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Kasper Comes To Red Wings As Advertised

But will be score at NHL level?

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4 weeks ago

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Marco Kasper, Red Wings prospect
NHL scouts wonder whether Red Wings center Marco Kasper will be a scorer at this level.

Often, when he speaks about players that are new to his roster, Detroit Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde will reference them as arriving as advertised.

That’s certainly been the case where Marco Kasper is concerned. And that’s both good news and bad news for the Red Wings.

“With Marco, we want to give him an opportunity to succeed,” Lalonde said.

What does success look like in Kasper’s case? That’s an intriguing question.

Definitely, there’s much to like about the 20-year-old as a player.

“His feet are NHL pace, he has NHL speed and hockey sense, and he competes,” Detroit captain Dylan Larkin said.

NHL scouts and executives – and we here at Detroit Hockey Now have sought out opinions from many of them, both within and outside of the Detroit organization – seem to be in lockstep when it comes to assessing what Kasper can bring to the team. As an NHLer, he’s going to be a solid player, a reliable player, a player that the Red Wings will be able to count on for years to come.

“He plays with a lot of pace and plays with a lot of grit and makes a few little plays here and there,” Red Wings center Andrew Copp said. “He’s going to be a good player for a long time.”

Will Kasper be a scorer at the NHL level? Again, hockey people appear to be on the same page on this matter. And here’s where the news isn’t so good, Red Wings fans.

Most believe that he won’t be an NHL scorer. Many are setting the bar of his offensive production at around 40 points per season.

Kasper Showing Little Offensive Upside So Far

Nine games into his NHL tenure, Kasper is displaying little to suggest that these assessment of his offensive upside are not, well, offensive in comparison to what he’s been displaying on the ice. As he returns to Toronto on Friday, where his NHL career was originally launching, Kasper has a solitary assist to show on the ledger of his output. He’s had seven shots on goal in nine NHL games.

Granted, it’s the proverbial small sample size. We’ll acknowledge that as fact. As well, we’ll also take into account last season with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL, Kasper’s first North American pro season.

During that campaign, Kasper was good for two goals through the first 27 games. He’d score 12 goals over the remaining 44 games. Then he was adding another four goals in nine playoff games.

For his part, Kasper believes he’s much more ready to compete at the NHL level than when he made his debut in Toronto in April of 2023.

“I think I was stronger, had the strength to move my feet, make things happen, play responsible with the puck, just trying to do my best to help the team win,” Kasper said.

Will helping the team win include contributing significantly to the offense? So far, that hasn’t been the case.

While the early returns aren’t promising, it’s also too quick to be closing that chapter. Let’s give Kasper a little more time to evolve his game before we write him off as an offensive threat.

 

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