Don't get me wrong, nothing about Rasmussen has led me to believe that he is a sure thing or that I expect him to be an NHL success story. I do 100% expect a pick like Ras to reach a point where they are performing at a very high rate in juniors regularly. If they never hit their stride and dominate with their juniors team as a top 10 pick in the NHL draft, then it is a catastrophic failure of the scouting department and front office and should cost people jobs. But that is where my expectations end and my skepticism starts.
Typically all high picks have something that they do, or have, at such a high level that can cover up glaring deficiencies as a kid playing other kids. Ras is a kid in man's body playing against kids in kid bodies. Once that transition to pro hockey occurs, that high level trait gets brought down to the pack, and those deficiencies fall behind. Ras is going to come up and still be bigger than pretty much everyone, but they are also going to be so much stronger and faster than what he has experienced.
This is the same reason I think Ras might adapt quicker than Vilardi; he has the physical tools, now he needs to develop the soft skills (which I think we have seen glimpses of). Vilardi has the soft skills, but he is going to physically be behind the rest of the pack to start; I still think Vilardi's ceiling is higher, but his potential to not reach his ceiling is much, much higher, if that makes sense. The development curve can be identified and minimized ahead of time, but nothing is a guarantee with the transition. And there's a fair to good chance that my assessment is completely off base and I'll eat my words if I end up being wrong. But, yes, I expect Rasmussen to dominate the junior circuit right now, but can only hope that he can have success at the next level.
