Detroit Red Wings seeing Michael Rasmussen show some growth

The Detroit Red Wings season is coming to a close, with just a handful of games left, but Michael Rasmussen must be wishing for more. After it seemed that the Red Wings youngster was starting to plateau and struggle to do much of anything, he has made some changes.

Rasmussen has been able to figure some things out and be a productive member of the Detroit Red Wings offense, looking like a much different player than at the beginning of the season. The idea of him plateauing has been curbed a little bit with the growth he has shown as of late.

There has been a lot of up-and-down with Rasmussen during his rise to the NHL level, and the hopes for him were high at times and pretty low in others. One of those players who’s looked promising at times and failed to show anything in others.

That being said, this take might bite me in the rear end down the line, but the article I linked above said he was going to plateau in 2021-22, and that one’s doing the same thing. With that in mind, let’s spit out another opinion on what Rasmussen has done as of late and what it could mean moving forward.

Detroit Red Wings’ Michael Rasmussen is showing late-season growth.

After it seemed like the 2021-22 season would be a down year for Rasmussen, he’s picked it up as of late. Both articles I have written about Rasmussen from November and January (linked above) were about his lack of performance.

While in both pieces linked, I mentioned Rasmussen as a top-six threat, as he was projected to be. Being a former first-round pick, it should not be all that much of a reach to suggest that. In January, I mentioned that he’s profiling out to be more of a bottom-six forward with sneaky scoring ability.

This is looking to be more and more accurate as time goes on. While yes, I expected a plateau in 2021-22, he’s been able to capitalize on this net-front presence role rather than being some sort of shooting forward from the outside of the slot.

Instead of controlling the play or being relied on to make things happen, he’s been able to use his size and frame to camp in front of the net, create chances based on what others produce, and tally points in that manner.

It’s been something that would likely suit him well, this role is something that’s been tried out here and there, but he has finally started to show some positives in this role. If he can finish the season strong, he may be able to break the 25-point mark and knock on 30’s door.

With 74 games played, boasting 12 goals and 11 assists, I like his odds of surpassing 25 points and possibly getting to 30 if he can continue excelling and showing a new side of Rasmussen.

I’m sticking with my January take on this that he will profile as nothing more of a bottom-six forward with a scoring threat. But plateauing at 15-20 points a year may not be the case. It feels like he could be a bottom-six guy who pots 15+ goals by being a net-front presence and creating scoring chances in that matter.

But yet again, he’s been all over the map with performance. With a three-year extension keeping him here for two more years, it will be interesting to see what happens.