Detroit Red Wings: Michael Rasmussen Will Prove Himself Year Two
By Tyler Kotila
The Detroit Red Wings have a twenty-year-old Michael Rasmussen who is poised for a breakout season where he should prove himself. There has been some criticism towards his offensive production and Rassmussen should prove himself.
The sophomore slump that plagues youngsters has its effect, but when Detroit Red Wings forward Michael Rasmussen only put up eighteen points in the 2018-19 season there is no room for a slump. That’s why I think Rasmussen will do the opposite, that’s not the only reason, but the reverse psychology of it makes it sound good.
Through sixty-two games in the 2018-19 season, Rasmussen tallied eight goals and ten assists for the eighteen points. He was a minus-eight on the season with a Corsi-For percentage (CF%) of 46.3% which is just below the team’s CF% at 47.1% on the year. Rasmussen’s numbers are not the prettiest but his analytics are not showing a downward spiral.
As mentioned above, Rasmussen’s CF% was just below the team average which is ok, his offensive zone start percentage (oZS%) was 44.1% which is not super high, but he was a consistent third or fourth liner who was not deployed in the offensive zone very often. One of the underlying statistics about Rasmussen that cannot be missed is his ability to hit the net. Out of all the shots taken by Rasmussen, 56.2% of them are on net, which ranks pretty well amongst forwards who were with the Detroit Red Wings for the majority of last season.
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Looking at Rasmussen, he is a six-foot-six, 220-pound forward that has quite the build. This offseason will be his first professional offseason and he should be able to get some weight on, develop into his frame more, and become more comfortable as a top-notch forward. In case it hasn’t been established, Rasmussen is basically a huge body that will do great things down low, get the job done in front of the net, and finish off plays with a scoring chance.
Stick with me here, a bold comparison incoming… Rasmussen is comparable to Tomas Holmström, in a way. Rasmussen is going to get in front of the net, get down low, and make plays happen. Rasmussen is much bigger than Holmström who stood at six-foot even but he has the promise to be a comparable forward. Rasmussen differs from Holmström in his abilities to command the play from down low, scouts raved about Rasmussen’s ability to do so, it has not been shown fully but that is what Detroit Red Wings fans can hope to see this year.
Rasmussen spent most of his time as a top-nine forward who played on the third or fourth line, there was not a lot of opportunities to score, he was not getting any power-play time or a whole lot of offensive zone deployment (check his oZS%) from Blashill. However, Blashill is not fully to blame, he does not control how Rasmussen plays but he does control when he plays and who his linemates are.
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The best thing for Rasmussen would be to get better linemates getting Andreas Athanasiou onto his line would be perfect for him. A speedy forward who makes things happen from up top would only do great things for Rasmussen’s development. If Rasmussen could consistently play alongside Athanasiou, the scoring chances are going to increase which in turn will lead to more goals, that 2018-19 goal total of eight is going to see quite the jump.