Last season, it took until December 23 for Pittsburgh Penguins’ winger Rickard Rakell to score a single goal.
This season, the story is already being written much differently.
Through eight games, Rakell already has four goals and five points. He is currently on pace for 41 goals and 51 points, which is much more remniscent of his first full season with the Penguins in 2022-23 – and it would also be the highest goal total of his career.
That year, Rakell registered 28 goals and 60 points. He followed that up with a 15-goal, 37-point campaign that was riddled with injuries, inconsistency, and that incredibly slow start.
So – suffice to say – it feels nice for Rakell that he got the monkey off his back early on.
“It obviously feels good, but I feel like just our overall game, how our line is playing, we’re creating a lot,” Rakell said. “So, I’m sitting here with [four] goals, and I love that, and it’s nice to score goals. But I’m even more excited about how we’re playing right now and how much we’re creating.”
Of course, it helps to have a center who is off to a hot start of his own. Evgeni Malkin had 11 points in his first five games, and although he’s been held pointless in his last three, he’s seemingly generating chances for himself – and Rakell – at every turn.
“I mean, it’s fun, you know, just the confidence that he’s playing with,” Rakell said. “He’s pulling so many guys towards him because he’s doing so many good things with the puck. And then, he’s hungry around the net, he always wants the puck, so it’s easy to know where he’s gonna be because he’s always moving and calling for the puck, so it’s good.”
Rakell said Malkin is also making it easier for him to find space and make plays.
“He’s drawing so much attention to himself when he’s on the ice,” he said. “I always try to make plays, but whenever we lose the puck, we do everything we can to take it back. So when we have the puck, I think that aggressiveness or that bond between Geno and myself, how we’re creating scoring chances off the forecheck and creating turnovers, it’s something we definitely want to keep up.”
It’s been well-documented how Rakell focused on nutrition during the offseason as well as training and conditioning that focused on speed, first-step, and explosiveness. Head coach Mike Sullivan has noticed the differences in his game between last season and this season.
“He’s had a really strong start to the season,” Sullivan said. “He’s making plays. He’s on the puck. He’s noticeable in the offensive zone, just with the puck pursuit game. He’s strong in the puck battles. He’s tracking pucks from behind. I think his pace of play is quicker. The changes to his training are paying off for him. He’s a step faster than he was, just watching the way he is right now.”
There is still a lot of season left, and the Penguins have a back-to-back with the Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks starting Friday night to close out their Western Canada swing. But up to this point, Rakell is once again showing why he was brought in at the 2022 trade deadline in the first place.
The reason? To score goals.
He has two seasons of 30 or more goals and five seasons of 20 or more, and, again, he is on track to hit 40 for the first time in his career this season. He has shown he can play well alongside Malkin and Sidney Crosby, and with the departure of Jake Guentzel, he is being relied upon even more to put the puck in the net.
His shot is zipping this season. It’s hard and deceptive. His crafty hands and quick release have been giving goaltenders – and defenses – fits. And, according to Sullivan, it all goes back to Rakell’s goal-scoring instincts.
“He’s got a great shot,” Sullivan said. “He has a goal-scorer’s shooting capacity. And when he’s confident, and he’s in an instinctive mindset, I think that’s when he’s at his best… I think it’s just that his execution has been better. There’s no hesitation in his game. When he sees an opportuntiy to put the puck on the net, he’s taking advantage of it, and that’s what goal-scorers do.”
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