Michael Rasmussen will pass important 10-game mark, stay with Red Wings

By @MichaelCaples –

The Red Wings have made their decision about Michael Rasmussen.

He’s staying with the big club.

Teams are forced to decide whether they want to keep prospects like Rasmussen on their NHL roster as they approach the 10-game mark of the player’s rookie season; they have the option of assigning players back to their junior teams to preserve another season on the player’s entry-level contract.

Play in 10 games, your contract clock starts ticking…and the Red Wings have decided that it is worth it with Rasmussen.

“Not that difficult,” coach Jeff Blashill said via the Red Wings’ official site. “The one thing with anyone who’s been in decision-making positions, we think about the unintended consequences, whether it’s for our team or whatever. Those who judge decisions don’t have to worry about what would happen if you make the opposite decision, but we have to. I don’t think there’s any decision that’s made without really thinking about it.

“Obviously tomorrow is the 10th game, so we told him as of today, you’re staying and you’re playing through those games. I think the biggest thing we would focus on, from my perspective, we need to win but we also need to make sure we’re doing the best thing we can for Michael Rasmussen long-term and our assessment as we stand here today is that the best thing to do is keep him here and keep playing.

“As long as he’s progressing and when he plays, he’s played 13-14 minutes, it’s not like he’s playing eight minutes. I personally think he needs to learn how to play at a higher pace. The pace, he can get away with it in junior, he can’t get away with it here. He needs to learn the little tricks of the trade to hold onto the puck against bigger, stronger men. He’s bigger and stronger than everybody in junior.

“And then off the ice he’s got Mike Kadar (strength and conditioning coach) to help him continue to build that body into an elite athlete’s body as a young guy, so I think there’s tons of benefits to continuing to play and in the meantime, I like him lots as a player and I think he can help us win.”

The Red Wings’ No. 9 overall pick in 2017 has yet to record his first NHL goal; he has one point and a -1 rating to start his NHL career.

Last year, he racked up 59 points in 47 games with his junior team, the Tri-City Americans of the WHL.