the halleJOKEL
strong as brickwall
i know typing that last sentence really hurt
it had to
it had to
He's not the living dead, he's just so old that he's nearly dead.
Nobody's taking Rask without a horrific contract coming back. We're going to have to buy him out this summer as this is the last offseason where he can be bought out at 1/3rd of his salary due to his age. After next season it jumps up to 2/3rds of his contract.
If they buy him out after this season they'll pay him $5.33M total over the next eight years (667k/yr). If they buy him out after next season they'll have to pay him $8M total over the six years (1.3M/yr) after that, plus the 4 million for him next season, or $12M total.
They really can't afford to wait. The upside just isn't there. Someone that slow and who has such bad hands isn't going to magically turn into a good player all of a sudden. His point totals were largely inflated by playing the point on the powerplay with Faulk back when Faulk could score goals and from getting easy assists when Jeff Skinner did something. He was never someone who drove or created any sort of offense. It's not a coincidence that at the same time the team is getting so much better offensively that Rask is struggling. he's not constantly being thrown out there in every key offensive situation with talented players that inflated his point totals.
Any random player from Charlotte can do what Rask has done since last November--and I think his production to start last year was due entirely to a sky high shooting percentage and Jeff Skinner. His production since then is absolutely pathetic when you consider the ice time, powerplay time, and linemates he's gotten. And it's not just the production....he's just flat out terrible out there with no effort all, no attempt to engage physically, refusing to go to the net or do anything with the puck except skate around the perimeter constantly turning over and losing the puck for no reason. This isn't a "slump" where a player is still playing reasonably well and just not getting the results. He's horrible and a huge anchor to whatever line he's on. His skating is horrific and he's not going to magically improve at that.
Adam Gold was right.
One thing I noticed with Rask, is he always seems to be so far behind the wingers coming out of the zone. A lot of the times a defenseman is into the ozone on the rush before he is. Seems like that's by design, as he provides an outlet to start the breakout really deep in the dzone, but not being involved in any plays off the rush can't be helpful statistically.
I also don't think he's suited to do what Jordan Staal does. He's not a 'win 1 on 2 battles for possession.' His game is more similar to Lindholms, where he's got a hard accurate wrister, and can historically do a little bit with the puck on his stick in open ice.
Seems like he's being set up to fail a bit by being a round peg in a square hole.
I cant even remember the last time I NOTICED Rask. He could have been scratched the last 10 games for all I know.
There was that time in 2010 when we beat the Rangers at home. Miracles do happen sometimes
Good news is that we own the Maple Leafs almost as much as the Islanders and Panthers. Id prefer to stay in 9th TBH
Rask's production with 3G, 2A in 18 games played is terrible. Let's see how some guys that people discussed the Canes trading for are doing.
Sam Reinhart: 3G, 8P in 20GP (while playing wing)
Brandon Sutter: 1G, 5P in 20GP
Matt Duchene: 4G, 10P in 19GP
Alex Galchenyuk: 4G, 8P in 21GP (while playing mostly wing)
Long way to go in the season, but none of those guys are really producing any better than: Derek Ryan: 4G, 9P in 19GP Heck, Hanifin, with 9 points, has as many points as these guys as a defenseman (1 point less than Duchene).
rasko hate reaching peak levels here. he's not getting it done, that's for sure. but far too often we really dump a player when he gets scratched to get right. it's not an ideal situation, but rask has had consecutive 45 point seasons and it's worth it to remember how early we are.
I think it's fine that he's getting hate. We are a team that doesn't have much margin for error, so when guys that we count on to perform aren't cutting it (Rask and Faulk predominately), they are going to receive criticism for it. When Slavin struggled for a few games, people pointed it out. When Hanifin blew assignments early in the season, people pointed it out. When Darling laid an egg, people pointed it out.
It's early in the season, so things can change, but until they do, the criticism of Rask (and Faulk) is warranted.
I think it's fine that he's getting hate. We are a team that doesn't have much margin for error, so when guys that we count on to perform aren't cutting it (Rask and Faulk predominately), they are going to receive criticism for it. When Slavin struggled for a few games, people pointed it out. When Hanifin blew assignments early in the season, people pointed it out. When Darling laid an egg, people pointed it out.
It's early in the season, so things can change, but until they do, the criticism of Rask (and Faulk) is warranted.
The criticism is warranted, agreed. Not sure I agree with haley's conclusion that a buyout is inevitable this off-season though. If he doesn't turn it around between now and the end of the season so we are looking at a slump from January 2017 to summer 2018? Then yes, the numbers say that a buyout at that point will be the logical risk to take with Rask even if he rebounds elsewhere.
But there's plenty of time to see what Peters can do in terms of motivation. If Rask can't be dealt because of the contract the staff might as well keep trying to get through to him this season before having to make that decision.
I think Haley does make a good point about a buyout. It would be much more cost effective to do it this year than any later. But as you said, that is a discussion for the end of the year. There is a reasonable chance that he turns his game around. I am not optimistic given his speed and the speed of the game these days, but I wouldn't be shocked either.
I think it's fine that he's getting hate. We are a team that doesn't have much margin for error, so when guys that we count on to perform aren't cutting it (Rask and Faulk predominately), they are going to receive criticism for it. When Slavin struggled for a few games, people pointed it out. When Hanifin blew assignments early in the season, people pointed it out. When Darling laid an egg, people pointed it out.
It's early in the season, so things can change, but until they do, the criticism of Rask (and Faulk) is warranted.