Wings Nation First Round Targets: Michael Rasmussen
By Nick Seguin
6 years agoBritish Columbia’s Michael Rasmussen is a towering 6’6” power centre. He spent his season playing for the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League, putting up 55 points in 50 games. At 18-years-old, the young centre saw huge improvements in his game this season verse last, though a wrist injury in February sidelined him for the rest of the season. That doesn’t seem to have soured teams’ rankings of him, though, as he’s projected to be one of the top-5 picks at this year’s NHL Entry Draft.
NHL CS RANKINGS
Projected to go 5th overall.
THE STATS
In his short career, Rasmussen has seen consistent improvement in his point totals year-over-year. His tournament play has been limited, but his point-per-game performance at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament is very encouraging.
THE EYE TEST
“HE’S PLAYING WITH MUCH MORE CONFIDENCE THIS SEASON. HE’S ADAPTED TO PLAYING A BIGGER ROLE AND PLAYING HEAVY MINUTES AGAINST OPPONENTS’ TOP LINES AND DEFENSE. THE GAME HAS SLOWED DOWN FOR HIM A LITTLE BIT AND HE’S JUST THAT MUCH MORE POISED. HE CAN TAKE THAT EXTRA BIT OF TIME AND UNDERSTANDS HE CAN TAKE THAT TIME TO MAKE PLAYS AND SCORE GOALS.”
Basically, Rasmussen uses his size to his advantage. He’s strong on the forecheck and wins puck battles along the boards. His skating is not bad for how tall he is, but there’s definitely room for improvement there. It will be interesting to see how he adapts to the NHL level, where everyone is already big and strong.
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DOES HE FIT IN WITH THE RED WINGS?
Detroit has no shortage of size in their forward core, with Justin Abdelkader, Riley Sheahan, and Anthony Mantha all regular roster players, but they are in dire need of some centre depth. In that regard, Rasmussen is a good fit. That being said, I can’t help but feel like the Wings need more than Rasmussen offers. They need a clear number one centreman, and I think Rasmussen’s ceiling is 2nd line. Of course, he’s so young that anything can happen. So if he’s the best player available when the Wings pick at 9, then they should take him, but if it’s between him and a right-handed, top-2 defense prospect, take the defenseman.
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