In the past I've commented on the NY Islanders situation and I think people may have gotten the wrong idea. Outside of a Rick DiPietro contract and another three years paying off Alexei Yashin's cap hit, the Islanders are a team with a pretty bright future. They are packed with young, emerging talent, and they have refused to bring in older, veteran players and lock them up to high salaried, lengthy contracts. Instead, they keep the contracts low and at a short length, which keeps the door wide open for their youth to develop and take up the necessary cap space. The Isles have a couple superstar-caliber players in Tavares, Bailey, Okposo, and maybe Grabner, then some up and comers in Schremp, Parenteau, Comeau, and Nielsen, followed by the NYI prospect everyone talks about, El Nino. Lost in the shuffle and still out of the spotlight is the emerging Rhett Rakhshani. Note the spelling and it's pronounced Rock-sha-nee.

In the early 2000s, the southern California hockey market was taking off and Rakhshani was one of the best in his age group. The success of that organization really took momentum with Rhett. After Rakhshani's 121 point season in 56 games in 2003-04, the Wave began to get media attention and Mitch Wahl's team found themselves followed around by camera crews for a month or so. Rakhshani moved on to the U.S. National Development program and began making a name for himself. He began lacing up in the same room as Kane, Sweatt, Atkinson, Geoffrion, McBain, and Erik Johnson at 17 years old. He skated the next year with the same folks, in addition to JVR and Colin Wilson. At 18 years old, he got his first taste of international action, playing in the U-18 WJ's and finishing 13th overall in the tournament with 5 goals and 1 assist, ahead of Patrik Berglund, Jakub Voracek, Artem Anisimov, and John Tavares. Team USA went on to win the gold medal that year.

Knowing the Rakshani family, it was no surprise to see Rhett enroll in college. With a desire to win, he chose the school who was reigning NCAA champs two years in a row, the Denver Pioneers. Rakshani never did go on to win an NCAA title, but he did post an impressive 151 points in 156 games, winning his division in 2007-08, being named to the All-Academic Team in 08-09 and 09-10, making the Third All-Star Team in 08-09, the First All-Star Team in 09-10, leading the WCHA in scoring in 09-10, and also being named a Hobey Baker Finalist in 09-10 on top of serving as team captain in his senior year.

After his junior season at DU, many said that Rakhshani's chance to make it to the NHL was right then and there. They said the openings that the Islanders had that year would not be available in later years, but the Rakhshani's placed quite a bit of emphasis on that college education. To anyone that knows/knew Rhett, it's no surprise at all that he returned for his senior year. That degree was important to him and his family, more so than an NHL career.

So at 22 years old, Rakhshani is finally turning pro and he finds himself skating in training camp on Tavares' line. Lines are shuffled quite a bit, but he's finding himself tested in many offensive situations. Alas, he begins the year in Bridgeport, only to lead the team in scoring and grab two cups of coffee before suffering a concussion at the hands of Raffi Torres. The injury wasn't too severe though as less than two weeks later he reported to the AHL and scored a goal and three assists in the AHL All Star game.

The 5'9" kid from southern California has accomplished quite a bit thus far in his career and he's knocking on the door to go even further. Rakhshani has always been an extremely smart hockey player as sees the ice well, knows where to go, and how to bury the puck when the opportunity is there. His hockey IQ is amazing and because of that, he will develop quicker than the standard four years we assume it takes for a developing prospect. By the end of his sophomore year in the NHL, he should already be catching on to the speed of the game and producing on a consistent level.

The NY Islanders organization is picture perfect for an emerging 22 year old and despite having quite a few players in his way, Rakhshani should find himself in a top six role as early as next season. He is a diamond in the rough flying under just about everyone's radar right now, so keep an eye out. He has the offensive ability and hockey IQ to be a 70-point player and with a little chemistry on the right line, he could start moving in that direction fast.

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NHL credentialed writer for Columbus through thehockeyguys.net and dobberprospects.com

@tlucarelli on twitter

Great write-up Dub. Your writing technique is very fluent and easy to read. Awesome stuff. From my own experience of writing short articles, I am sure it takes quite a bit of research and time to write these profiles up and I definitely appreciate the effort and outcome!

Cheers

Great read! I've been sitting on this guy for the better part of the year hopping he'd scrape together a few points but was getting very discouraged after the concussion. After reading this I'll have to re-evaluate my keepers and give this kid a longer look.

Cheers

Just picked him up in one league. Thanks!

Solid read Dub, love reading your articles
keep up the good work

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"They only recognize greatness when some authority confirms it"

Another winner Dub, thanks for bringing these guys to light.

Dub, keep it up with the diamonds in the rough. I love the SoCal perspective on these Cali players.

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