Rickard Rakell immediately objected to the premise of the question.
On Feb. 27, a reporter in Cranberry asked him what is it like to be the No. 1 center of the Pittsburgh Penguins, as it was learned that the typical occupant of that role, Sidney Crosby, would be sidelined for several weeks due to an unspecified injury.
“Tommy is,” Rakell shot back, referring to Tommy Novak.
And to be certain, Rakell is correct. The line the Penguins have deployed most often in five-on-five scenarios over their past four games is the line centered by Novak with Egor Chinakov on the left wing and Evgeni Malkin manning the right wing.
But for the first three games, the Penguins played following the NHL’s break for the Olympics, Rakell centered the line that Crosby usually pivoted.
And had he done a better job in that capacity, particularly in faceoffs, Rakell might have made it to a fourth contest.
As it was, he was returned to his typical station on the left wing while 18-year-old rookie center Ben Kindel was promoted from the third line during Tuesday’s 2-1 road loss to the Boston Bruins.
The results weren’t all bad with Rakell at center. The Penguins went 2-0-1 during his temporary assignment in that role.
Individually, he scored a goal, albeit during a power-play sequence, in a 5-0 home win against the Vegas Golden Knights.
But the one area of tabulation that stands out perhaps most with centers — faceoffs — was prominent for Rakell.
And in no good way.
He went 7 for 27 (25.9%) in the circle in that trio of contests.
“Faceoffs are probably the biggest thing,” Rakell said of the adjustments required in moving from wing to center. “It’s something that I’ve got to keep working on. Great people here for that, great faceoff guys. Just talking to Sid, talking to (Malkin), talking to Bonino. It’s definitely something that I need to work on. It’s a big part of playing center. I just have to bear down in those areas.”
This wasn’t the first time Rakell has moved to the middle this season.
Back in December, when Malkin was sidelined by a persistent left shoulder ailment, Rakell lined up as the second line center for two games. He even skated one game in the preseason as a center.
Additionally, he opened three contests at center last season.
And once upon a time in a land far, far away — during the mid-2010s in California, to be precise — he regularly skated as a third-line center with the Anaheim Ducks behind the likes of top-six centers such as Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler and Saku Koivu.
During the 2014-15 campaign, Rakell took a career-high 662 faceoffs with the Ducks, winning 46.8% of them.
Rakell isn’t new to the center position. He’s just not used to it.
“Sometimes, it’s just a matter of getting the reps in and getting comfortable in the circle, getting comfortable with the timing of all of it. I don’t want to overthink it because I feel like it can go both ways doing that. Sometimes, it gets worse by thinking about it too much. But just get in there, be confident and tell your wingers to help you out.”
His right winger provided some support when asked for a scouting report.
“He’s such a smart player through the middle of the ice,” winger Bryan Rust said. “His vision. He’s able to kind of see everything around him. Playing to his forehand from his backhand, I think, is a big strength of his. It allows him as a center to be successful.”
If the Penguins return to using Rakell as a center in a meaningful fashion during Crosby’s respite, that’s anyone’s guess. They could potentially add another pivot in advance of the NHL’s trade deadline on Friday to improve their depleted depth in the middle, even if just as a stopgap.
But Rakell has professed confidence in skating as a center.
“I know you can’t replace our number one center who’s missing right now,” Rakell said. “I’m just going to try to step up my game, elevate my game. Do anything I can to help us keep winning hockey games.”
Note: The Penguins had a scheduled day off Wednesday.