Prospect Info: At 9th Overall the Detroit Red Wings Select Michael Rasmussen

[Unfriendly Ghost]

Ever try to stop a guy who is nearly twice your size from doing something? It's not always a winning battle.

But it's literally just one thing! Do something to his stick. Slash it if you have to. Push it. If you're that good, tie it up or lift it. Like that is apparently 85% of defending against Rasmussen, and it never happens. Watching TC highlights is like watching a horror movie where they all just walk directly into the killer.

Or even better, take away the point shot. Rasmussen isn't an especially big threat if he's holding the puck, so just take away the tip opportunity.

 

[Dotter]

Lazy, why? Both players are big forwards who were originally projected to play center and were taken in the 1st round, granted Bjugstad was taken 19th overall. Rasmussen was taken much earlier than many predicted. Bjugstad right now is a very good player and a player slightly better than him would be great. But like I said, how he's playing right now (his regular season + playoffs) isn't super exciting. Nothing wrong with that, we have many more seasons of high draft picks to come.

WRONG! Rasmussen was taken exactly where he was predicted:
June 20th 2017 2017 NHL Mock Draft: No deficiencies in Nolan Patrick's game - Sportsnet.ca (RAS 9th)
June 19th 2017 (Bob Mckenzie) https://www.tsn.ca/hischier-rides-meteoric-rise-to-top-of-tsn-draft-ranking-1.783025 (RAS 9th)
June 16th 2017 2017 NHL draft: Ranking the top 120 prospects | The Hockey News (RAS 10th)
May 31st 2017 McKeen's 2017 NHL Draft Rankings - Top 31 - May 31st, 2017 (RAS 10th)

 

[Dotter]

I remembe McKeen even said there were whispers of him being a sleeper number one pick early on that year when he started out at a near gpg pace for the first 20

In addition to the above proof he was predicted to be a top 10 pick, I found NHL had ranked him 5th pick:
Adam Kimelman's 2017 NHL mock draft

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

But it's literally just one thing! Do something to his stick. Slash it if you have to. Push it. If you're that good, tie it up or lift it. Like that is apparently 85% of defending against Rasmussen, and it never happens. Watching TC highlights is like watching a horror movie where they all just walk directly into the killer.

Or even better, take away the point shot. Rasmussen isn't an especially big threat if he's holding the puck, so just take away the tip opportunity.

It doesn't happen because he has tremendous body control and awareness.

Here is one of the problems with just highlight watching though too, instead of full games. I understand the cost to do so legitimately or the seedy areas one might need to go to watch some free WHL games. I like to watch them from time to time. Rasmussen is a dominate down low player. A lot of times the reason there is no pressure on the point is he just finished pinning them down low. It is also hard to challenge shots when you're desperately but unsuccessfully trying to tie up Rasmussen down low in the middle, he causes the pressure to sag low a lot of times. TC has a very good high low game and they should they have an extremely good back-end and monster horse of a captain down low. They really shouldn't be where they were but had an off campaign in part because their injured captain is a massive part of how they are built. This is the vision for what they want to be though. Their two first rounders are dominating games, I am hopeful he can keep it up. Carter Hart might get in the way but I would love to watch Cholowski go heads up with Rasmussen in a series.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Really good points here, although not sure about that last bit there with Team Canada.

USA really disappointed me this year. I don't think Canada brought their best team, but they won so there isn't much to refute it. Had they lost I think Cholowski and Rasmussen would likely be a lot bigger topics in terms of Hockey Canada.

Congrats to them, hopefully we beat them next year in WJC behind Jack Hughes.

Rasmussen won't be there, he should be in Detroit.

 

[lomekian]

Ah, I should have provided more context. I wasn't talking about standing points. I was talking about goals scored. The WHL has really big gaps between the teams that can score and the teams that can't.

Also, I suspect Jake Bean is helping a little bit. Obviously he didn't affect their regular season standings very much.

That actually undermines your argument further, as like I said in the the season, Tri City were in the bottom half of WHL scorers and were outscored by both playoff opponents so far. In fact looking st girls rather than points makes them greater underdogs.

As for Jake Besn, his impact has been lower then far less celebrated players in their team. Tri City have massively elevated their play this plsyoffs so far and our boy is leading the charge!

 

[jkutswings]

I'm glad Rasmussen is playing so well in the playoffs, but let's go easy with drawing any real conclusions from that. It's an incredibly small sample size to say anything more than, he's had a fantastic playoff so far.

I mean, I don't think anybody would really consider him injury prone, based on one extended absence with the wrist, so let's not over extrapolate on the positive end, either.

 

[lomekian]

I'm just so underwhelmed by the actual goals scored. Like, is it just that nobody in junior hockey knows how to handle a guy who can tip shots well? Because they're doing it over and over. Rasmussen has like 7 tip-in goals already. Apparently tying up sticks isn't a thing until the pro level?

The thing is he tips shots exceptionally. Obviously it's easier at the level he's playing, but his hand eye and angling of tips really is better than a lot of NHL players already. His timing is also very impressive. Of course, we don't know if it will translate, but if he's 6'6 and 220 now, he could yet get bigger and stronger...and if so will be pretty difficult for this generations smaller and faster D to move.

I don't have any intention of annoimting him as anything bar a prospect, but I think his game should translate pretty well. Would I have picked him? Probably not. But equally I think those who have been so critical really are missing the point...which is 'does he have the potential to be a big time point scorer in the NHL', to which I'd say yes.

Naturally we all would prefer the next SF#91, but even if he peaks as a bigger, quicker, more skilled Homer type, he could be very successful with the right team mates.

 

[BinCookin]

Just so everyone is aware: According to our old draft thread, we as fans wanted:

Vilardi, Necas, Valimaki, or Liljegren.
Not a single poster on our entire board wanted Rasmussen.

Just to be clear.. that means he has no cheerleading section here.
No blind fans.

But he does have posters like me. Who, you know, cheers for Red Wings prospects.

Look maybe skipping on Vilardi was a huge mistake... but that mistake is in stone now. All the bashing of Rasmussen to suck... is not going to change that.
We are here... We have Rasmussen... Like it or not!

And our "chromag, stupid pick, skill-less caveman".... is not sucking horribly?
He had an OK/good year, not great
He is having a Great playoff series so far.

I for one dont give a $%&# about Vilardi. Because this argument can be had for every player we have:

Larkin sucks... we could have had Pastrnak
Mantha sucks... we could have had Guentzel
Bertuzzi sucks... we could have had Pesce
Svechnikov sucks... we could have had Sebastian Aho
Cholowski sucks... we could have had Samuel Girard/Konecny

Newsflash... there will always be a late round gem, and we likely only have 1/30 chances of beingg the team to find him.

Can we not just focus on Rasmussen himself?

If he tips the puck like Pavelski, and is way bigger... isn't this a good thing?
He is looking great right now. Let us Wings fans look forward to possible skill in the future...
Because our NHL team is on the golf course.

And again a reminder. Rasmussen has not ONE SINGLE POStER on this board who wanted to draft him.
Not ONE!
Everyone wanted Vilardi... im sorry, we dont have him... suck it up.
Appreciate the prospects we have, or you will NEVER be happy, ever.

 

[BinCookin]

Also hoping for all our prospects to suck so we can continue claiming our GM is mentally handicapped, has kind of a "why are we cheering for failure" feeling around here.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

Just so everyone is aware: According to our old draft thread, we as fans wanted:

Vilardi, Necas, Valimaki, or Liljegren.
Not a single poster on our entire board wanted Rasmussen.

Just to be clear.. that means he has no cheerleading section here.
No blind fans.

But he does have posters like me. Who, you know, cheers for Red Wings prospects.

But I'd argue that's actually worse. Somebody who wanted Rasmussen from the very beginning would have my respect, because they like Rasmussen's game for what it actually is. But only liking Rasmussen's game because he's a DRW prospect now is kind of cheap. There's no substance to it other than the status of his rights. It reminds me of what we see in politics, where devotees will support their political party no matter what they do. They don't have an opinion about politics, they just have an opinion about parties.

It sounds like you don't have an opinion about prospects, only about teams. In which case, why wade into the fray at all?

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

The thing is he tips shots exceptionally. Obviously it's easier at the level he's playing, but his hand eye and angling of tips really is better than a lot of NHL players already. His timing is also very impressive. Of course, we don't know if it will translate, but if he's 6'6 and 220 now, he could yet get bigger and stronger...and if so will be pretty difficult for this generations smaller and faster D to move.

Yeah, I guess I'm just sour about it. I don't really like tipping pucks as a core skill. Actually, I think I would like it a lot more if the Wings org hadn't been obsessed with it over the years. Seems like after a certain point, it was always the most loathed player on the team that had the role of playing in front of the net. Cleary and Abby, at least.

 

[NickH8]

Not sold on him. All his goals are scored as tip ins, simply because he’s a big guy and can easily dominate the front of the net in these leagues. Won’t be the case in pros. We shouldn’t have wasted a pick on a guy who at best will turn out to be a poor man’s Holmstrom.

He could be a rich mans Holmstrom, since he's actually decent at everything else, but yeah, I would have taken Suzuki, Vilardi, or Necas before him. Still going to be a decent player though, but I'd rather swing for the fences.

 

[NickH8]

Pittsburgh is the last team I’d try to emulate. Replace Crosby and Malkin with two players that are simply top 10-15 in the world instead of top 2 and they win nothing.

Yeah, can't emulate lucking into two of the best players in the world.

 

[Orthodox Caveman]

Rasmussen does other things than just tipping pucks in.

-He has a long reach (I think 3rd longest wingspan at the combine) and he's shown the ability takeaway the puck
-He's shown more ability to set up goals in tight plays
-He reacts quickly to loose pucks in front of the net. Dirty goals are goals.

...and the argument that he's not going to be able to do to men in the NHL what's he's doing in juniors....he's 6'6" and has even filled out yet. Ras is going to be an anchor in front of the net. Let Mantha take on the role of a Franzen.

People are acting like there were generational players available in last years draft and we blew this pick. As others have repeated, he went where he was expected to go. We're going to be drafting in the top 10 most likely for a few drafts and Rasmussen just checks off key sets of skills, even if they aren't the highlight reel stuff.

 

[BinCookin]

But I'd argue that's actually worse. Somebody who wanted Rasmussen from the very beginning would have my respect, because they like Rasmussen's game for what it actually is. But only liking Rasmussen's game because he's a DRW prospect now is kind of cheap. There's no substance to it other than the status of his rights. It reminds me of what we see in politics, where devotees will support their political party no matter what they do. They don't have an opinion about politics, they just have an opinion about parties.

It sounds like you don't have an opinion about prospects, only about teams. In which case, why wade into the fray at all?

I am not polarized on prospects.

Hughes is fast
Boqvist has a good shot
Svechnivkov fast and good shot.
But I am not going to lose my mind if we choose tkachuk.

What i mean is, analyze draft picks all you want.. but After we pick them, why hope for their failure?

 

[Heaton]

Touche! I have big hopes for Hronek, but I think Rasmussen has a higher ceiling.

What is his ceiling to you? From everything I've read he's a big defensively responsible forward who will specialize on the PP but may lack ES offensive ability.

At the same time, many thought Larkin would be a 3rd line center when he was drafted iirc.

 

[Heaton]

Ras is going to be an anchor in front of the net. Let Mantha take on the role of a Franzen.

Wasn't Franzen a net front guy when he become an offensive threat?

 

[Orthodox Caveman]

Wasn't Franzen a net front guy when he become an offensive threat?

True. I guess I'm thinking more of Holmstrom and Franzen. Rasmussen could be like a hybrid of both....and Franzen was more of a goal scorer than Holmstrom. Mantha just reminds me of Franzen with the way he snipes.

 

[Heaton]

True. I guess I'm thinking more of Holmstrom and Franzen. Rasmussen could be like a hybrid of both....and Franzen was more of a goal scorer than Holmstrom. Mantha just reminds me of Franzen with the way he snipes.

If Rasmussen can be a 30 goal, 55 point guy I think we'll all be pretty happy.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Wasn't Franzen a net front guy when he become an offensive threat?

Well Bertuzzi is a net front guy which is nice. I think the real beauty of having Rasmussen and Mantha on the same unit is you can run a down low PP with a lot of comfort. They are good at shielding the puck and can actually alternate who is down low.

What stinks about our PP is movement. I actually like down low PP's a part of Washington does every so often is the quick down low plays, also making you honor their point game. Why is Ovie always open in his spot? Well you can cheat towards it but they will murder you on the opposite side of the ice, this is something people have missed for years about Backstrom. We can incorporate that a lot with Rasmussen and Mantha in the future. Our PP needs a lot more movement, we are too locked into who is where. Is Oshie the net front guy in Washington? Yes to an extent, he Backstrom and Kuznetsov will trade spots a lot, moving in and out of the box to stress it out.

I think you put both out there and they shift around, I prefer Mantha to be the guy darting in and out most often as that is something Franzen would do when on the same unit as Holmstrom.

Franzen always had a very heavy shot, even when he was a checking line player. I don't think Franzen knew how good he was until getting elevated because of all his social anxiety issues. He admitted he dreaded being an important front-line player when he was younger because of how much attention he anticipated going with that.

 

[Shaman464]

Just so everyone is aware: According to our old draft thread, we as fans wanted:

Vilardi, Necas, Valimaki, or Liljegren.
Not a single poster on our entire board wanted Rasmussen.

Just to be clear.. that means he has no cheerleading section here.
No blind fans.

But he does have posters like me. Who, you know, cheers for Red Wings prospects.

Look maybe skipping on Vilardi was a huge mistake... but that mistake is in stone now. All the bashing of Rasmussen to suck... is not going to change that.
We are here... We have Rasmussen... Like it or not!

And our "chromag, stupid pick, skill-less caveman".... is not sucking horribly?
He had an OK/good year, not great
He is having a Great playoff series so far.

I for one dont give a $%&# about Vilardi. Because this argument can be had for every player we have:

Larkin sucks... we could have had Pastrnak
Mantha sucks... we could have had Guentzel
Bertuzzi sucks... we could have had Pesce
Svechnikov sucks... we could have had Sebastian Aho
Cholowski sucks... we could have had Samuel Girard/Konecny

Newsflash... there will always be a late round gem, and we likely only have 1/30 chances of beingg the team to find him.

Can we not just focus on Rasmussen himself?

If he tips the puck like Pavelski, and is way bigger... isn't this a good thing?
He is looking great right now. Let us Wings fans look forward to possible skill in the future...
Because our NHL team is on the golf course.

And again a reminder. Rasmussen has not ONE SINGLE POStER on this board who wanted to draft him.
Not ONE!
Everyone wanted Vilardi... im sorry, we dont have him... suck it up.
Appreciate the prospects we have, or you will NEVER be happy, ever.

Jesus, I wanted Mantha, and while I wasn't a fan of Larkin (I wanted Fabbri), but I would consider both of those cases times were the fans were right and the GM was wrong, same with Pesce especially because of the team's defensive woes.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

I will say this: for all my Rasmussen criticism, I will feel a lot better if the Wings draft a defenseman who can shoot the puck. I'm thinking Boqvist, Bouchard, and maybe Dobson.

Right now it doesn't really seem like the Wings have the personnel to take advantage of what Rasmussen can do.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

A big part of this is generally most of the time is spent pushing the guy you want. So I like the whole top 9, I have said that over and over, if we are picking third I will have a guy I like, that doesn't mean I hate the guy that is 6th on my board but the Wings pick third or something like that.

I liked Necas, but by no means did I hate Rasmussen. I wanted Fabbri, but I didn't hate Larkin.

In the moment those choices can be crippling and tough to accept, but it actually doesn't mean black and white you never liked the player. That is an inaccurate way of looking at it. Rasmussen has always had serious selling points, it isn't hard to see why they were really high on him.

 

[Redder Winger]

A big part of this is generally most of the time is spent pushing the guy you want. So I like the whole top 9, I have said that over and over, if we are picking third I will have a guy I like, that doesn't mean I hate the guy that is 6th on my board but the Wings pick third or something like that.

I liked Necas, but by no means did I hate Rasmussen. I wanted Fabbri, but I didn't hate Larkin.

In the moment those choices can be crippling and tough to accept, but it actually doesn't mean black and white you never liked the player. That is an inaccurate way of looking at it. Rasmussen has always had serious selling points, it isn't hard to see why they were really high on him.

On a team devoid of playmakers, it was an awful pick.

Larkin at 15? I guess I can see Fabbri. But Larkin was a center with decent size and a two way game. Given the needs of our franchise (Age of Datsyuk and Zetterberg, Weiss flaming out), it was a no-brainer.