I find that it more conducive to my sanity to be primarily a reader than a contributor, but I agree completely with that post and want to add some comments about Rasmussen just to contribute to a balance of opinion and also make a couple of factual points about his season that have been largely overlooked in the discussion. Apologies in advance for probably going too long to keep anyone's attention.
I consider Rasmussen the best prospect in the system. He’s simply a sound fundamental player in every respect with better skills, both skating and with the puck, and better on-ice awareness and hockey intelligence, than a number of posters have stated. As his coach said, he’s an evolving player, a bit of a chameleon in that he can do anything you want him to do. That might be an accurate description of both his strengths and weaknesses, because while it’s nice to be able to do anything, it’s not a good thing to be 6-feet-6 of invisibility. I think to a lot of fans the Wings right now are boring and consider Rasmussen the epitomy of a boring prospect. There is very little flash to his game. He is not an explosive skater nor does he stickhandle (or even seemingly try to stickhandle) through 2-3 guys or deke a goaltender out of his jock.
What critics are doing though IMO is conflating flash to upside. There are plenty of flashy players who are third-liners (if they even survive in the league) because they are unaware of what’s going on around them when they have the puck, or relatively clueless without it. There are also plenty of top six forwards in the NHL who essentially just execute the right play without a lot of flash, with most of their elite qualities based on strength on the puck and how difficult they are to handle in one-on-one battles. Invariably their hockey IQ and work rate are at a very high level.
Breaking down his skills, start with Rasmussen being a better skater than most seem to acknowledge. I've seen no mention of the fact that at the CHL Top Prospects Game he tested third overall among 24 forwards in on-ice skating tests, a series of 10 drills with and without the puck. The top two forwards were Formenton and Hischier, the tests validating what most observers recognize as two elite skaters. Rasmussen was in the top three of only one individual drill, but his combined score was better than the likes of notable fast and/or agile skaters like Tippett, Yamamoto, Thomas, Entwhistle, Morand, etc.
Rasmussen does not hold onto the puck except when he is in puck-protection mode along the boards and around the net, which he is very good at. Otherwise he gets the puck and advances it with simple, easy plays. This is considered a good thing in Canadian junior hockey and it’s not much different in the NHL. He does get a few greasy goals, but a lot of his so-called garbage goals are the result of having very good hands. He can find and control the puck in traffic and finish. He has great hand-eye coordination and gets deflection goals with his stick instead of his ass. He has an accurate wrist shot and can pick a corner from inside 20 feet.
Many posters are critical or at least dubious about his passing ability but that is not the opinion of many internet scouting services. Steve Kournianos’ positive comments about Rasmussen’s playmaking skills at the Hlinka Tournament are echoed elsewhere. “Underrated vision and playmaking ability” (Future Considerations); “good playmaking vision” (Dobber Prospects); “effective vision and passing skills” (Draftsite); “His vision is very good, as is his ability to pass the puck through tight spaces … when scoring chances present themselves he can take advantage with a good pass” (Last Word on Sports); “Has good passing skills. Uses his good vision and passing skills to distribute the puck effectively” (Hockey Prospectus); “Excellent playmaking ability recognizing opportunity and setting up in the offensive zone” (NHL Central Scouting). Redline Report was a modest critic and undoubtedly there were others but to a large extent the criticism was based on statistical breakdown rather than scouting impressions of his play.
The ES point production is being turned from a curious anomaly in an injury-shortened season into a so-called “advanced stats” red flag. He had almost identical ES point production to Getzlaf in his WHL Draft year (24 ES points in 49 games before the injury vs. Getzlaf’s 35 ES points in 70 games). Getzlaf was a much worse skater at the same age and didn’t become an elite set-up man until he started playing with an elite finisher and higher quality teammates overall. People have overlooked that Rasmussen did not play a full year. In the last 12 games prior to the wrist injury, he scored 16 points including eight at even strength, so perhaps the statistical imbalance was already working itself out. If he had played the last two months of the WHL season at that pace we might be wondering if he was a goal-centric centre prospect more similar to Jeff Carter than guys like Jake Virtanen or Lawson Crouse (who are poor comparables). He’s not the skater Carter was in Junior, but he’s a lot closer to Carter’s skating level and skill-set than some posters want to believe.
In his limited playing time with top age-group peers Rasmussen has played very well. Kournianos ranked him as Canada’s best player at the Hlinka Tournament, in which he was second on the team in scoring with a goal and three assists. He played center and was trusted with most defensive zone faceoffs. Kournianos noted that Rasmussen liked to crash the net but also that he made a lot of subtle plays to set up teammates’ scoring chances. Subtle is a good description of Rasmussen’s stick work. The puck is soft on his stick, he has his head up and he makes quick, effective plays to advance possession or ice position. If your linemates can’t finish, you aren’t going to get a lot of ES assists. Rasmussen also had a good performance playing left wing with Cody Glass and Kole Lind at the Top Prospects Game. His hands and awareness were shown off a number of times, most notably on the goal he scored and on a play where he chased down and stripped the puck from a defenseman, button-hooked in the offensive zone and found the trailer to create a great scoring chance. At the U17 Tournament he was fourth on his team in scoring.
Rasmussen is probably going to stick at center. He’s been tasked with a lot of defensive zone faceoffs at all levels and gets credit for his defensive awareness and how well he uses his stick. As noted by another poster, he is going to have to work on driving the middle of the ice to both take advantage of his size and create space for wingers. He’s willing to use his size but being a bit nastier would help. Physicality is another area where he is capable and pretty effective, but doesn’t dominate. He’s nowhere close to the way Getzlaf for example bullied opponents at the same age. There are scouting reports that indicated Rasmussen went through stretches where he was not particularly noticeable and a guy with his size should at least be making a physical impact if he’s not scoring. That’s the negative side of him being a bit of a chameleon at this stage of his development.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Rasmussen has the upside of a top six or even top line center. Whether you think he can reach it is another matter. Part of the argument is whether you can be a top six center by being better than average at just about everything, but not necessarily elite in any measurable skill. I think it’s pretty obvious that he has the potential to become a very good possession player simply because of his length, soft hands, skating ability and awareness of teammates, and being a good shooter/finisher. Those are traits he has already demonstrated in the CHL and in best-of-age events.
I don’t think the Wings picked him mostly because of his size or “intangibles”. I think they picked him because they think he will be a better NHL player than everyone who was available in a generally weak draft. He might never rack up 40 assists, but if your flashy 40-assist man can’t play in his own zone or handle the physicality of the NHL, then he’s probably not going to be as good an NHL player as a guy who goes 30-30-60 and can play in all situations and both ends of the ice. The Wings should not be picking players in the first round solely because of how their specific skills might mesh with future teammates. You pick who you think will be the best player and sort out the combinations years later.
