Jonathan Dahlen to remain with Timra IK in Allsvenskan
6 years ago
Canucks prospect Jonathan Dahlen announced today that he would be remaining with Timra IK in the Allsvenskan for the remainder of the season, rather than making the leap to the SHL. There had been a few rumoured SHL teams interested in his services, including Farjestad, but the winger ultimately decided to stay with the organization has been with since 2014.
Dahlen has 19 goals and 16 assists in 30 Allsvenskan games. He is currently tied for first in scoring despite playing 7 fewer games than Emil Molin.
Dahlen announced his decision following Timra’s 2-0 win over Modo today:
In a separate interview, CanucksArmy writer Janik Beichler reached out to Patrik Bexell from Habs Eye on the Prize, to have it transcribed and translated:
A couple of takeaways from this.
- Love his thought process and his compassion for the program that he has been with for a few years.
- Personally, I am not surprised that Timra’s possible promotion to the SHL was one of the main reasons for wanting to stay. Timra has been really good this year and it makes sense that he would want to help them as best he could before he embarks on hopefully a long NHL career.
From a development perspective, it’s multi-layered. Obviously, going to the SHL would provide Dahlen with a higher quality of competition but there is a very good chance that he would see less ice time. He is playing a lot for Timra and leaned upon to produce offence. At times, he has played with 2018 draft eligible forwards Jacob Olofsson and Filip Hallander. They are a treat to watch as they push the pace, and all three have balanced skillsets that make their line dangerous.
Over the last few games, Timra’s coaching staff has had one of them on each of their top three lines. Creating waves of attack that are entertaining to watch. They reunite the trio for the powerplay and that’s where the fun happens.
Where Dahlen plays really depends on what you think is more important for his development. In the Allsvenskan, he is able to play a lot of minutes, gain confidence, be a leader, and hopefully help Timra go through a long playoff run. While going to the SHL would give him a chance to play against better players on a nightly basis. With that being said, the gap between the SHL and Allsvenskan isn’t huge, so the tradeoff of less ice time might not worth the increased level of competition.
There are quite a few good players in the Allsvenskan, but there is also a lot more young skilled forwards getting a chance to play. Personally, I believe that a player as young as Dahlen should be playing as much as possible and if that’s in the Allsvenskan, then so be it.
The added motivation of trying to get Timra to the SHL for next season gives Dahlen something to strive for every game. It will be exciting to follow what they do over the next few months.
It’s fair to expect Dahlen to play in the AHL next season as he will be entering year two of his entry-level contract and is technically on loan to Timra from the Canucks.
