I’ll just leave this insight from the always excellent u/jfresh1999 here
To say that Rasmus Dahlin didn’t initially take to coach Ralph Krueger’s system would be an understatement. After putting up arguably the best D+1 season by a defenceman in the cap era, Dahlin performed hideously in the first half, ranking near the bottom of the league at both ends of the ice. What happened? Chad DeDominicis of Expecting Buffalo explains:
Krueger tried to get him to focus on his defensive side of the game, admitting it was going to negatively impact his offense, and it did. He got in his own head and struggled with turnovers by overthinking.
Krueger’s plan backfired, as deliberately suffocating Dahlin’s offence made his defensive play even worse. After recovering from a concussion, Dahlin returned to his rookie season style and form for the most part, carrying the puck more frequently and participating more offensively. This seemed to have improved his actual defence a lot more than forcing him to sacrifice the strengths of his game did. Who would have thought?
