Rakell potentiel ?

[Hockey Duckie]

Based on what this team needs right now, I'd say Rakell can be 2c. Putting Koivu back on a line with Ryan and Teemu makes me say, "What did I do wrong to deserve this?!" Rakell happens to be more physical than Bones and stands out on that fourth line when it comes to puck possession. So by default, Rakell can play 2c for us this year, but BB has shown he doesn't trust either rookie center to center the second line (I mean Rakell or Holland).

As for Rakell's potential, I really don't know. He's had about two to three years to learn how to play center. This year in junior he focused on other aspects of playing center as opposed to playing a scoring centerman. So the potential is high for Rakell. He's got that offensive finesse in him as he will be too fancy with the puck. I suppose how high Rakell's potential is dependent on how hard he wants to work. And right now, it looks as though that ceiling may be high.

 

[Sean Garrity]

Based on what this team needs right now, I'd say Rakell can be 2c. Putting Koivu back on a line with Ryan and Teemu makes me say, "What did I do wrong to deserve this?!" Rakell happens to be more physical than Bones and stands out on that fourth line when it comes to puck possession. So by default, Rakell can play 2c for us this year, but BB has shown he doesn't trust either rookie center to center the second line (I mean Rakell or Holland).

As for Rakell's potential, I really don't know. He's had about two to three years to learn how to play center. This year in junior he focused on other aspects of playing center as opposed to playing a scoring centerman. So the potential is high for Rakell. He's got that offensive finesse in him as he will be too fancy with the puck. I suppose how high Rakell's potential is dependent on how hard he wants to work. And right now, it looks as though that ceiling may be high.

I never thought I would agree with this, but I do. If we keep Ryan and Selanne together, it is apparent that the center needs to do the majority of the board work on that line and even at this moment Rakell seems at least on par with Bonino. There were 2 or 3 times when if Bonino could have out skated one guy he could've turned a play in to an odd man opportunity, but he just couldn't.

I hate breaking up the 3rd line because they work so awesome together. All three fly around the offensive zone to put pressure on the D and battle for loose pucks, I love that line.

 

[mmbt]

Without question, and he even showed some of that offensive upside in his first two games on the 4th line, which is pretty impressive for a 19 year old in his first games. Defensively, I agree. I would project Rakell to be one of the better defensive players on his team and someone we'd expect to get PK time, but Pahlsson, at his best, was an elite defensive player.

Yeah, it'd take years of dedication to defensive play for Rakell to catch up to Pahlsson. That being said, Sami was so dedicated to defense in part because it must have been apparent to him very early on that his offense would not translate beyond Europe or the AHL. And even then it took a few years of honing to reach that level of defensive play.

Perhaps the better comparison for potential would be Nik Sundstrom. Also a former 1st round pick, similar height/weight, played both W and C, showed surprising defensive awareness even at a young age, and had good but not mind-blowing offensive skills. Though hopefully Rakell will be a better finisher, which was Sundstrom's worst quality IMO ... the guy had 24 goals playing with Gretzky, but honestly with the number and kind of chances that 99 set him up with that year he should have scored more like 44.