Are Red Wings Pondering Keeping Marco Kasper?

Detroit Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde says he has never undestood the drama surrounding who makes the roster coming out of training camp.

“Grand Rapids is two hours away,” Lalonde said. “We’ll have played 33 players by Christmas… Maybe it’s a little old school, maybe that’s where it was 20, 25 years ago. You made the team on Day 1. I think in reality, we’re probably going to have 15 forwards, 10 D that are going to play for us and make our team. So it’ll be very interesting how it plays out in the next couple days.”

It’s hard to know who needs that message more. The media? Fan base? Or is it, Marco Kasper?  The Austrian center seems like he has made a serious bid to make the opening day roster.  He plays hard, brings considerable energy and his two-goal game Friday showed his scoring may be coming around.

The argument for finding room for him is that he could put a youthful charge into the team. The Detroit Tigers have used that strategy effectively. With Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson also joining Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond, adding Kasper would make it seem like we are turning the corner on the rebuild. Nate Danielson and Carter Mazur aren’t far behind Kasper.

The argument against putting him on the team starts with the fact that he’s still only 20, and could benefit significantly by being a dominant performer in the AHL.  Coach Dan Watson could play him 20 minutes per game in Grand Rapids. How much would he play in Detroit?

Where Does Kasper Fit?

It wouldn’t make sense to bring him up and playing him 10 minutes per game on the fourth line. But he’s probably not quite ready to play in Detroit’s top six. He would be learning on the job. Kasper likely would play on the second or third line.  He has killed some penalties in this preseason. Lalonde was asked whether he would consider playing Kasper on the wing, instead of at center.

“I think he’s comfortable playing both,” Lalonde said. “We do like him as a center. We’re still developing him as a center. We think he’s going to help us in the long term at center. But there might be moments that when he does break in we may try him on the wing.”

Making room for Kasper also will mean some difficult conversations with other players. The Red Wings right now are talking about carrying 12 forwards, eight defensemen and three goalies. Presuming William Lagesson is already destined for Grand Rapids, Justin Holl and Johansson are the No. 7 and No. 8 defenseman. Johansson is no longer waiver exempt. If the Red Wings put Johansson on waivers, he likely would be claimed.  Plus, he’s 23 and it’s time to find out what Johansson can do at the NHL level.

Holl Seems Vulnerable

Another possibility is the Red Wings could go down to seven defenseman is by sending veteran Justin Holl to the minors. He is not in the future plans. His $3.5 million cap hit for this season makes it unlikely he would be claimed. If the Red Wings did run into a rash injuries, as Lalonde reminds us, Holl would only be two hours away.

It would be a difficult situation for Holl. This can be a harsh business.

Some fans have suggested the Red Wings can keep Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon as their goalies, and demote Ville Husso. Again, it seems unlikely he would be claimed because of $4.75 million contract. But Husso has performed reasonably well in the preseason — making 43 saves against the Penguins earlier this week. It would seem particularly harsh, given how they advertised their goalie competition as a “clean slate”, to demote a player who has the team’s best GAA and save percentage during the preseason.