Rasmus Dahlin, a 18-years-old Swedish defenceman is expected to be the No.1 pick at the NHL Draft in Dallas on Friday. The left-handed talent spent this season in the SHL (Frölunda HC) and had 20 points in 41 games - he’s the first among players under the age of 22 in Swedish league. By the way, he stepped into SHL when he was just 16. 

Also Dahlin represented Sweden at the 2018 Olympic Games in Korea this year (he was just 17 years old) and won best defenseman at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship (7 games played, 0 goals, 6 assists, +7). 

But he was noticed by the fans at the international competitions earlier, when he played for team Sweden as a 16-year-old at the the 2017 World Junior Hockey Championship (7 games played, 1 goal, 1 assist, +0). Dahlin became the youngest player ever to suit up for Sweden at this event, and the first player born in the 2000s to score a goal at the WJC.

Sweden national junior team coach Tomas Monten said:

“I’ve never seen a player like him in that you give him a couple of chances and shifts at a higher level and he can easily adapt to that level. He has a certain way of pushing his game against better players and at higher speeds. He’s skilled and talented and a defenceman we can have a lot of use for. A couple years down the road, for sure, he’s going to be a good player.”

Buffalo Sabres won NHL Draft Lottery and if they pick Rasmus Dahlin as expected, he will become the second Swede in history to be picked first overall and the first since Quebec Nordiques selected Mats Sundin in 1989.