{"id":463408,"date":"2025-03-02T11:43:10","date_gmt":"2025-03-02T16:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=463408"},"modified":"2025-03-02T11:43:10","modified_gmt":"2025-03-02T16:43:10","slug":"rickard-rakell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/03\/02\/rickard-rakell\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh Penguins Forward’s Resurgence Boosts Value Ahead of Deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"

On March 21st<\/sup> 2022, The Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> moved out a haul of players<\/a> for Anaheim Ducks<\/a> forward Rickard Rakell<\/a>. At the time, the Penguins were still hoping to compete in the playoffs and win playoff rounds. The team was in a tailspin in regards to their playoffs performance. The club hadn\u2019t won a playoff series since defeating the Philadelphia Flyers<\/a> in round one of the 2018 playoffs. Although Rakell\u2019s tenure with the Penguins has had its ups and downs, he has endeared himself to fans and found a way to make himself a valuable trade asset ahead of the March 7th<\/sup> trade deadline.<\/p>\n

A Stellar Comeback Season for the Penguins Rickard Rakell<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Rakell made an immediate impact on the Penguins. He scored 13 points with four goals to close out the last 19 games of the 2021-22 season with Pittsburgh. He followed this up with a 28 goal, 60 point season the next year in 2022-23. \u00a0While he fit in well with the Penguins, the club failed to make the postseason.<\/p>\n

With the arrival of Kyle Dubas, the Penguins made some significant moves ahead of the 2023-24 season. With high hopes for the season, the Penguins received a myriad of disappointing perfomances, just barely missing the playoffs by a few points. Rickard Rakell was one of the main Penguins scrutinized this season, as his production plummeted. In 70 games, Rakell scored just 37 points and 15 goals. This .53 points per game rate was a notable drop-off from his career 0.63 rate prior to this season.<\/p>\n

Following an off-season spent regaining his form in Stockholm<\/a>, Rakell came into the 2024-25 season ready to redeem his past seasons\u2019 play. This has paid off in spades during the season. Across 60 games on the sixth-worst ranked team in the league, Rakell has been a bright spot. He has scored 25 goals and 49 points on the season. This puts him on pace to surpass his highest scoring season with Pittsburgh in 2022-23.<\/p>\n

A large aspect of his revival has been the time spent on captain Sidney Crosby<\/a>\u2019s wing. Crosby in his 20th<\/sup> season, is still playing at a high level. While the rest of the Penguins team has been inconsistent, Rakell has been the only player keeping pace with Crosby\u2019s play all season long. This comeback season has given Rakell newfound confidence that could make him a dangerous top-six option on a contending team.<\/p>\n

Elevated Trade Value<\/strong> and Potential Suitors<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Rakell\u2019s fantastic season has taken him from being a potential cap-dump to a top forward option for a contending team. Currently, the Swedish forward has four years left on his deal, with an average annual value of $5 million. This would’ve previously been seen as a significant chunk of the cap. However, the NHL\u2019s salary cap is expected to explode over the next three seasons.<\/a> With jumps of $7.5 million, $8.5 million, and $9.5 million expected, Rakell\u2019s $5 million dollar cap hit should be easy for a savvy team to absorb.<\/p>\n

Vancouver Canucks<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\n

In what would be a second major trade between the Penguins and Canucks this season, the Canucks could look to acquire Rickard Rakell. This season has been difficult for Vancouver. Captain Quinn Hughes<\/a> has dealt with injuries. Meanwhile, core players Elias Pettersson<\/a> and JT Miller\u2019s personal issues led to a blowup of the core when Miller was moved to the New York Rangers<\/a>. While the Canucks look to re-tool and compete for the playoffs (In which they\u2019re currently engaged in a battle with the Calgary Flames<\/a> for the second wild-card spot in the West), there is an underlying fear that superstar defenceman Hughes may not resign next off-season when his contract expires. A franchise player like Quinn Hughes<\/a> wants to compete for the Cup. As such, the Canucks would be wise to trade futures for help now.<\/p>\n

With $9 million in cap space, Vancouver wouldn\u2019t have much of an issue absorbing Rakell\u2019s cap hit. The centre group in Vancouver seems to be set, with Elias Pettersson<\/a> and Filip Chytil<\/a> acting as top-six centres. Rakell would be a fantastic complimentary piece on either centre\u2019s wing. Another wrinkle to note is that franchise star Brock Boeser<\/a> is on an expiring contract and could be looking for a significant raise from his $6.65 million cap hit.<\/p>\n

With the Canucks gearing up to pay Hughes a handsome raise, replacing Boeser\u2019s production and cap hit with Rakell\u2019s at a discounted cap rate would be a boon for their cap situation. Vancouver possesses significant young pieces like Tom Willander and Jonathan Lekkermaki that would easily catch the eye of GM Kyle Dubas. One of these players would likely be the centerpiece to a potential Rakell deal.<\/p>\n

Edmonton Oilers<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

The Oilers could stand to benefit greatly from this potential acquisition. Superstars Leon Draisaitl<\/a> and Connor McDavid<\/a> have been fantastic as always. The duo have 88 and 74 points in 59 and 53 games respectively. However, there is a steep drop-off from McDavid to the next highest scoring forward, fellow centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins<\/a>. Nugent-Hopkins has just 37 points in 58 games this season. Rakell\u2019s arrival would immediately place him third on the Oilers\u2019 points list.<\/p>\n

Although the Oilers do not possess a first-round pick this season, they have all of their other picks available in the first three rounds for the next three seasons. General Manager Kyle Dubas has been adamant about wanting useable players back in trades and not just futures. A package centred around a future first-round pick and struggling forward such as Viktor Arvidsson<\/a> could be highly beneficial to both teams. Dubas has also been reported to prefer younger players capable of playing in the NHL over pure futures. In this regard, Edmonton possesses the rights to former ninth-overall pick Matthew Savoie<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He has played exceptionally well at the AHL level, scoring 37 points in 45 games. The young forward could make an impact next season, while adding to the depth of the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins now. The Penguins\u2019 farm team has been making a significant push to contend in this year\u2019s playoffs. Savoie’s arrival would bolster an already formidable offence. Even without a first-round pick in this year\u2019s draft, the Edmonton Oilers have the pieces to acquire Rakell, and a need to bring in a player like him to bolster their offensive depth.<\/p>\n

Where the Penguins Go with Rickard Rakell From Here<\/strong><\/h3>\n

After decades of competing among the best teams in the league, the Pittsburgh Penguins have finally accepted the inevitable rebuild. Former star players like Jake Guentzel<\/a> and Marcus Pettersson<\/a> have already been subtracted from the roster. Rakell seems to be the next center-piece to a trade that helps Dubas restock a prospects cupboard that was at one point seen as a bottom-two group in the league. With the trade deadline a a week away, expect Rakell (ranked second on Chris Johnston\u2019s trade board) to make waves as a significant trade asset.<\/p>\n

Main photo by: Brad Penner-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On March 21st 2022, The Pittsburgh Penguins moved out a haul of players for Anaheim Ducks forward Rickard Rakell. At the time, the Penguins were still hoping to compete in the playoffs and win playoff rounds. The team was in a tailspin in regards to their playoffs performance. The club hadn\u2019t won a playoff series […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5231,"featured_media":459894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4547,4548,12],"tags":[1452,6927,6226,6023,2138,724],"class_list":["post-463408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-penguins","tag-brock-boeser","tag-matthew-savoie","tag-pittsburgh-penguins-analysis","tag-pittsburgh-penguins-rumors","tag-quinn-hughes","tag-rickard-rakell"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5231"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463408"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":463605,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463408\/revisions\/463605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}