C Marco Kasper (2022, 8th, DET)

[VictorLustig]

Sorry, but the Rosén comparison is probably top-5 worst I’ve seen on these boards and I’ve seen quite a few bad ones. Don’t even know where to start…

 

[bsu]

He looks so young, him and Korchinski both look like they have so much room to fill in with.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Sorry, but the Rosén comparison is probably top-5 worst I’ve seen on these boards and I’ve seen quite a few bad ones. Don’t even know where to start…

Who is a better comparison?

 

[wingerdinger]

Who is a better comparison?

Bo horvat off the top of my head

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Who is a better comparison?

Landeskog

 

[cheesymc]

Who is a better comparison?

I think he’s Dylan Larkin. Same size, grit, speed, leadership, position. Similar in that they are both question on their offensive production in their draft year.

 

[bsu]

He looks so young in his interview.. He had a great interview reminded me of Rossi.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

I think he’s Dylan Larkin. Same size, grit, speed, leadership, position. Similar in that they are both question on their offensive production in their draft year.

That's not far off. He says that the players he really admires and tries to pattern himself after in the NHL are Bergeron and Toews. I still think he becomes more of a Danault level 2C that is a major pain in the other team's backside and takes the heavy defensive matchups.

 

[kabidjan18]

Sorry, but the Rosén comparison is probably top-5 worst I’ve seen on these boards and I’ve seen quite a few bad ones. Don’t even know where to start…

Quite possibly. It was suggested, I did brief research and am far less knowledgeable about Rosen than many here. I have no attachment to the comparison either.

I told someone Kasper knows well 2 years ago "Austrian hockey need a Patrice Bergeron type center." So I wouldn't be disappointed if that's what he became. But what I don't agree with is using his phantom defensive play to knock his offensive potential. The numbers are not at all ambiguous, his defensive stats (both basic and advanced) are the worst of all first round candidates in the class. SHL is a hard league for sure. But quite a few other prospects are also playing pro hockey, none of them come close. Now I believe in the stars for him. I believe he could become a Selke candidate.

But I dislike the reason it's being stated. Because it's clear to me that the motivation for this tag is that people see some of his goals, they find it unremarkable, they see he has a good motor so they just mark down "two way forward." The way I see it being used by commercial scouts is in this context "oh well, I'm not impressed with his offense but maybe he is a 2 way forward." "He has no offensive upside but maybe he can chase around pucks in his own end." Even to the point where they say stuff like "well I wouldn't draft him high, but you just know some old school GMs like a dirty forward who will go into the grimy areas and battle for the puck and do the simple stuff."

This guy drives play at the SHL and WC level. He will touch the puck as much as anyone else on his line, sometimes more. And he makes a lot of mistakes with the puck due to how often he handles it. But I would rather an honest criticism of the things he needs to improve on, of which there are many things, than "he projects as a low skill two way guy who will not carry the puck much" because that's just not the reality, he already does that a lot at high levels of hockey, both for Rogle and Team Austria.


Tape speaks louder than a thousand words. I think this game is a fair depiction of his style. This is a J20 game. This is not against men. And between Stromgren and Pettersson he actually looks quite small.

Defensively. In the whole game, I could have missed one, but as I recall he did not dispossess a single opposing puck carrier even once. He did not block any shots. He did not lift any sticks. It's J20, so he did play on the PK. They gave up a PPG, may even have been his man. Again, this is a junior game, this is not against men. Many people have said "what you see is what you get." If what you see is what you get, and you're looking for a 2 way center, you're in trouble.

Offensively. He did turn the puck over. He got knocked off it multiple times. He didn't, as I recall, employ effective puck protection a single time in the game. So this whole idea of "power forward", this is a junior game and he can't even protect the puck here. He also lost the handle a couple times, missed a couple passes. His shot is a bit of a muffin. But he made plays. Of course he scored 3 points, but even aside from that, considering the chances that he created for himself and his teammates, he easily more than made up for his lack of defensive play and mistakes with the puck with his production. And at the J20 level, very distinctly a perimeter player, spent little time in front of the net.

The upside is that very recently he was a small kid who got pushed around. Despite a big growth spurt, he still plays like he's a small kid who would get pushed around. When he's 6'1", 200 pounds, has had time to grow into his frame and learn to protect the puck and learn to battle for the puck and dispossess opponents of the puck. He's going to be a menace. People assume that he plays in the SHL because of his physical maturity, when in actuality, he plays in the SHL because of his skill, in spite of his lack of physical maturity. I know he'll continue to work on every facet of his game. When his physical maturity does arrive, with work on his other skills, I think the "low ceiling" tag is poorly applied.

 

[Captain Clutch]

Quite possibly. It was suggested, I did brief research and am far less knowledgeable about Rosen than many here. I have no attachment to the comparison either.

I told someone Kasper knows well 2 years ago "Austrian hockey need a Patrice Bergeron type center." So I wouldn't be disappointed if that's what he became. But what I don't agree with is using his phantom defensive play to knock his offensive potential. The numbers are not at all ambiguous, his defensive stats (both basic and advanced) are the worst of all first round candidates in the class. SHL is a hard league for sure. But quite a few other prospects are also playing pro hockey, none of them come close. Now I believe in the stars for him. I believe he could become a Selke candidate.

But I dislike the reason it's being stated. Because it's clear to me that the motivation for this tag is that people see some of his goals, they find it unremarkable, they see he has a good motor so they just mark down "two way forward." The way I see it being used by commercial scouts is in this context "oh well, I'm not impressed with his offense but maybe he is a 2 way forward." "He has no offensive upside but maybe he can chase around pucks in his own end." Even to the point where they say stuff like "well I wouldn't draft him high, but you just know some old school GMs like a dirty forward who will go into the grimy areas and battle for the puck and do the simple stuff."

This guy drives play at the SHL and WC level. He will touch the puck as much as anyone else on his line, sometimes more. And he makes a lot of mistakes with the puck due to how often he handles it. But I would rather an honest criticism of the things he needs to improve on, of which there are many things, than "he projects as a low skill two way guy who will not carry the puck much" because that's just not the reality, he already does that a lot at high levels of hockey, both for Rogle and Team Austria.


Tape speaks louder than a thousand words. I think this game is a fair depiction of his style. This is a J20 game. This is not against men. And between Stromgren and Pettersson he actually looks quite small.

Defensively. In the whole game, I could have missed one, but as I recall he did not dispossess a single opposing puck carrier even once. He did not block any shots. He did not lift any sticks. It's J20, so he did play on the PK. They gave up a PPG, may even have been his man. Again, this is a junior game, this is not against men. Many people have said "what you see is what you get." If what you see is what you get, and you're looking for a 2 way center, you're in trouble.

Offensively. He did turn the puck over. He got knocked off it multiple times. He didn't, as I recall, employ effective puck protection a single time in the game. So this whole idea of "power forward", this is a junior game and he can't even protect the puck here. He also lost the handle a couple times, missed a couple passes. His shot is a bit of a muffin. But he made plays. Of course he scored 3 points, but even aside from that, considering the chances that he created for himself and his teammates, he easily more than made up for his lack of defensive play and mistakes with the puck with his production. And at the J20 level, very distinctly a perimeter player, spent little time in front of the net.

The upside is that very recently he was a small kid who got pushed around. Despite a big growth spurt, he still plays like he's a small kid who would get pushed around. When he's 6'1", 200 pounds, has had time to grow into his frame and learn to protect the puck and learn to battle for the puck and dispossess opponents of the puck. He's going to be a menace. People assume that he plays in the SHL because of his physical maturity, when in actuality, he plays in the SHL because of his skill, in spite of his lack of physical maturity. I know he'll continue to work on every facet of his game. When his physical maturity does arrive, with work on his other skills, I think the "low ceiling" tag is poorly applied.

I'm so confused, is he bagging on Rosen here or Kasper?

 

[kabidjan18]

I'm so confused, is he bagging on Rosen here or Kasper?

I'm indifferent on Rosen.

I'm discussing areas where I think Kasper can and will improve, to argue that he's not the "low ceiling player" that is a popular narrative. I think he has a lot of areas where he can grow, and they are also not the particularly difficult areas of the game to grow.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

I'm indifferent on Rosen.

I'm discussing areas where I think Kasper can and will improve, to argue that he's not the "low ceiling player" that is a popular narrative. I think he has a lot of areas where he can grow, and they are also not the particularly difficult areas of the game to grow.

My personal opinion of where Kasper needs to improve is his offensive aggressiveness.

There is some flash and sizzle to his game but he doesn't display it often. Kasper has a really good shot but only gets to display how he can score at range at the junior level because Rogle uses him in a netfront battler/bumper role. And his passing game is very good but he looks more to make the safe play more often than not. But all the elements to be a pretty good all around forward are there.

 

[LastWordArmy]

Austria has never been considered a hockey hotbed, but there have been some good prospects out of the country. Following in the footsteps of Thomas Vanek and Marco Rossi is the latest Austrian prospect, Marco Kasper. He played for his country in the World Juniors this year, appearing in two games before the tournament was cut short and postponed due to COVID. He also played in the World Championships, picking up two assists in seven games so far.

Marco Kasper Scouting Report: 2022 NHL Draft #19

Marco Kasper Scouting Report: The latest Austrian prospect to make waves in the NHL Draft is Marco Kasper, who plays for Rogle BK.

lastwordonsports.com

 

[PuckPoise]

Feels a lot like this guy will rise very, very high. Played his best hockey late in the season, seems to have impressed physically and people in the industry raving about his character. Seems like the recipe for a guy many will rank 20-30 but will actually go like 10-12.

 

[newfy]

Feels a lot like this guy will rise very, very high. Played his best hockey late in the season, seems to have impressed physically and people in the industry raving about his character. Seems like the recipe for a guy many will rank 20-30 but will actually go like 10-12.

And he has the type of stuff that internet nerds underrate compared to NHL scouts. Size, physicality, 2 way game etc.

 

[Gstank]

Bo Horvat is a good comparsion for Kasper and I can definitely see him going in the top 10 because those types of players are hard to acquire. I would love to have another Bo Horvat on the Canucks fwiw

 

[WF19]

Really want the Wings to snag him at 8 but actually think he might be gone by then.

 

[lafellaesobar]

Really want the Wings to snag him at 8 but actually think he might be gone by then.

You think Ottawa or Columbus take him?

 

[WF19]

You think Ottawa or Columbus take him?

Probably just because I want the Wings to snag him. Ottawa would have Stutzle and Kasper as 1 and 2 centers but who knows. He's my target for the Wings at 8.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Really want the Wings to snag him at 8 but actually think he might be gone by then.

If he is, it means one of Cutter/Savoie/Jiricek/Nemec (Last two unlikely) slipped to us, which I'm also good with.

 

[Hale The Villain]

Probably just because I want the Wings to snag him. Ottawa would have Stutzle and Kasper as 1 and 2 centers but who knows. He's my target for the Wings at 8.

Sens already have Stutzle, Norris and Pinto as their long-term top 3 centers.

If they take Kasper he'd likely play at LW.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Sens already have Stutzle, Norris and Pinto as their long-term top 3 centers.

If they take Kasper he'd likely play at LW.

That's why I think the Sens shoot for a winger like Gauthier, Lekkerimaki or Kemell. If Jiricek or Nemec are available maybe one of them.

 

[scallionjj11]

That's why I think the Sens shoot for a winger like Gauthier, Lekkerimaki or Kemell. If Jiricek or Nemec are available maybe one of them.

I think this is the most likely scenario for Ottawa

 

[Reddwit]

I started following prospects around the mid 00s, and I remember the slow burn of Lars Eller’s rise. That’s who Kasper reminds me of as of now.

As a Wings fan, I’ll be happy if Detroit takes him, but I won’t be surprised if Kasper doesn’t evolve past a 3C. I think his ceiling is higher than that of course but I’m still hedging my bets with him. I think the Larkin comp is a good call for Kasper on the high end.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Posting this here.

Film Room: Marco Kasper is a menace - EP Rinkside
Solid breakdown of Kasper here.



And here's a long one his game against SAIK in the J20. He really displays a high IQ and is in the right place at the right time consistently.