The Canucks received the 19-year-old Swedish forward from the Ottawa Senators Monday in exchange for Alex Burrows, and while fans are sad to see Burr go, Dahlen is the goods.
Drafted in the 2nd round, 42nd overall in the 2016 NHL Draft, Dahlen had 41 points (24-17-41) in 43 games with Timra IK of the Swedish hockey league HockeyAllsvenskan this past season. In the 2016 World Juniors, Dahlen had six points (5-1-6) in seven games.
Here's the scouting report from Eliteprospects.com: "An offensively very skilled player. Dahlén is a good scorer and playmaker and quite shifty with fine technical skills and overall offensive awareness. Furthermore, an agile and creative player with great character. Skating might look suspicious at times, in some ways quite comparable to father Ulf's, but he reaches good speed and has impressive edge work. Good work ethic and a capable two-way player."
In case you missed a key part of that, Jonathan is the son of Ulf Dahlen, the 14-year NHL veteran who had 655 points in 966 games between six teams. Of note: Dahlen scored the final goal in Minnesota North Stars history on April 15, 1993.
Like father, like son? Time will tell, but GM Jim Benning is high on the recent acquisition.
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"Jonathan is a very skilled player with natural goal scoring instincts," said Benning. "He's had a terrific season playing in Sweden and was a big part of Sweden's offence at the World Juniors. His offensive upside combined with his willingness to go to difficult areas of the ice will make him a valuable player for our organization moving forward."
