Michael Rasmussen is being asked to do more than just play heavy hockey this season. Head coach Todd McLellan wants leadership too.
Rasmussen posted just 14 points in 64 games last season, going minus-10, continuing a decline that's followed him since a career-best 33-point season in 2023-24.
"He's a big man and can hold on to pucks well, and he can play heavy along the boards," McLellan said. "That's what we're asking everyone to do."
At 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, Rasmussen has always had the physical tools most coaches want. Turning that size into consistent production has been the harder part of his career.
"The abrasiveness and heaviness, he'll have to be a good penalty killer for us to have success," McLellan added.
Detroit selected Rasmussen ninth overall back in 2017, and he's never topped that 33-point season since, posting 21 and 14 points over the two years that followed.
He's now the second-longest-tenured Red Wing behind Dylan Larkin, who hasn't taken the ice at training camp after suffering an upper-body injury while training.
Why McLellan is leaning on Rasmussen right now
"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."
That's real added weight for a player who's spent most of his career focused on physical play rather than a vocal leadership role in the room.
Detroit is already struggling to score goals, and Rasmussen's ability to win board battles and create space matters more than usual for a team searching for offense anywhere it can find it.
McLellan sounds confident Rasmussen can handle the moment.
"He's smart enough and mature enough to understand that. He's just gotta capture it and stay confident," McLellan said.
With a fresh season starting and Larkin sidelined, this is as clean a chance as Rasmussen has had to reshape how Red Wings fans think about that 2017 draft class.
Whether he can finally turn that size into consistent impact, on the scoresheet or otherwise, is the story worth tracking as the season opens.
Can Michael Rasmussen step up as a leader with Dylan Larkin sidelined?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Jim Hiller reveals real bad news hours after split-squad losses
