Detroit Red Wings: Michael Rasmussen could start year in Grand Rapids

The Detroit Red Wings will have a decision to make at the conclusion of the NHL preseason. At least this summer the decision could be much easier to make than it was last year.

Michael Rasmussen proved last season that he could play in the league–eventually. He also proved that he wasn’t exactly ready to make the leap from junior hockey to the NHL. The Detroit Red Wings rookie primarily played on the teams’ fourth line with checking style players. It doesn’t precisely complement his playing style.

The 6’6 future power forward seems better-suited playing as a top-nine forward where he can get himself into a groove working down low wearing out the opposing defencemen on the end boards. Rasmussen is an effective net-front presence on the teams power-play. He doesn’t appear to be a guy who will carry the play similar to Dylan Larkin and Andreas Athanasiou.

He’s a player that will rely on teammates like that to gain the zone as he heads to the front of the net. He’s a dump and chase player who is most effective getting in on the forecheck, rattling the end boards every now and then. He’s a bigger, less talented Tyler Bertuzzi. Rasmussen would benefit by playing on a line with say, Valtteri Filppula and Filip Zadina in the future, or maybe Athanasiou and Nielsen.

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Last summer the Detroit Red Wings needed to make a decision regarding Michael Rasmussen. It was either keep him in Detroit or send him back to the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League. It was unfortunate that the Wings couldn’t send Rasmussen to the Grand Rapids Griffins because it appears that would have been the ideal spot for him last season.

The organization felt Rasmussen had nothing more to prove in junior after a tremendous final season. He recorded 59 points in 47 regular-season games with the Americans. Then he exploded in the playoffs notching 33 points including 16 goals in 14 games.

This season Grand Rapids will be an option for the now 20-year old youngster; I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s exactly where he starts the year either. Last year Rasmussen played 62 games with the Wings recording 8 goals, 10 helpers totaling 18 points. He averaged 12:05 TOI per night playing as a minus-8 on the year. His Corsi For Percentage was below average coming in at 46.3%, but that isn’t entirely his fault. I mean, the young forward had the misfortune of playing much of his rookie season on the wing buried on a fourth line with Justin Abdelkader & Jacob de La Rose.

Rasmussen scored 4 of his 8 goals on the power-play playing with much more skilled players than he was used too while he was banished on Jeff Blashill’s fourth line. Blashill seemingly treated Michael similar to Martin Frk. It seems Blashill forces his young players to produce with much lesser skilled players before they advance up the lineup. Sometimes you need just to put a young player with potential with skilled players and turn them loose. Look how that worked for Taro Hirose.

Now Michael Rasmussen will be a much better player than Frk, but he and Anthony Mantha had often found themselves in the ‘Blashill dog house’ in the past. We all want to see the young Detroit Red Wings players in Detroit now. It may be in Rasmussen’s best interest to play as a top-six forward in Grand Rapids to start the year.

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Grand Rapids will allow Rasmussen the time to develop playing against fringe NHL talent. He will benefit greatly by playing 18 minutes a night rather than 12 in Detroit. This opinion may not excite fans, but it will be best for his development, and if he lights up the lamp early and often, they certainly won’t hesitate to call him up.

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