Rainers Rullers commits to RPI
The Latvian will add key center depth for the Engineers
This morning, RPI picked up a commitment from ‘04 center Rainers Rullers. Last season, he was ranked #108 by NHL Central Scouting for European players meaning he had a chance at being a late round pick in the draft. He was not selected, however. This season, Rullers played for the Madison Capitols in the USHL where he was an important center for them, playing in all situations and collecting 25 points in 49 games. Rullers is listed as 6’4” and 176 LBs, so he will also add great size to the forward group. I had heard from sources with the Capitols that there were multiple Big Ten and other big name programs who were highly interested in Rullers and heavily pursuing him, so this represents a HUGE recruiting win for RPI. Assistant coach Karlis Zirnis no doubt played a big role in the recruitment as a fellow Latvia native, and he has also coached him in multiple World Junior Championships for the Latvian national team.
For those who don’t know, I currently live in Madison, so I have had the chance to watch him play numerous times throughout the year. The foundation of his game is his excellent IQ. Rullers is an extremely responsible two way center. His positioning is always very good, and he does a good job marking the right man to protect the slot. He was a key penalty killer for Madison for this reason. He is also very good on the breakout with supporting his defensemen, and he consistently makes good passes for their transition game. That brings me to another good part of his game, which is his passing. He processes the game really well and hits seams easily to set up teammates. Lastly, he has a great shot. His one timer flies off of his stick, and he can really rip his wrist shot too when he has space. His skill set helps fill key needs for the Engineers with his penalty killing ability as well as his transition ability leading to more shots and offense off the rush.
For areas to improve, his skating is the main area that needs work, which is common for players with his size. I’d also like to see him use his shot more because as I said, he can really shoot it, but he only averaged 1.49 shots on goal per game.
Rullers will come to RPI this fall and make an immediate impact at center, likely in the middle 6. Based on his responsible game, he should quickly earn the trust of the coaching staff to get key minutes. I think he will have a Tristan Ashbrook type of freshman year where he contributes a lot on the 3rd line, plays in all situations, and hopefully, establishes himself as a part of the core moving forward. I can’t wait to see him in Troy this fall. Congratulations to Rainers and his family!