2023–24 Time On Ice Stats
Ice Time
Power Play
Short-Handed
Past Fantasy Outlooks
Rucchin will start the season on the injured reserve due to concussions and we would be very surprised to see him in a NHL jersey again. When he was healthy he didn't show much (21 points in 47 games) and the Thrashers have signed Todd White to replace him as the team's number one center. Rucchin has no value until he can prove he is injury-free.
Rucchin was brutal last year with the Rangers as he managed 36 points in 72 games even though he was playing about 15 minutes per game. With a season like he can’t get any worse. It looks like Rucchin could be centering one of the top two lines, mostly because there’s no centermen with any offensive skill on the team now that Marc Savard is gone. His competition right now is the newly acquired Niko Kapanen and Holik, both defensive forwards. A trade or a signing could drastically change Rucchin’s outlook but if he lines up next to Kovalchuk a 60 point season from the 35 year old isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
Acquired this past off-season from the Ahaheim, the Rangers received a solid two-way player that can do alot of things on the ice. However, with the youth movement in full-effect for the foreseeable future, expect Steve to receive less ice time, and more of a tutoring role for the younger kids. He'll still get his chances on powerplays and penalty kills, but we don't foresee Rucchin matching the 20 goals and 23 assists he registered in the 2003 season.
