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Prospect Info: 2022 8OA, Marco Kasper

RRhoads said:
Sure, but Ed does the same with not committing fully to them. There are times when he should be the first to the puck, but hesitates too much. I am sure you have noticed this too.
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Give him a few years and he'll probably physically dominate battles. Nothing wrong with protecting himself a bit from the physical wear and tear right now.
 
One thing that I've been wondering about with Kasper right now is what role he's best suited for long term.

I think it would be easy to say that Raymond and Larkin are carrying him right now and that they're driving his point surge. I actually really don't feel that way though. Instead I think he just gels with them perfectly. They compliment each other very well in some regards, but I think what drives their synergy is the similarity in their tenacity and work ethics. It really makes it so there's nowhere to escape to and anytime one of them pressures someone into a mistake, another is ready to punish it. It's relentless.

I really think that he could be a great work-horse, piano puller for Raymond for a long time. But we also could really use him as a defensively responsible 2C. If he can produce even half as well as this, and play good defense on the second line, I think that fills a bigger need for the team. We can find a lot of guys to produce next to Raymond and Larkin-and a lot of them might be more naturally skilled than Kasper, DBC for example.

So if you're looking at Kasper as a ~70 point 1W that helps do the dirty work for Raymond or a ~50 point 2C that plays solid shutdown hockey, which do you prefer? Let's keep him on the top line for now to build some confidence, but where do you want him long term?
 
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HisNoodliness said:
One thing that I've been wondering about with Kasper right now is what role he's best suited for long term.

I think it would be easy to say that Raymond and Larkin are carrying him right now and that they're driving his point surge. I actually really don't feel that way though. Instead I think he just gels with them perfectly. They compliment each other very well in some regards, but I think what drives their synergy is the similarity in their tenacity and work ethics. It really makes it so there's nowhere to escape to and anytime one of them pressures someone into a mistake, another is ready to punish it. It's relentless.

I really think that he could be a great work-horse, piano puller for Raymond for a long time. But we also could really use him as a defensively responsible 2C. If he can produce even half as well as this, and play good defense on the second line, I think that fills a bigger need for the team. We can find a lot of guys to produce next to Raymond and Larkin-and a lot of them might be more naturally skilled than Kasper, DBC for example.

So if you're looking at Kasper as a ~70 point 1W that helps do the dirty work for Raymond or a ~50 point 2C that plays solid shutdown hockey, which do you prefer? Let's keep him on the top line for now to build some confidence, but where do you want him long term?
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Yeah starting to think we might have that dillemna. Which is a great problem!
 
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HisNoodliness said:
One thing that I've been wondering about with Kasper right now is what role he's best suited for long term.

I think it would be easy to say that Raymond and Larkin are carrying him right now and that they're driving his point surge. I actually really don't feel that way though. Instead I think he just gels with them perfectly. They compliment each other very well in some regards, but I think what drives their synergy is the similarity in their tenacity and work ethics. It really makes it so there's nowhere to escape to and anytime one of them pressures someone into a mistake, another is ready to punish it. It's relentless.

I really think that he could be a great work-horse, piano puller for Raymond for a long time. But we also could really use him as a defensively responsible 2C. If he can produce even half as well as this, and play good defense on the second line, I think that fills a bigger need for the team. We can find a lot of guys to produce next to Raymond and Larkin-and a lot of them might be more naturally skilled than Kasper, DBC for example.

So if you're looking at Kasper as a ~70 point 1W that helps do the dirty work for Raymond or a ~50 point 2C that plays solid shutdown hockey, which do you prefer? Let's keep him on the top line for now to build some confidence, but where do you want him long term?
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If only we had another young defensively sound center prospect that could slot into the 2c role...

Alas...
 
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HisNoodliness said:
One thing that I've been wondering about with Kasper right now is what role he's best suited for long term.

I think it would be easy to say that Raymond and Larkin are carrying him right now and that they're driving his point surge. I actually really don't feel that way though. Instead I think he just gels with them perfectly. They compliment each other very well in some regards, but I think what drives their synergy is the similarity in their tenacity and work ethics. It really makes it so there's nowhere to escape to and anytime one of them pressures someone into a mistake, another is ready to punish it. It's relentless.

I really think that he could be a great work-horse, piano puller for Raymond for a long time. But we also could really use him as a defensively responsible 2C. If he can produce even half as well as this, and play good defense on the second line, I think that fills a bigger need for the team. We can find a lot of guys to produce next to Raymond and Larkin-and a lot of them might be more naturally skilled than Kasper, DBC for example.

So if you're looking at Kasper as a ~70 point 1W that helps do the dirty work for Raymond or a ~50 point 2C that plays solid shutdown hockey, which do you prefer? Let's keep him on the top line for now to build some confidence, but where do you want him long term?
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I think something like this would be nice:

Kasper - Larkin - Raymond
MBN - Danielson - Buchelnikov (or DeBrincat)
Plante - Finnie - Mazur
Kiiskinen - Rasmussen - Soderblom
 
HisNoodliness said:
One thing that I've been wondering about with Kasper right now is what role he's best suited for long term.

I think it would be easy to say that Raymond and Larkin are carrying him right now and that they're driving his point surge. I actually really don't feel that way though. Instead I think he just gels with them perfectly. They compliment each other very well in some regards, but I think what drives their synergy is the similarity in their tenacity and work ethics. It really makes it so there's nowhere to escape to and anytime one of them pressures someone into a mistake, another is ready to punish it. It's relentless.

I really think that he could be a great work-horse, piano puller for Raymond for a long time. But we also could really use him as a defensively responsible 2C. If he can produce even half as well as this, and play good defense on the second line, I think that fills a bigger need for the team. We can find a lot of guys to produce next to Raymond and Larkin-and a lot of them might be more naturally skilled than Kasper, DBC for example.

So if you're looking at Kasper as a ~70 point 1W that helps do the dirty work for Raymond or a ~50 point 2C that plays solid shutdown hockey, which do you prefer? Let's keep him on the top line for now to build some confidence, but where do you want him long term?
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Here’s the thing, Kasper is producing better with them than DBC produced with them. It’s a smaller sample size but there was only the first 15 games of last season that DBC outproduced Kasper with Ray and Larkin. I believe the rest of the time he was sub ppg with some bad slumps in between.

Also, with both Kasper and Nate I think we can figure out who will be the better center vs better winger. A good 3C isn’t unobtainable in free agency or later in drafts. Top 6 centers are though.
 
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HisNoodliness said:
One thing that I've been wondering about with Kasper right now is what role he's best suited for long term.

I think it would be easy to say that Raymond and Larkin are carrying him right now and that they're driving his point surge. I actually really don't feel that way though. Instead I think he just gels with them perfectly. They compliment each other very well in some regards, but I think what drives their synergy is the similarity in their tenacity and work ethics. It really makes it so there's nowhere to escape to and anytime one of them pressures someone into a mistake, another is ready to punish it. It's relentless.

I really think that he could be a great work-horse, piano puller for Raymond for a long time. But we also could really use him as a defensively responsible 2C. If he can produce even half as well as this, and play good defense on the second line, I think that fills a bigger need for the team. We can find a lot of guys to produce next to Raymond and Larkin-and a lot of them might be more naturally skilled than Kasper, DBC for example.

So if you're looking at Kasper as a ~70 point 1W that helps do the dirty work for Raymond or a ~50 point 2C that plays solid shutdown hockey, which do you prefer? Let's keep him on the top line for now to build some confidence, but where do you want him long term?
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Option C might be better next year putting DeBrincat with Larkin and then Kasper centering Raymond. Spread the talent around the top 6 and then fill in with vets or maybe Danielson, Buchlnikov, or MBN.
 
12th OA pick Lundell is 3C for the Cup champs. I don't see what's wrong with either Kasper or Danielson being 3C down the road. Having C depth that can defend while not being a black hole offensively is a great advantage in playoffs when depth and matchups matter more, and especially for road games.
 
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OldnotDeadWings said:
12th OA pick Lundell is 3C for the Cup champs. I don't see what's wrong with either Kasper or Danielson being 3C down the road. Having C depth that can defend while not being a black hole offensively is a great advantage in playoffs when depth and matchups matter more, and especially for road games.
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Kasper isn’t going to be wasted on the 3rd line.
 
OgeeOgelthorpe said:
Not that I recall. Kasper was mostly getting low minutes as the 3C or 4C.
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It wasn't until Todd took over that Kasper got "low minutes". Until then he'd been getting typical third-line usage, about 14mins per game IIRC most of it at ES. He'd also had earlier stretches of playing with "skill" guys -- Kane, Tarasenko, Berggren -- and saw them waste numerous chances he created. One of the major differences now is that Todd has reduced third pair and 4th line minutes while increasing minutes for the top guys. Kasper was a victim of that early on, his minutes on 4th line dropping for five games to 10 and then a season low 9:16 in the win over Winnipeg. That stretch was what fuelled the whole "he's going to get scratched soon and sent down to GR to learn how to shoot and fight" thing. Todd had made it clear he was going to experiment and evaluate guys and eventually Kasper got his chance on the top line after Veleno had his turn.

The Wings have seen all year, in flashes during games and even practices, that Marco is an NHLer with underrated skills. They've known that all along, from the time they drafted him, but that it would take a while for him to figure things out in the NHL. Struggling at times as a 20yo rookie C was to be expected and part of the reason for his success now IMO is that he knows first-hand how hard it can be. He is obviously really enjoying how much easier it is with more space, a different job description and linemates who can scare the crap out of other teams.
 
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OldnotDeadWings said:
It wasn't until Todd took over that Kasper got "low minutes". Until then he'd been getting typical third-line usage, about 14mins per game IIRC most of it at ES. He'd also had earlier stretches of playing with "skill" guys -- Kane, Tarasenko, Berggren -- and saw them waste numerous chances he created. One of the major differences now is that Todd has reduced third pair and 4th line minutes while increasing minutes for the top guys. Kasper was a victim of that early on, his minutes on 4th line dropping for five games to 10 and then a season low 9:16 in the win over Winnipeg. That stretch was what fuelled the whole "he's going to get scratched soon and sent down to GR to learn how to shoot and fight" thing. Todd had made it clear he was going to experiment and evaluate guys and eventually Kasper got his chance on the top line after Veleno had his turn.

The Wings have seen all year, in flashes during games and even practices, that Marco is an NHLer with underrated skills. They've known that all along, from the time they drafted him, but that it would take a while for him to figure things out in the NHL. Struggling at times as a 20yo rookie C was to be expected and part of the reason for his success now IMO is that he knows first-hand how hard it can be. He is obviously really enjoying how much easier it is with more space, a different job description and linemates who can scare the crap out of other teams.
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this isn't true. gniwder had been calling for him to go back down from his first game in detroit
 
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