The Zetterberg Era
Ball Hockey Sucks
Maybe this is me exposing my total lack of actual hockey skill, but every guy I've known with good vertical type hand-eye like that was a good stickhandler when the puck was flat, too. I don't really understand why Rasmussen isn't better at it. He's by all accounts very good at tipping pucks. He can do that all day. He can protect the puck with his reach, sure, but when it comes to evading checkers' sticks/pokechecks or a little bit of deception, he's not great at it.
He is pretty good in tight already in terms of quickly turning and getting pucks on net. He needs to get better along the boards, but he does well when the defenders are on top of him. I think he will get much better over time as he gets stonger, but that quick backhand to forehand and vice-versa exchange he showed several times. He isn't a deek you guy, but he uses his reach and quick hands in tight situations which is stick-handling.
Mittlestadt might have the best hands in that draft class behind Pattersson and he struggled a lot last year. That is because the league is hard to play in and not all these guys are ready at the same time. Bigger guys usually take longer, that might be some of the Getzlaf talk you remember but I don't think they stylistically made a ton of sense other than Rasmussen could easily bully people once he fills out if he was so inclined. I get that Hanzal doesn't excite people but he didn't play with a lot of talent in his prime in Phoenix so it is hard to know, he was always looked at quite fondly around the league. Anders Lee is another one thrown around as big men that were/are very good around the net but defensively sound. What Ras is hopefully soon is a very unique chalk top player, he is something a good coach can weaponize, especially over a series. I don't think people need to expect Rasmussen and Zadina to set the world on fire now. Larkin took off in his 4th post draft year and had another big step in his 5th year. You cannot always count on these guys to hit right away most don't they have things to work on. Ras has a lot of things going for him, to realize a top 6 role at center or the wing he has to get better, but he has plenty of time to do that.