from Mike G. Morreale of NHL.com,
Rasmus Dahlin will be a complete and dynamic NHL player for many years, Scotty Bowman told NHL.com on Saturday.
"His skating is so complete; he can go forwards, backwards and sideways so well and he has a good core," Bowman said of the Buffalo Sabres rookie defenseman after watching him at the Prospects Challenge. "He's got good size and strength and you can see he really likes to go.
"It's a different game now from when I was coaching. There are some defensemen who just move the puck up, and there's a sprinkling of guys who can lug it, and he's one of those guys. It's like (Ottawa Senators defenseman) Erik Karlsson and (Boston Bruins defenseman) Charlie McAvoy; those are special players."...
"Lidstrom was a different kind of player because Nick wasn't a puck-carrier, he moved the puck," said Bowman, who coached Lidstrom for nine seasons with the Detroit Red Wings (1993-2002). "The similarities are they have no difficulty making passes when they're in tight and it's always on the stick. So when [Dahlin] gets the puck, there's a good chance Buffalo is going to keep it. That's the way we used to track Lidstrom; whenever he got the puck, very seldom did he make a play where the other team got it, so it was all about possession. [Dahlin] likes to go and join the rush.
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