If he had a better scoring touch, it almost sounds like you're describing Rosen, who went 14th in last year's draft.
I really like that comparison. I refreshed with a scouting video and a lot of it felt similar to how I understand him to be. Ironically, that scout sees him more in line with how others see him, but I'll wait for the video to get his full thoughts because I don't know how far along he is in the film study process.
Rosen is listed at 180cm/74kg. That's exactly what Kasper was prior to last summer. Now, he hit a late growth spurt last summer, and he also spent a lot of time in the gym on a bulk program. But just because you get bigger overnight, doesn't mean you learn to protect the puck overnight. He still plays as though he were 180cm/74kg, even though he's up to 185/83.
There was a funny moment(s) in the last game against GB that actually happened twice if I recall which illustrates what I'm describing. Kasper's go to move to avoid defensive pressure is to turn and essentially cut away. He was carrying the puck both times in behind the opposing net, and he got fronted by a defenseman, and he cuts away, and then another defenseman fronts him from the other side, and he cuts back, he sees the defenseman is still there, he cuts again and loses the puck. And he lost the puck at least twice this way. It's a funny blooper but it sort of illustrates the fact that he can't simply move past defensemen by putting his body in between the defenseman and the puck and protecting it. It's not a move in his arsenal in the senior level, and his inability to do so leads to turnovers.
I could be totally off base, and I get that. Because a lot of people are describing him as "physical tough guy." I won't pretend to be unbiased at all. But I don't think I am. And I think the fact that scouts are starting to see what I see, rather than their initial position, is why he has been rising in the rankings recently. There's a difference between a power forward and a pest. A pest he absolutely is. But while he's willing to put himself in greasy places (perhaps this is different from Rosen)...he's mostly getting knocked around. It's kinda in the process of getting knocked around that he creates so much havoc that things happen, but he's not out there winning battles and pushing people around. At least in my viewings, the vast majority of times he battles for the puck with adults, he loses.
He absolutely does not have Rosen's shot, as you point out. He's not going to be a goal-scorer in that way. What he may have that is slightly different is that he is bigger. As he develops physically, he will learn to protect the puck with his body. And he will eventually be able to win battles for the puck. If he can protect the puck, win battles for the puck, these are puck possession increasing things. For a guy who already has a great Corsi, you add those things to his arsenal, personally I'm excited.
