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Michael Rasmussen will be given every chance to make the Detroit Red Wings out of training camp. In fact it’s likely that the club’s 2017 top draft pick would have to be so bad that he played himself off the team. But already at the club’s prospect tournament in Traverse City, Mich, it’s become evident that Rasmussen can offer an intangible desperately needed by the club - net front presence.
“That’s my job,” Rasmussen told Detroitredwings.com. “That’s what I have to do. I’ve practiced it a lot, obviously. I’ve just got to be there.”
Last season, the Wings sought to groom Anthony Mantha for the role, and at times, Mantha was very effective at filling it. But it also became apparent through Mantha’s words and via the constant need for reinforcement of the requirements of the job that it wasn’t necessarily Mantha’s preferred role on the ice.
The 6-foot-6 Rasmussen is happy to step up and stand in front of the other team’s net.
“I’m a big guy, so I have to play well down low and in front of the net and stuff like that,” Rasmussen said. “It takes a lot of practice, a lot of kind of feeling around in there over my hockey career, I guess.”
Ben Simon, coach of Detroit’s AHL farm club in Grand Rapids, believes net-front work comes naturally to Rasmussen due to his physique.
“He's got such a big frame, such a big reach,” Simon said. “That's going to be one of his attributes he's going to have to use to his advantage, protecting the puck and not allowing guys to get inside of him. Once he gets the puck, it's tough to get inside that wingspan.”
Those whose job it is to try to find the puck through Rasmussen’s imposing frame see a guy who is ready to do that task on hockey’s biggest stage.
“You watch him in practice tipping pucks and he’s got some of the best hand-eye,” Detroit goalie prospect Kaden Fulcher said. “Definitely around the net he’s got some unbelievable hands for a big guy, so I think he’s going to be a really big part of the Wings’ future moving forward.”
Sooner rather than later, according to Fulcher.
“I think he’s ready to be a pro this year,” Fulcher said. “There’s no doubt in my mind. I think he’s a natural leader and I think he’s a big part of this team right now.”
Puempel Signs
The Wings and right wing Matt Puempel agreed to terms on a two-year contract. A veteran of 79 NHL games in which he’s scored 10 goals, Puempel, a 2011 NHL first-round draft pick of the Ottawa Senators, will provide scoring depth in Detroit’s farm system.
Puempel, 25, who was acquired in a trade with the New York Rangers for defenseman Ryan Sproul on Oct. 21, 2017, logged 57 games with the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins last season, totaling 54 points (22-32-54) and 21 penalty minutes en route to being named an AHL All-Star.
Puempel last saw NHL time with the Rangers and Senators during the 2016-17 season, registering nine points (6-3-9) in 40 games.
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