Defenseman Erik Karlsson is getting most of the attention right now for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and deservedly so given the way he is playing. He is not only playing the best hockey he has ever played as a member of the Penguins, he is playing some of the best hockey that he has ever played for anybody. It is a marvel to watch. He is in command every time the puck is on his stick and is completely changing games. With Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin going in and out of the lineup, Karlsson has consistently stepped up and played like the superstar the Penguins need. He is their MVP right now, and for this season.

He is not the only Swedish player that is stepping up and making a major impact at the moment. Rickard Rakell is right there with him.

Maybe not at quite the same level, but at least fairly close.

He was every bit the impact player that Karlsson was in Thursday night’s 4-3 shootout win over the Ottawa Senators, scoring a pair of goals, assisting on another and making a handful of plays that even dazzled the Ottawa crowd. He was on one, and it was spectacular to watch.

It has also been a pretty common theme for him throughout the month of March.

With his three-point effort on Thursday, Rakell is now up to seven goals, eight assists, 15 total points and 31 shots on goal in the 14 games this month, while also scoring the game-winning shootout goal against the Winnipeg Jets this past Saturday. From an underlying numbers standpoint, his 59.04 percent expected goals share over that stretch is tops on the team (among players that appeared in at least 10 games) while the Penguins have outscored teams 14-9 with him on the ice during 5-on-5 play. He is also averaging 1.26 individual expected goals per 60 minutes. He is creating chances. He is converting on them.

It has been an especially important month for Rakell because a lot of that production came with Sidney Crosby out of the lineup and Rakell having to play out of position at center. The experiment with him at center may not have been wildly popular, and it is certainly not his strongest position or the ideal spot for him, but he simply produced and provided offense at a time when the Penguins needed.

He has also faced some criticism this season for seeing his overall production drop a bit from his career-year performance in 2024-25. But that was always going to be a very real possibility, if not an expectation. Most players that have a career-year in their early 30s are not going to repeat it or build on it. That is just not how aging curves and career progressions work. The important thing was for him to at least get back into the same ballpark and be close to it.

From a big picture perspective, he mostly has.

There was a big discussion at the trade deadline a year ago over whether or not the Penguins should have traded Rakell, but given the trade market for non-star wingers on the plus side of 30 (especially in-season), it seems unlikely that there was a huge market for him. At least not enough of one to make trading him worth it when he still has productive hockey to give. He clearly still does.

After Thursday’s game Rakell is now up to 17 goals and 39 assists in 51 games for the season. That is a 27-goal, 62-point pace over 82 games. Both numbers are above his normal 82-game averages (24 goals, 54 points) for his career. The production is not what it was a year ago, but it is still there at a more than acceptable rate. More importantly, it has been there when the Penguins needed it from him.