I remember when the Red Wings brought the highly-touted Michael Rasmussen up to Traverse City for the team’s prospect tournament 9 years ago. At the time, the hype surrounding the now-27-year-old was that the 6’6,” 223-pound center was that he’d become an offensively-gifted 2nd liner to build around.
Things haven’t quite worked out the way Rasmussen or the Red Wings predicted, but the Wings still believe that their serviceable 3rd/4th line center can provide more to the team that drafted him.
The Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker spoke with coach Todd McLellan regarding the much-maligned “Moose”:
After recording just six goals and eight assists in 64 games during the 2025-26 season, the Red Wings will be looking for Rasmussen to use his size in a meaningful way for a team that is already struggling to score goals.
“He’s a big man and can hold on to pucks well, and he can play heavy along the boards,” said coach Todd McLellan. “That’s what we’re asking everyone to do. The abrasiveness and heaviness; he’ll have to be a good penalty killer for us to have success,” he continued.
As McLellan told Whitaker, it’s not just increased scoring that the Wings want to see from Rasmussen, who posted a 33-point season way back in 2023-2024. McLellan wants to see Rasmussen step up in the leadership department, too:
“He and Dylan are the two senior-serving Red Wings, and Dylan isn’t in the lineup,” McLellan said. “He’ll have to provide leadership, and there are a lot of things that he can bring to the table.”
With the new campaign on the horizon, it’s a chance for Rasmussen to start anew and make Red Wings fans think less about the notable players they could have selected during that fateful Draft.
“He’s got a fresh start to a new season; he’s smart enough and mature enough to understand that,” McLellan said. “He’s just gotta capture it and stay confident, and that comes through in his play.”
Continued; I do hope that Rasmussen can step up and finally fulfill more of his potential despite no longer being a prospect. Veteran NHL’ers can level up their games over time, too.
