With a gleam in his eye on the morning of the Vancouver Canucks’ first preseason game last week, Aatu Räty told the assembled media that he had a few faceoff tricks he was excited to put to use at the National Hockey League level.
True to his word, Räty then went out later that night and won 14 of the 18 draws he took against the Seattle Kraken.
Perhaps the biggest trick up his sleeve was the unconventional approach of flipping his stick to take faceoffs on his weak side. A left-handed shooter by nature, the 21-year-old Finn saw an opportunity to raise his chances of winning draws on the right side of the ice. Instead of trying to pull pucks back on his forehand, Räty uses his left-handed stick but holds it as a right-hander would. He then turns his right hand over and essentially tries to win draws on his backhand – on either side of the ice.
“My last year in Finland, my coach was Olli Jokinen and he played in the NHL for a long time and he used to do it,” Räty explained after practice at Rogers Arena. “He wanted all the centres to try it. Obviously, he didn’t force it on anyone. I think it’s a great way to get the advantage. A lot of guys are really strong on their strong side, but it’s hard to set up for the weak side. The ref is kind of in the way and you don’t get the leverage, so it’s a unique trick but I think it works.”
The proof was irrefutable in that game against the Kraken. Räty won nine of 10 faceoffs in the offensive zone and four of five in the defensive end of the ice. Additionally, he was a perfect five for five on the power play. The league doesn’t differentiate which side of the ice faceoffs are taken, so it’s impossible to know the breakdown for Räty or any centreman. Seattle didn’t ice a line-up of NHL veterans that night, but Räty went four for five against Yanni Gourde, who’s taken his share of big league draws, and seven for 10 against Ben Meyers who has appeared in 67 NHL games.
The faceoff prowess in the preseason hasn’t come as a surprise for Räty. Although he finished last season in Abbotsford – and played his best hockey – as a winger, he knows he was one of the best options the AHL Canucks had to win draws.
“We had some great faceoff guys in Abbotsford last year, and I think I ended up with the highest (win) percentage,” he recalled. “I think last year we did our own stats and there were stretches during the year probably 500 faceoffs in, I might have had a higher percentage on the right side. So it’s good. It doesn’t matter if you’re going against a righty or a lefty. I feel like I have two strong sides.”
At 6’2” and 195 pounds, Räty has size and brute force on his side. But strength alone isn’t the determining factor in who will win puck possession at the NHL level. These are the best players – and centremen – in the world. Strength is a small part of the equation along with timing and technique. If switching hands gives Räty any kind of edge for faceoffs on his weak side, then he’s going to continue to hone his craft and hope success on the draws can be one of the factors that earns him a spot when the Canucks set their opening night roster next week.
“Penalty kill time and power play time and end of games, you need guys who can win draws.” he said. “Obviously, Petey and Miller, they are the ones that are going to be doing that here. Still, it’s a great thing to have and you can gain some extra shifts. It’s a great skill to have. Every shift that starts with a faceoff, it’s a battle. I feel like if you play centre all year, if you’re good, you might get five points just off faceoffs. So it’s huge.”
It’s been more than success in the circles that allowed Räty to survive the latest round of cuts. He scored a beautiful goal off the rush in Calgary last weekend and has found a way to leave his mark on most of the preseason games he’s played so far.
Orginzationally, the Canucks are not deep down the middle. Despite spending time on the wing last season, the hockey club sees Räty as a centre moving forward. And that’s where he envisions himself whenever he becomes an NHL regular.
The league is so heavily scouted that Räty’s faceoff approach won’t sneak up on teams for long. But he takes pride in his ability to win draws and wants to continue to hone his craft to stay one step ahead of opponents.
“Everyone has their own things and some plays – I don’t think I invented anything,” he said with a laugh. “Everybody’s seen it. If you switch it up and keep the other centres guessing, I think it’s good. If I play in the NHL, most of the centres won’t know me so it’s good to have some stuff that they won’t know about.”
Left side or right side, it doesn’t matter to Aatu Räty. He feels equally comfortable winning faceoffs anywhere on the ice. And it’s a skillset that may just win him a full-time NHL job over the next few days.
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