Rickard Rakell still sees a chance to win with the Penguins
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Rickard Rakell was something of an afterthought last offseason.
And it’s not often an All-Star winger with a handful of 20- or 30-goal seasons on his resume is pushed to the margins.
But given the other players the Pittsburgh Penguins were trying to re-sign last summer — such as forward Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang — Rakell simply wasn’t the biggest priority of former general manager Ron Hextall.
But he was definitely a big enough priority to merit a lengthy and lucrative contract extension worth $5 million a season over six years.
Rakell largely lived up to his price tag in the first year of that deal as he finished fourth on the team with 60 points (28 goals, 32 assists) while playing in all 82 games of the regular season for the first time in his career and found steady chemistry with either of the team’s franchise centers, Malkin or Sidney Crosby.
Rakell probably could have commanded more money on the open market had he not signed July 11, two days before the opening of the free agent signing period.
And sure, a modified no-trade clause probably made him willing to take a slightly more frugal financial figure. But Rakell, whom the Penguins acquired from the Anaheim Ducks at the 2022 trade deadline, said one factor above all others led to the deal he accepted from the Penguins.
“Well, I think a big thing for me was having the chance to win,” Rakell said July 14. “I had a really good feeling about the Penguins the second when I got there last season. For me, it’s a package thing. Like, I want to be in a great organization with great teammates. It’s a great opportunity for me. And I got it now.”
Rakell still thinks he has it now, even if at the moment, he and his teammates are resigned to being spectators and not participants in the postseason.
“I still feel that way,” Rakell said. “I felt it this year. We played good enough hockey to beat the best teams. I guess our lows were a little bit too low. That’s probably what we have to figure out and work on.”
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It’s hard to say there is a glaring area in Rakell’s game that is in need of refinement. In terms of basic production, he had his best season since 2017-18 when, as a member of the Ducks, he posted career highs in goals (34), assists (35) and points (69).
And he wasn’t shy about shooting the puck either as he fired 243 shots, third-most on the squad.
Despite metrics just about anyone would be satisfied with, Rakell is somewhat blunt in critiquing his season.
“I thought I had periods of time where I thought I played great then periods of times where I didn’t like my game at all,” said Rakell, who turns 30 on May 5. “It’s the same with my individual (play while) looking at our team.”
While he finished the regular season on the team’s second line with Malkin and forward Jason Zucker, according to Natural Stat Trick, the majority of Rakell’s five-on-five ice time during the 2022-23 season came with Crosby (639 minutes, 25 seconds) and forward Jake Guentzel (602:52).
“(Rakell) has done a real good job of supporting the play down low with Sid and Jake,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said in February. “That’s an area where those two guys thrive, down below the goal line, underneath the hashmarks. … (Rakell) has really done a better job in understanding that game and supporting that game with those other two guys.”
Despite that success, Rakell and his teammates entered the offseason earlier than they anticipated.
“It’s a lot of ups and downs,” Rakell said. “We had a chance to make the playoffs, and we didn’t. It’s still an empty feeling right now. It’s for sure going to take awhile to digest. Then just go back to work in the summer, try to get better.”