I can't see why they would. Why burn a 1st on a rental with the UFA market freely available to them?
I'd be interested to see why Anaheim fans thought that this was such a good year for him also. I'm not convinced that this is a player who's regressing at this point of his career, but his lack of production in recent years is quite alarming.
This seems like a player whose best hockey is well behind him.
In his most productive years, Rakell was more of a complimentary, opportunistic albeit highly skilled scorer, who benefitted greatly from riding shotgun with Getzlaf and Perry. His production has suffered with their decline, Rakell simply isn't cut out to be a team's top offensive threat. I may stand corrected but I do believe most of his underlying numbers have held up. Either way, I think one has to apply some context to Rakell's production- he went from playing along side an elite playmaker on a contender to a complete bottom feeding team with a historically bad powerplay and no other top line forwards.
The best line the Ducks were able to put together for any notable stretch this season turned out to be Rakell alongside Lundestrom and Comtois. Many of us Ducks fans agreed that more so than ever, Rakell was the straw stirring the drink. Driving the play and creating opportunities, helping to elevate the play of younger players, particularly Comtois. To the eye test, Rakell has never looked like more of an impact player.
I should also point out that Rakell started this year with a ridiculously low and unsustainable shooting percentage, I believe he was over 50 shots before potting his second goal. With any normalcy there, his numbers are right in line.