Scouts divided on imposing B.C. centre
Best of B.C: Surrey centre leads West Coast contingent at NHL Entry Draft
Michael Rasmussen didn’t have to look far for inspiration.
On the ice, the Surrey native found it watching big centres like Ryan Getzlaf and Mats Sundin ply their trade and impose their will. Off the ice, the projected first-round pick in the National Hockey League draft Friday in Chicago found it by watching how hard his father, Paul, works as a successful businessman.
Long days dealing with dirt in the restoration and landscaping industry teaches you a lot about patience, persistency and pride.
“That’s for sure,” said the towering Rasmussen, who had 32 goals in 50 games this Western Hockey League season with the Tri-City Americans. “My dad owns his own company and is a self-made guy and I don’t have to look too far to see that. He was an athlete growing up and played everything and a lot of soccer.”
The persistency part will be a big deal for Rasmussen.
A work ethic has transferred from father to son and while the towering Rasmussen is a polarizing prospect — scouts suggest too much production came from the power play and NHL teams are too enamoured by his imposing size — the 6-foot-6, 221-pound centre has learned to tune out the noise.
He also suffered a wrist fracture in March that didn’t require surgery, but he missed the final 18 regular-season games and the playoffs. Rasmussen is ranked fifth among North American skaters by the Central Scouting Bureau and could go anywhere from eighth overall to sliding deep into the second half of the opening round.
One scout suggested Rasmussen, who hasn’t played since Feb. 1, wasn’t in his top 30 projected picks.
“I don’t think about what people think — I just try to focus on helping my team win by getting better every day,” said Rasmussen, who turned 18 in April. “The scoring this season was a positive and I worked on my consistency and that’s a big thing for me. I’m a big guy and obviously it’s tougher to get around with a big frame.
“I’m lucky because I’m pretty co-ordinated and I’ve never had a huge growth spurt. It’s been pretty gradual and it’s been pretty smooth. Size helps in a lot of ways, but it is tougher to get around and there are pros and cons. I’m working on quickness to get acceleration with my first couple of steps.”
That will help dismiss the debate that Rasmussen should be displaying a better even-strength presence because he 15 goals and 29 of his 55 points came on the power play. And with all the responsibility that comes with playing the middle, maybe Rasmussen is better on the wing where he could come off the wall to get to the net.
The Americans kept Rasmussen at centre because of his dominance and he looked comfortable when shifted to wing in the Top Prospects’ Game. It’s why Tri-City coach Mike Williamson believes his centre checks a lot of boxes for NHL clubs.
“His strength is he can be what they need him to be,” said Williamson. “He can be a complimentary finesse guy or he can be a hardnosed and tough to play against centre or a guy who wins battles on the boards. He can adapt.
“You can put him in any kind of a situation and rely on him whether you’re protecting a lead or need a goal. He’s as competitive as they come and has a ton of character.
“He’s a pretty easy guy to put on the ice and that’s going to translate to the pro level because he’s all in on becoming a pro player and he prepares like one already.
“I wanted to be careful and not put him in a situation where we put too much responsibility on his shoulders, but that was impossible. Right out of the gate (four-goal game) he stepped up and became a go-to guy.”
The evaluation microscope will always focus more intensely on projected first-round picks because if you miss on one, it takes years to recover. It’s why the polarizing Rasmussen isn’t being spared added scrutiny.
“If you don’t produce 5-on-5 and are primarily a power-play guy, how does that translate?,” asked Shane Malloy, who has scouted NHL prospects for a dozen years, is author of The Art of Scouting and co-host of Hockey Prospects Radio on Sirius XM, NHL Network Radio and TSN Radio. “And why doesn’t he dominate more with that type of size against junior-aged players? I don’t understand that.
“That’s not to say he won’t play (in the NHL), but if he does, I honestly think he’s a third-liner who will get second-unit power-play time because he has the size to play in front of the net. Everybody is thinking big and fast at the NHL level. Can he process information under duress 5-on-5 and play consistently?”
Williamson obviously sees much more in how Rasmussen practises and plays and how hard it was for him to be shut down by the wrist injury.
“He was around the dressing room and still pushing the guys,” said Williamson. “He showed a lot of leadership and it’s just his everyday approach. He’s the first to rink, last to leave and he studies other teams. Some players need direction for things to work on, but he’s very self-motivated.
“There’s not a day at practice where he’s isn’t doing something before or after.”
Part of that is the path Rasmussen chose to follow. He took his game to another level at the Okanagan Hockey Academy because it taught him early to have a pro mindset. It allowed him to build upon the goal of matching players he wants to emulate one day.
“I liked watching Mats Sundin when he was with the Canucks and kind of at the end of his career and I like to take pieces of what Ryan Getzlaf and Alex Barkov do — big guys who protect the puck well,” said Rasmussen. “I like how Getzlaf competes and how intense he is. It’s his puck protection and how he will then take a couple of hard strides and create space for himself.
"That’s pretty impressive.”