Detroit Red Wings: Michael Rasmussen is plateauing in 2021-22

The Detroit Red Wings continue to hope that they can get what they want from forward Michael Rasmussen. Things have not entirely worked out the way that the Red Wings were hoping it would.

However, the Detroit Red Wings are starting to see the forward plateau, and it’s not quite the performance they have been looking for. The 22-year-old forward has not been able to produce at the level the Red Wings were hoping.

While Rasmussen has not met expectations, it’s not to say there will not be a role for him with this organization. His days of profiling as a future top-six threat seem to be in the past, though. It’s one of those scenarios where he appears that he’s going to end up being a bottom-six grinder that has a good scoring touch.

The Red Wings have not gotten the performance boost out of him they were hoping for, though it seems as he has at least is going to remain steady at a productive level to stick in the lineup night in and night out.

Detroit Red Wings forward Michael Rasmussen is plateauing.

The Red Wings selected Rasmussen back in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft with the ninth overall pick. Pretty high for a third-line grinder, but it seems that Rasmussen is not destined to be one of the top-tier players on this roster moving forward.

Early on, his struggles in the AHL seemed to be that of size and strength. But after growing some and getting stronger at his 6-foot-6 height, now coming in at 229 pounds, he’s seemed to have debunked that theory.

While his performance improved and he showed more flashes of what he could be, his time in the NHL with the Red Wings has not been the most loving. He has not been able to be the player the Red Wings want him to be, to put it simply.

This is his first full season with the club, in a non-covid setting where things are shortened to 56 games. In 2021-22, Rasmussen has logged four goals and nine assists for 13 total points over 41 games played.

This is eerily similar to his 2020-21 performance, where he had three goals and nine assists for 12 total points over 40 games played. Pro-rated out over 82 games, I’d bet those numbers will look similar to Rasmusen’s totals for the 2021-22 season.

It’s not to say that Rasmussen cannot provide value, but it seems like he’s that third-line center or winger who’s still young that the Red Wings plug in and see what he can do. With his stats plateauing a bit this year, there has to be some worry about his future with the team.