The Wings biggest flaw is their assortment of guys who excel on the perimeter but who shy away from going to the front of the net.
When the Wings were good they excelled in that area, but since Holmstrom and to a lesser extent Franzen retired it's become an area of extreme weakness.
I'm sure there were available players that are more talented than Rasmussen, but the more I read about him the more I think he fits our needs.
He has major flaws, he isn't going to be the guy carrying the puck into the zone, he's not going to excel at 5 on 5 play and while he's not slow he's not going to be keeping up with AA or Larkin.
He will however provide a fantastic screen and good hand-eye tipping pucks in front of the net. He should make the PP better, which we are in dire need of and it looks like he might be the best player we have on a cycle already.
Let Larkin or AA carry the puck, let Mantha be the trigger guy and let him be the net front guy.
When the Wings were good they excelled in that area, but since Holmstrom and to a lesser extent Franzen retired it's become an area of extreme weakness.
I'm sure there were available players that are more talented than Rasmussen, but the more I read about him the more I think he fits our needs.
He has major flaws, he isn't going to be the guy carrying the puck into the zone, he's not going to excel at 5 on 5 play and while he's not slow he's not going to be keeping up with AA or Larkin.
He will however provide a fantastic screen and good hand-eye tipping pucks in front of the net. He should make the PP better, which we are in dire need of and it looks like he might be the best player we have on a cycle already.
Let Larkin or AA carry the puck, let Mantha be the trigger guy and let him be the net front guy.