Published by hockeybuzz.com, 9-12-2018
C--Rasmus Asplund
20 yrs. old
5'11" 189 lbs.
2016, second round (33rd overall)
Rasmus Asplund had himself a helluva Prospects Challenge tournament and the traits he displayed while arguably being the best player on the ice for Buffalo, and possibly the entire tournament, won't all of a sudden disappear. Asplund led the tournament with six points and his lone goal was a beauty as he undressed four Pittsburgh Penguins at the blueline. The attributes that had the two-way center as a first round pick before dropping to the early second round are what have been constants throughout his professional career which includes competing against men for almost four full seasons in the Swedish Hockey League.
At 5'11" 189 lbs. Asplund doesn't have the ideal size for an NHL'er, but he isn't small and actually looks bigger on the ice. And at 20 yrs. old, with 170 SHL games under his belt, he's not a kid anymore either. The Sabres decided that it was best for him to spend one more season in the SHL last year, a decision that Asplund initially didn't agree with, but by the end of the season had warmed to. "I was a little mad that I didn't get over," he told the gathered media at the rookie showcase in Toronto last month, "but after the season, I'm happy that I stayed another year. I feel more ready than ever now to get over here and play."
That wasn't the first good move the Sabres organization made concerning Asplund. The first one was trading up to get him.
Asplund was widely considered a mid-lower first round talent but at the end of Day-1 at the 2016 NHL Draft, he was still on the board. Buffalo had the 38th pick and prior to the second round they consummated a trade with the Florida Panthers of defenseman Mark Pysyk for Dmitry Kulikov with Sabres GM Tim Murray insisting that they swap second-rounders. Buffalo had to throw in the 86th pick to get the deal done but in the end, much to the delight of their scouting department, they were able to move up to No. 33 and select Asplund.
Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com who had him ranked as the 21st best prospect in the 2016 draft. "Slippery and competitive," wrote Baker, "Asplund’s ability to hound the puck, force turnovers and quickly transition into offense with a smooth playmaking sense makes him an attractive candidate to mature into a quality NHL forward. Asplund may tote around an average frame and not appear to be the most physical player on the ice, but he’s very detail oriented with an ability to do the little things like winning faceoffs, jamming shooting lanes with his stick, and making short passes from deep in his zone to spark the transition game.
"Teams looking for a sneaky playmaker who will comfortably slot into a workmanlike role will likely have Asplund on their radar."
All of that was on display at the Prospects Challenge last weekend and what also really stood out for those in attendance was Asplund's vision and hockey sense. The Athletic's Corey Pronman noted in his 'Standout Performances at rookie camps' recap yesterday that Asplund, "showed his standard high-end hockey sense in how he can see the ice, slow the game down and make plays." His colleague at The Athletic, Joe Yerdon, said that if there was an MVP of the tournament, Asplund "would probably be a unanimous selection" while noting he was "a tenacious forechecker with speed, and a dynamite penalty killer.
"He showed aggressiveness with the puck and without it," continued Yerdon, and "his hockey IQ was also on display all weekend."
There is some danger slotting Asplund as a rookie No. 3 center for the team overall. Twenty-one year old Jack Eichel will continue as the team's top center while 19 yr. old rookie Casey Mittelstadt looks like he'll be No. 2. Having another rookie centering the third line could make for a precarious situation but that's why your have seasoned vets on the team.
Jeff Skinner and Kyle Okposo are two veteran wingers slotted for the top-six and while 26 yr. old winger Conor Sheary may not have the vast experience of those two, he's played on two Stanley Cup winning teams for Pittsburgh and was a strong contributor to the first one. Botterill traded a way veteran second line center Ryan O'Reilly who had taken many of the tough assignments for the Sabres but received two vet forwards in return--Patrik Berglund and Vladimir Sobotka--who have combined to play in over 1,100 regular season games and 111 playoff games. Plus there's 35 yr. old Jason Pominville who has nearly 1,000 regular season games and 81 playoff games.
You want experience, there it is.
The cool part about this year's roster building exercise is that there will be a lot of difficult decisions to make in the bottom-six forward group and that it probably won't be sorted out until the final game of the preseason. Slotting Asplund here as third line center might be a reach at this point when you base it upon a three-game tournament against a group of players that had many low-end prospects, AHL'ers and undrafted players. However, of the remaining centers on Buffalo, Asplund is more of a complete package than any of them, he's hungry and has a high compete-level and seems to have the smarts to be able to play and adapt as he goes along.
The SHL is no slouch league and some would argue that with the way the NHL is played today, it might be a better development league than the AHL. Asplund will be fighting against bigger, stronger, meaner opponents in North America and will be doing so on a smaller rink. Yet he seems to have the skating ability, the faculties and the mental toughness to make it work, not to mention the drive. "I've been working for the NHL," Asplund said at the showcase, "and that's the goal I'm going to go for, and we'll see how far it goes."
Building the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres roster:
LW, Conor Sheary / C, Jack Eichel / RW, Sam Reinhart
LW, Jeff Skinner / C, Casey Mittelstadt / RW, Kyle Okposo
_____________ / C, Rasmus Asplund / ______________
LHD, Marco Scandella / RHD, Rasmus Ristolainen
LHD, Rasmus Dahlin / RHD, Zach Bogosian
G, Carter Hutton
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