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About Last Season: Victor Rask Performance Review and Grade

Grading the alternate captain who had an up-and-down season.

By Jake Crouse
Jamie Kellner

Victor Rask: 2016-2017 By the Numbers

  • Age: 24
  • NHL Seasons: 3
  • Games Played: 82
  • Scoring: 16g-29a-45pts
  • Ice Time per Game: 17:17 in all situations, 14:47 ES, 2:07 PP, 0:22 PK
  • 5-on-5 Stats: 50.4% CF, 50.6% GF
  • Contract Status: Completed first year of six-year, $24M contract extension.

About Last Season

Jamie Kellner

Canes Country’s player-by-player review and grades for the 2016-17 season.

Making the Grade

Victor Rask entered the year on top of the world, at least by Raleigh’s standards. He earned a six-year, $24 million contract extension just a couple of years after a quick promotion from juniors. He was named an alternate captain. His start to the season, an eight-game point streak (4 G, 6 A) primarily on the road, seemed to indicate that the Hurricanes were getting their money’s worth and maybe more.

But small, early-season samples like Rask’s, no matter how enticing, aren’t guarantees by any means. That showed a couple months later in the season. Between January 14 and February 21, a 14-game stretch, he didn’t tally a single point. On the year, he posted a -10 rating, the same total he posted over the 14-game stretch. While his total point production on the season was similar to last year (45 this season, 48 last season), his consistency was much better the previous season. Rask didn’t allow more than four games to go by in 2015-16 without contributing at least a point.

What does this tell us? Outside of the midseason slump, he was a pretty reliable contributor for the Hurricanes, which is good since he played all 82 games this year. His ability to find the puck off of redirects and find a pass where others couldn’t was a big aid to the Hurricanes. And although his 8.3% shooting percentage was in the bottom half of forwards who played more than half a season and averaged more than five minutes of ice time per game, he had a few pinpoint or on-the-mark goals that made my jaw drop.

But in a time where the Hurricanes sit on the border of playoff hopes, consistent production is necessary, especially for someone in a leadership position. I think he met or close-to-met the expectations I had of him, but with Carolina’s third-largest salary this year (behind Skinner and Faulk) there were a number of fans with reasonable questions about his potential versus his performance.

However, he’s still only 24, with five more years on his contract. I have faith he’ll figure out how to showcase his true potential.

Exit Interview

Poll

How do you grade Victor Rask’s 2016-17 performance?

This poll is closed

  • 0%
    A - significantly outperformed expectations
    (1 vote)
  • 4%
    B - outperformed expectations
    (13 votes)
  • 37%
    C - met expectations
    (112 votes)
  • 54%
    D - underperformed expectations
    (164 votes)
  • 3%
    F - significantly underperformed expectations
    (9 votes)
299 votes total Vote Now