Why the Detroit Red Wings Shouldn’t Sit Michael Rasmussen
By Bob Heyrman
The Detroit Red Wings are set to take on the Canadians in Montreal tonight. Martin Frk is set to make his season debut, and it looks like Rasmussen is the odd man out.
The Detroit Red Wings are inserting Martin Frk into the lineup tonight as they battle with the Montreal Canadians. Scribbling down Frk onto the scorecard means “something has to give.” The club is still searching for their first victory and has been struggling once again to generate offense. It has become a constant theme.
It is happening much too often; the Wings have yet to provide sustained pressure upon an opponent. They have been getting into the offensive zone either looking to make a flashy SportsCenter type play rather than driving to the net and popping a “dirty” in tight goal.
Head coach Jeff Blashill has mentioned Frk will get an opportunity but wouldn’t tip his hand as to who Frk would be replacing. All signs point to Michael Rasmussen. Per Helene St. James of Freep.com, Michael Rasmussen was the odd man out during Sunday’s practice.
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Michael Rasmussen has been getting the majority of his work on the power play, just over 2 of his 12 minutes a night. Does this sound familiar? Martin Frk last season was playing around the same amount on the power play and only totaling between 8-10 minutes a night. It has become the “Blashill” treatment for younger players. Evgeny Svechnikov averaged around 8 minutes a night at the end of last year when the Wings were way out of contention, but Glendening still played 14.
Young Ras only has been able to achieve 1 assist thru 5 games. He hasn’t played with confidence yet but remember; he is only 19 years old. He is a plus one. Yet Blashill is expected to scratch Ras tonight.
What about Justin Abdelkader? Or Thomas Vanek? Maybe Christoffer Ehn? Abdelkader has not recorded a point in the first 5 games and is a minus 5. Similar to Abby, Vanek has yet to find the score sheet and is a minus 6. Heaven forbid Jeff Blashill to sit a veteran that isn’t producing for a night.
Ehn at times has looked shaky but has played better over the last couple of contests. He has shown minimal scoring upside so far but is an effective penalty killer. He does fit on the fourth line with Darren Helm and Luke Glendening but why not scratch Ehn for a game and throw Frk with the pair on the bottom line.
Frk is anything but reliable defensively, but he would be playing with two of the more defensive-minded forwards on the team. He would be available to play his 8-10 minutes, which Blashill loves to allocate and available for the power play.
Michael Rasmussen has to either play and play every night or be sent back to the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League. Sitting a 19-year-old, you’re risking shattering his confidence.
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The Detroit Red Wings have 3 more games to decide if they would like to keep or send the young forward to junior before he burns one year of his entry-level contract. If Ras plays in 10 games for the Wings, it takes away one of his entry level seasons. Rules do not allow the Wings to send players with junior eligibility remaining to play in the AHL. It is NHL or junior; we will see very soon what route Jeff Blashill and Ken Holland decide.