Player Discussion Rickard Rakell

[Sojourn]

No issue with qualifiers here. Hockey is a team sport, so it's important to consider the impact teammates and role have, and how it benefits or hurts a player. Also, every player has their weaknesses and strengths.

 

[Duck Off]

I put qualifiers on the success of everyone on the team. I prefer to critically analyze as opposed to gush. I'm a fan, not a homer.

He shot at 18.6% this year, after years of 8.6% and 11.8%. That's not sustainable, especially when his shots were essentially the same the last two years (169/177). A dip to 11% puts him back under 20 goals. Not a terribly unreasonable thing to say.

He's crappy at faceoffs. Not poor, crappy. He has one move that gets him kicked out what appears to be 50% of the time.

Because of this, his line requires sheltering, and gets next to no defensive zone starts. He has 325 defensive zone faceoffs TOTAL in the last 3 regular seasons. 36 the last 3 playoffs (less than one per game, granted he wasn't at center the last year, but 36 in 23 games the prior two years is still **** poor).

He has a tendency to be a puckhog and lose the puck because he tries to go through 2-3 guys instead of making a simple pass.

He at times will stay to the outside and not be effective against heavy teams.

He's not shown the ability to be the guy to carry a line.

He's nothing special defensively.

He's one of the highest skill/creativity forwards on the team.

He has the confidence to try over the top moves (that he can frequently pull off).

He's extremely opportunistic (I don't see this term as a negative and don't understand why others do)

He has the ability to score timely goals.

He has a top 5 wrist shot on the team.

He's young, not remotely a finished product, and should be expected to improve, but that improvement won't be linear, and doesn't preclude regression in some parts of his game.

Do you disagree with any of that?

Can't argue with any of this. Agree about "qualifiers" too. Often times posters here get labeled as "haters" or accused of "not liking" certain players. That's frustrating because everyone here, aside from 1 or 2 people in the past, love all of our players. We can criticize or evaluate certain parts of players' games; that doesn't mean we like them any less. I've been accused of disliking Silfverberg in the past (primarily because of TJM), but that was ridiculous. Discussing weaknesses to a player's game is just discussion. If I wanted to do just repeat the same opinion over and over again, I'd go to allducks. That's not intended to be a shot at those posters, I just prefer more diverse discussion where everyone doesn't agree.

 

[Ducks in a row]

Rakell with a goal (GWG) and 2 assists in the season opener

 

[Trojans86]

After that first game it looks like rakell may be a center long term for us. With an aging getzlaf and keslers this could be the perfect timing. Not easy to find quality centers. I had a feeling he would look very different than last time he played center. He is such a better player overall since then.

 

[Frosted Tips]

Does it look like he's been practicing with 14 year olds again the summer?

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

He made Domingue look like a 14 year old on that goal.

 

[mightyquack]

After that first game it looks like rakell may be a center long term for us. With an aging getzlaf and keslers this could be the perfect timing. Not easy to find quality centers. I had a feeling he would look very different than last time he played center. He is such a better player overall since then.

It was an encouraging start, but I'll wait on making a judgement until we play some teams who can play NHL level defence first. Obviously if Rakell can prove he can be a top center in the NHL that would be huge for us (especially with Steel coming through too), but I still think Rakell is better as a winger but fingers crossed I am wrong

 

[Ducks in a row]

I am not expecting him to score 30+ goals again because I just don't see him scoring on such a high percentage of shots like he did last season. 20+ goals should be expected but 30 or more is expecting too much of him IMO

 

[Sojourn]

He doesn't need to score at such a high percentage of shots. It's important to remember he missed games. Extrapolated to a full season, he was scoring at just under a 40 goal pace.

I don't think 30 goals is out of reach.

 

[KelVarnsen]

Would love him to develop into a 1st line center. A first line center at his salary for numerous years is a huge advantage.

That being said, I still think he’s better on the wing.

 

[Ducks in a row]

6 goals 8 assists 14 points in 16 games has been very important for us keep producing keep producing.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Would love him to develop into a 1st line center. A first line center at his salary for numerous years is a huge advantage.

That being said, I still think he’s better on the wing.

He just looks much better off the wing... more lethal morr creative.

Idk that hed ever be a 1c, maybe a 2c or a top line winger i think those are his options right now.

 

[AngelDuck]

His offense was definitely no fluke last year. He's a 30+30 guy annually, might even push 70+ points in a career year

 

[Goose of Reason]

6 years, 3.8mil per. That contract is just asinine.

 

[AngelDuck]

Rakell's point production by season at the NHL level:

Age 19: 0 in 4 games (0 PPG)
Age 20: 4 in 18 games (0.22 PPG)
Age 21: 31 in 71 games (0.44 PPG)
Age 22: 43 in 72 games (0.60 PPG)
Age 23: 51 in 71 games (0.72 PPG)
Age 24: 56 in 62 games so far (0.90 PPG)

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

He should fire his agent.

 

[Arthuros]

Should've traded him instead of Karlsson.

 

[HanSolo]

I think it's even more impressive to me that he's paced his offensive numbers with still a good amount of time left in a pretty significant down year. I've had concerns on "who is going to carry the mail in the forward group when Getzlaf eventually regresses"

I don't think Rakell will ever be a Getzlaf quality guy. But he is a great piece for our future.

 

[DaGeneral]

What’s his peak? 40/40 if he plays a full season seems reasonable.

 

[Arthuros]

What’s his peak? 40/40 if he plays a full season seems reasonable.

Peak, maybe. 35/35 as a more realistic prime average.

I think to score more than 30 a year consistently, you also really need to have an elite shot in addition to being opportunistic. Rakell's shot is great, but he's not anywhere close to guys like Kucherov and Ovechkin. And while his hands are good, his passing isn't elite either.

 

[AngelDuck]

He's got prime Perry type hands. I wouldn't put a couple 40 goal seasons past him at this point

 

[Masch78]

30-35g on a regular basis imho.

 

[mightyquack]

He should fire his agent.

Anaheim should get Rakell's agent to take over the career's of some of Anaheim's good prospects

 

[dracom]

His progression from year to year has been amazing. I hope the trend continues.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

I think Rakell can be a solid 30/40/70 guy... few seasons where he pushes PPG. He just has such a great skill set all around... passing/hands/skating/shooting/IQ etc... He isn't really bad anywhere on the ice outside of Faceoffs.