring rate, despite being a full year younger.

It's not difficult to see how Dahlin puts up those numbers, nor is it hard to figure out why Frolunda trusts him with first-pairing Tim McCarver Jersey minutes as a 17-year-old. No, he isn't a behemoth like Hedman, but at 6-2 and 183 pounds, with room for growth, he has the size and strength to handle grown men in a way Karl son couldn't at the same age.

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The worst thing to say about Dahlin'sdefensive game is that he isn't perfect which is true of any athlete in any sport. But his defensive ability is well beyond his years. His understanding of gap control and defensive coverages is will Chris Beck Jersey beyond his years. His skating ability is as good as anyone's, and while Hedman has great straight-line speed, Dahlin displays agility and puck poise that Hedman could have only wished to po se s at the same age.

Dahlin has the uncanny ability to make plays by himself in seemingly innocent situations.

There are no flaws to his game. At an age wherevirtually every other top defensive prospect is still awkwardly figuring things out at a lower level, Dahlin is one of the top defensemen in arguably the second-toughest league in the entire world.

It can be uncomfortable to thrust such enormous expectations on a teenager. It is particularly hazardous in the case of defensemen, given the difficulty in projecting their futures.

In Dahlin's case, though, there is no match for what he has done at such a young age, and all evidence indicates he will be the type of player who can single-handedly change the outlook for whatever NHL franchise lands the top pick in this upcoming summer's draft