C Marco Kasper (2022, 8th, DET)

[Umingmak]

This was just a bad pick by Detroit. Yet another example of Yzerman trying to look smarter than everyone else by making these bold picks which will backfire. You draft a slow skating forward who can't produce offensively when Savoie was there sitting in your lap.

This (and your follow up comment) is the worst take of the 2022 Draft, bar none.

Slow? Go watch some tape. Kasper is very fast for a player of his style. His skating is very smooth. He’s got speed and power.

“Bottom dweller enforcer type”?

You clearly haven’t watched any tape on him. Additionally, his offensive statistics are nearly identical to Lukas Raymond in his draft year.

 

[Devil made me do it]

Yeah, because if one thing is for certain, it’s Yzermans terrible draft record

Read my post again. His first round picks in Tampa were horrendous.

 

[Devil made me do it]

This (and your follow up comment) is the worst take of the 2022 Draft, bar none.

Slow? Go watch some tape. Kasper is very fast for a player of his style. His skating is very smooth. He’s got speed and power.

“Bottom dweller enforcer type”?

You clearly haven’t watched any tape on him. Additionally, his offensive statistics are nearly identical to Lukas Raymond in his draft year.

Hey, if that makes you feel good, sure.
I don't know which tape you are watching but Kasper looks to be one of the slowest forwards in the entire draft. In a fast NHL, that is not what you want from a prospect.
Offensively, he produces very little and due to his lack of speed among other things, he cannot be compared statistically to Raymond. I judge players always by what I see with my own eyes. The tape of Kasper is not that of an 8th overall puck.

 

[nbwingsfan]

Read my post again. His first round picks in Tampa were horrendous.

Connolly? Sure a bad pick

Drouin? How was this a bad pick at the time? How was he “trying to be the smartest in the room” by taking a guy exactly where he was expected to go?

Koekokee (so?) - wasn’t considered a reach, was right where he was expected to go and derailed by injuries

Cal Foote is still very young, went where he was expected and isn’t doing very poorly? Will be top 4 next year

Others were later picks which are a crapshoot for the most part, even getting an NHL player out of them is good

so once again, show your work on how Yzerman is just trying to be the smartest man in the room? He was literally rated 2 spots ahead of where Mack had him rated

His only real big reach has been Seider and to an extent Vasilevski and we both know how well that has turned out.

 

[nbwingsfan]

Hey, if that makes you feel good, sure.
I don't know which tape you are watching but Kasper looks to be one of the slowest forwards in the entire draft. In a fast NHL, that is not what you want from a prospect.
Offensively, he produces very little and due to his lack of speed among other things, he cannot be compared statistically to Raymond. I judge players always by what I see with my own eyes. The tape of Kasper is not that of an 8th overall puck.

Scott Wheeler calls him speedy and a great skater

Consentino calls him quick, speedy and agile

LWoH has him as a great skater

Are you sure you have any idea who you’re talking about? You’re literally the only one I can see calling him a bad skater, let alone one of the worst in the draft

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Scott Wheeler calls him speedy and a great skater

Consentino calls him quick, speedy and agile

LWoH has him as a great skater

Are you sure you have any idea who you’re talking about? You’re literally the only one I can see calling him a bad skater, let alone one of the worst in the draft

He's trolling. The guy slams every Wings draft pick. They could end up with Bedard next year and he's going to complain about his shot not being that great.

 

[RedHawkDown]

Hey, if that makes you feel good, sure.
I don't know which tape you are watching but Kasper looks to be one of the slowest forwards in the entire draft. In a fast NHL, that is not what you want from a prospect.
Offensively, he produces very little and due to his lack of speed among other things, he cannot be compared statistically to Raymond. I judge players always by what I see with my own eyes. The tape of Kasper is not that of an 8th overall puck.

I am genuinely confused here. You can say Kasper will be nothing more than a 4th line forward, sure. But slow? That’s like saying “Kasper is the best Chinese forward in the draft.” Like, he’s just not….

 

[Stony Curtis]

You guys are enabling this jackass to go through an entire box of kleenex in a single afternoon.

 

[Puck Tiss]

Connolly? Sure a bad pick

Drouin? How was this a bad pick at the time? How was he “trying to be the smartest in the room” by taking a guy exactly where he was expected to go?

Koekokee (so?) - wasn’t considered a reach, was right where he was expected to go and derailed by injuries

Cal Foote is still very young, went where he was expected and isn’t doing very poorly? Will be top 4 next year

Others were later picks which are a crapshoot for the most part, even getting an NHL player out of them is good

so once again, show your work on how Yzerman is just trying to be the smartest man in the room? He was literally rated 2 spots ahead of where Mack had him rated

His only real big reach has been Seider and to an extent Vasilevski and we both know how well that has turned out.

That was after St. Louis got butt hurt about being left out of team Canada and demanded a trade. Him and Stamkos had great chemistry. Drouin was supposed to be the replacement, I think. Did not work out, but got good value trading him

 

[nbwingsfan]

That was after St. Louis got butt hurt about being left out of team Canada and demanded a trade. Him and Stamkos had great chemistry. Drouin was supposed to be the replacement, I think. Did not work out, but got good value trading him

Well yes they needed an offensive forward badly and Drouin was considered, hands down, the best offensive forward option after Mackinnon (even considered better by some).

 

[Fatass]

Read my post again. His first round picks in Tampa were horrendous.

Does Yzerman get involved n the actual selection, or does he leave that up to his scouting staff? Don’t the best GMs know they don’t have time to scout, so they give direction but stay out of the choosing?

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Does Yzerman get involved n the actual selection, or does he leave that up to his scouting staff? Don’t the best GMs know they don’t have time to scout, so they give direction but stay out of the choosing?

He's final say on the top selection.

 

[Umingmak]

Hey, if that makes you feel good, sure.
I don't know which tape you are watching but Kasper looks to be one of the slowest forwards in the entire draft. In a fast NHL, that is not what you want from a prospect.
Offensively, he produces very little and due to his lack of speed among other things, he cannot be compared statistically to Raymond. I judge players always by what I see with my own eyes. The tape of Kasper is not that of an 8th overall puck.

You clearly have never watched him play. Everything you’re saying is wildly incorrect.

He’s a very fast, talented skater. His offense is solid for a kid playing in a men’s league, and he got better in the playoffs.

Kasper was absolutely worthy of a top 10 pick.

 

[ZDH]

Ain't no try about it.

Yzerman is the smartest man in the room. I'm pretty sure some GMs have stopped taking his calls at this point.

 

[benjiv1]

Love Kasper. If the Sens kept their pick, I was hoping they take him.

I already have Seider and Raymond in my keeper league, so will be keeping tabs on Kasper for sure.

 

[Devil made me do it]

Ain't no try about it.

Yzerman is the smartest man in the room. I'm pretty sure some GMs have stopped taking his calls at this point.

The smartest GM in the room wouldn't have those consecutive blunder 1st round picks he had in Tampa.
He is a very good GM but the smartest one? I think Bill Guerin is the best GM in the NHL and it's not particularly close.

 

[ZDH]

The smartest GM in the room wouldn't have those consecutive blunder 1st round picks he had in Tampa.
He is a very good GM but the smartest one? I think Bill Guerin is the best GM in the NHL and it's not particularly close.

Let me know when Guerin assembles a dynasty that almost went 3/3.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

The smartest GM in the room wouldn't have those consecutive blunder 1st round picks he had in Tampa.
He is a very good GM but the smartest one? I think Bill Guerin is the best GM in the NHL and it's not particularly close.

f*** it. I'll bite.

Yzerman had Stamkos and Hedman there when he arrived so it totally made sense to draft Connolly, a marquee winger prospect that was ranked in the top 10 of the draft. Connolly had an injury in his draft year that impacted his trajectory and he never fully developed. The very same thing happened to Koekkoek. Injuries derailed his development and he was never able to get back on track as a prospect. But hey, go right ahead and ignore that Yzerman's next selection was a future hall of fame goaltender.

Drouin isn't as bad an NHLer as you say he is. He was a highly rated, highly skilled scoring winger that was supposed to be the playmaking complement to Stamkos after St. Louis was traded to New York. Drouin didn't turn out as expected but that's because of Drouin and not Yzerman. That pick was still salvaged and turned into a defenseman that was a former top 10 pick in Sergachev. And if you've been paying attention at all to the Lightning then you'll know Sergachev is a vital piece of a 3 time cup finalist and 2 time winner in the last 3 years.

You disregard the work of a GM that built a very successful franchise methodically because of 3 unsuccessful top 10 picks but completely ignore the late round gems that he found. And you're also ignoring the fact that when Yzerman first arrived in Tampa it took him time to build up his braintrust to get the results that he wanted and needed. Building Tampa into a winner didn't happen overnight.

So are all Yzerman's decisions poor decisions just because he isn't batting 1000 at the draft? Go ahead and show me a GM that has batted 1000 at the draft. That's never picked a bust. That's had every single prospect turn out as their best case scenarios. I'll patiently wait.

 

[kabidjan18]

I will say though. I like this pick because it's Marco Kasper, not because it's made by Steve Yzerman. And I do have a lot of respect for Yzerman. But I feel like this pick is good on its own merits...

 

[nbwingsfan]

The smartest GM in the room wouldn't have those consecutive blunder 1st round picks he had in Tampa.
He is a very good GM but the smartest one? I think Bill Guerin is the best GM in the NHL and it's not particularly close.

Guerin who has to purge his team the next couple seasons because of the buy outs he did? Who has two 1st round loses to his resume despite being contenders? Who gave away assets for a quickly declining Fleury?

Name me a GM who hasn’t made “poor” 1st round choices.

He’s also made better picks in later rounds than any other GM, while also signing everyone to great contracts

 

[FMichael]

f*** it. I'll bite.

Yzerman had Stamkos and Hedman there when he arrived so it totally made sense to draft Connolly, a marquee winger prospect that was ranked in the top 10 of the draft. Connolly had an injury in his draft year that impacted his trajectory and he never fully developed. The very same thing happened to Koekkoek. Injuries derailed his development and he was never able to get back on track as a prospect. But hey, go right ahead and ignore that Yzerman's next selection was a future hall of fame goaltender.

Drouin isn't as bad an NHLer as you say he is. He was a highly rated, highly skilled scoring winger that was supposed to be the playmaking complement to Stamkos after St. Louis was traded to New York. Drouin didn't turn out as expected but that's because of Drouin and not Yzerman. That pick was still salvaged and turned into a defenseman that was a former top 10 pick in Sergachev. And if you've been paying attention at all to the Lightning then you'll know Sergachev is a vital piece of a 3 time cup finalist and 2 time winner in the last 3 years.

You disregard the work of a GM that built a very successful franchise methodically because of 3 unsuccessful top 10 picks but completely ignore the late round gems that he found. And you're also ignoring the fact that when Yzerman first arrived in Tampa it took him time to build up his braintrust to get the results that he wanted and needed. Building Tampa into a winner didn't happen overnight.

So are all Yzerman's decisions poor decisions just because he isn't batting 1000 at the draft? Go ahead and show me a GM that has batted 1000 at the draft. That's never picked a bust. That's had every single prospect turn out as their best case scenarios. I'll patiently wait.

 

[Ricelund]

“Bill Guerin’s better than Yzerman based on… nothing.”

“Kasper’s projected as an enforcer.”

“No one had Kasper going in the top ten.”

Lots of this energy:

 

[Debrincat93]

The smartest GM in the room wouldn't have those consecutive blunder 1st round picks he had in Tampa.
He is a very good GM but the smartest one? I think Bill Guerin is the best GM in the NHL and it's not particularly close.

please, by all means, elaborate.

 

[Roomba With a Bauer]

Jesus. Stop feeding the troll. He just said he thinks Bill Guerin is the best GM in the NHL. How long are you guys gonna let this loser teabag you?

 

[haulinbass]

For the few with skating concerns, here are some good examples of his skating. He isn't setting any records but he certainly is a pretty good skater. Not only does he have pretty good speed but he is really solid on his skates and can handle the puck pretty well at full speed.