The winger practiced on a line with Marcus Johansson and Jimmy Vesey, a look the Sabres could utilize if he makes his debut against the Golden Knights on Friday. Krueger expects Kahun's history at center, where he played most of his life prior to coming to the NHL, to allow him to adapt quickly to the team's expectations away from the puck. Offensively, he sees an opportunity for chemistry with Johansson.
"There's a skill there that I think could connect with his," Krueger said. "We just feel that, again, we need to get the other lines going right now. We all know that Eichel and Larsson have a clear identity. We're looking for another mix in the other two lines and we've been moving those lines around for our liking, actually, a little too much.
"But we see Dominik as a high skilled player with a lot of speed who should be able to connect with Johansson on his offensive side. We'll see how it all comes out tomorrow. We haven't decided final on the lines. We wanted to look at something today and that's definitely one of our options."
Granato describes Kahun as having an agile skillset.
"It's quick turns and tight turns and an ability to gain a puck that's bouncing or a puck that looks like it's a broken play, but it's a small area," Granato said. "Very good small area skills, being agility, tight turns and quickness - quickness with his feet, quickness with tight turns, quickness with his hands."
More than quickness, though, Granato spoke at length about Kahun's intangibles. He managed to play all 82 games as a rookie last season, double the length of the regular season schedule he was used to with his pro team in Germany. He played more than 400 minutes alongside Jonathan Toews at 5-on-5 which, Granato explained, takes another level of demand to match the intensity of a star player.
Granato felt Kahun earn the respect of players like Toews because of the seriousness with which he took his craft. He's known for spending long amounts of time working on skills before and after practice. He's consistent in his preparation and, by extension, in the games themselves.
Kahun left that impression while going through the learning experiences every rookie must face, from knowledge of systems to comfort within one's role.
"He went into each one of those situations trying to absorb it and trying to apply it, and I sense that now," Granato said. "So, I'm excited to see him and see his progress that he's made because I know he's made progress. It's in his DNA to keep getting better."
