Florida Panthers: Choosing to let Kyle Rau go was a wise decision

Although Kyle Rau contained some bright moments in a Florida Panthers’ uniform; he was largely unproductive when given an opportunity to shine, thus spelling the end to his Cats’ career.

Kyle Rau was a budding superstar, high volume performer during his collegiate days with the Minnesota Gophers; absolutely dominating the NCAA Hockey throughout the course of his incredible college hockey career. The Panthers subsequently selected the promising Gopher in the 3rd round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft . However, the transition to professional hockey for Kyle was undoubtedly “rough sledding”, often experiencing a magnitude of struggles along his rollercoaster journey.

During the 2016-17 forgettable season, Rau was given a tremendous chance to finally establish himself following his long-awaited promotion to the big leagues. In 24 games (decent sample size), the swift winger produced a horrific line of 2G and 1A for a mere 3 points.

His performance (lack-thereof) last season was highly unacceptable; especially since he was given numerous opportunities to play on the 3rd line, playing alongside college teammate Nick Bjugstad. 

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Rau unimpressed in the minors, as he only tallied 24 points in 48 games while playing top 6 minutes on a nightly basis. Rewind backwards to the 2015-16 season, where Kyle Rau participated in 9 NHL games with Florida. Can the fans guess or remember the exact amount of points Kyle accumulated? If you guessed zero, then you’re 100% correct.

His constant inconsistency and inability to adapt to more difficult circumstances (NHL/AHL style hockey) ultimately led FLA to non-tender the underachieving, disappointing American native.

High expectations were obviously placed on Kyle Rau since being drafted, and he essentially failed to live up to them, unfortunately. He’ll mainly be remembered for scoring a miraculous five-hole goal against exceptional goaltender Carey Price in a surprising, highly unanticipated victory in Montreal last year.

After becoming an unrestricted free agent, the Minnesota Wild decided to sign hometown hero Kyle Rau to an inexpensive short-term contract. Rau will have the opportunity to revitalize his declining career by heading to a place of familiarity and extreme comfort. Mr. Minnesota (named back in 2011) has the chance to play under a successful head coach on a team with playoff aspirations.

Next: Florida Panthers: Expected players on the first power play line

Personally, I truly wish Kyle sustained success, and hopefully he accomplishes his life-long dream of playing in the NHL for an extensive period of time.