They did not have to rush him.
They made a mistake based on a great playoffs.
But Rasmussen's career high in the WHL was 59 points in 47 games.
That's nice.
But it's not exactly "too good good to play here."
Not for a guy who couldn't skate with the puck in the neutral zone - kind of an important basic skill to have if you're an NHL center.
I guess it would depend on how you care to develop him. Most kids who have a 59 in 47 stat line with things to work on are the ones who are undersized, one-way minded, and perimeter focused. It's easier for those kids to learn to physically impose themselves when playing against their age group and learn to lock in those habits before the bigger, stronger, better in the NHL start to make life difficult.
For Rasmussen, he already did those things. You expect Rasmussen to score a majority of his points through a physical game as a below the hash, net front type player. If he's doing that in juniors already, the next step is to get him against pros.
You could have sent Rasmussen back to juniors and have him workout like crazy, clean up his skating, and try to create more with skill and working on his shot, but it's immensely different than sending back a skilled offensive player and saying "go learn how to control the game defensively, maintain possession of the puck, and get to the hard areas of the ice."
I can see why we sped up the arrival, and I can see why there was value in sending him back. What I will say now is that I don't think there's a substantial difference in Rasmussen's game regardless of which route we took with his development.
