When Pittsburgh Penguins' winger Rickard Rakell came into training camp this season, he was doing it on the back of a career year that saw him register 35 goals and 70 points.

More than likely, he expected to be seeing more time alongside Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin and a solidified role on the power play. What he probably did not expect, however, was to be put into a somewhat unfamiliar role. 

Since the beginning of camp, Rakell has regularly been deployed on the Penguins' penalty kill unit, which is something he hasn't done a lot over the course of his 14-year NHL career. According to MoneyPuck, going into this season, Rakell had only played 84 total minutes shorthanded, with 67 of those minutes being compiled over two consecutive seasons from 2018-20 with the Anaheim Ducks.

Until Tuesday's season-opening 3-0 win against the New York Rangers, Rakell had not recorded a minute of shorthanded regular season ice time with the Penguins. It may be pretty uncharted territory for the 32-year-old veteran, but he feels like it's going pretty well so far.

"I mean, so far, I haven't been on for a goal yet," Rakell smiled. "So, obviously, I feel good about that."

Part of new head coach Dan Muse's philosophy with the penalty kill seems to be using regular power play forwards on the units, which includes guys like Rakell and Bryan Rust, who is currently out with an upper-body injury but skated with the team Wednesday. Muse believes that using power play players in shorthanded situations can be advantageous for a lot of reasons - especially since there is a factor of predictability for them.

Rakell agrees with that assessment.

"I've played on the power play for a long time," Rakell said. "You see some things on the ice, and when I'm studying to get better on the power play, I look at different players, and then I know what their habits are going to be. So, hopefully, that will give me a chance to make some reads and use my hockey sense to disrupt their plays and, hopefully, create something off of that. Just take it as it goes, I guess."

Another thing it seems like the Penguins are emphasizing on the penalty kill this season - at least, based off of the early returns from the pre-season and from game one - is that they want to pressure the opposing power play units a bit aggressively to try to get them out of structure - which tends to open up chances the other way.

And using players like Rakell - who are familiar with the inner workings and structural components of a power play - on the penalty kill should lend to teams making a few more mistakes here and there and opening up opportunities to force turnovers.

"I think that's a big part of it," Rakell said. "You know where the dangerous areas are, and then, just go from there. I know that a lot of things can happen. The power plays are usually not in structure as soon as you turn the puck over, and hopefully, we can start creating chances the other way with that. Like, not cheat for offense on the PK, but throughout the year, there could be some chances going the other way."

And this line of thinking - as mentioned before - is exactly what makes Muse want to put intelligent power play players like Rakell on the penalty kill.

"We view him as a responsible player, a player that can be trusted on the defensive side," Muse said during the pre-season. "You get a player like him, he's got a little bit of time there on the penalty kill... [it's] good to see. Sometimes, players like him that have spent a lot of time on the power play, they think like power play players. So, they're able to anticipate plays really well. You combine that with his defensive awareness, really good stick... it's something that we want to see. So, we're going to continue to look at that."

Of course, it's early, and there is plenty of time for situations to evolve. More responsibility in more situations probably also means a slight uptick in ice time for Rakell throughout the season, which, in theory, could be a tiny adjustment for a player who is already near the top of the minutes chart among forwards. 

But, it's not something Rakell has noticed up to this point, and given how Muse has split ice time between the lines pretty evenly through the pre-season and through the season opener, it may not pose much of an issue at all.

Regardless of what happens, though, Rakell is embracing the chance to play a new role for the Penguins - even if the situation ends up changing a bit when that certain teammate in a similar position returns to play. 

"It's kind of just an idea that came up," Rakell said. "Rusty's out of the lineup. So, perhaps this is my opportunity."

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