Player Discussion Mark Kastelic

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It looks like they’re trying to put together a modern-day version of the Big Bad Bruins - The Boston Globe

Being hard to play against throughout an 82-game season is a necessity. It’s on the postseason stage, however, where size, muscle, and grit are the most important ingredients to advance.

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GAME IS IN HIS BLOOD​

Father, grandfather guided Kastelic​

Mark Kastelic arrived in Boston with excellent hockey bloodlines and a unique tie to the city.

His father, Ed Kastelic, was a physical presence for the Capitals and Whalers in the late 1980s and early ‘90s, and his grandfather, Pat Stapleton, began his NHL odyssey with the Bruins in 1961.

Ed Kastelic was an old-school enforcer who accumulated 719 penalty minutes in 220 games across seven NHL seasons.

Though Mark Kastelic will drop the gloves when he must, he plays a slightly different role than the old man. Kastelic plays a heavy, physical forecheck game, and will look to carve out a bottom-six niche with the Bruins.

“It’s definitely part of my game, but I don’t think that’s what defines me as a player at all,” said Kastelic, who grew up in Phoenix, where his father coached his youth teams. “I think I bring a lot, a good all-around game and kind of take a lot of pride in being a good two-way forward, and I think being physical and faceoffs are a strength of mine, and definitely not afraid to mix it up if I have to and if the time calls for it.

With coach Jim Montgomery and GM Don Sweeney putting a premium on forechecking, Kastelic could be a diamond in the rough. He ticked off the elements he thinks are critical to be successful as an individual and a line when it comes to the art of pinning teams in their end.

“I think just first thing first is you can just be in the best shape possible and have a good conditioning level so that way you can maintain a high drive and high forechecking mentality,” he said. “And I think as a line, just being on the same page as everybody else and really understanding the systems and what the coaches have in place. So, I think those two things go together and just the mentality of just being hungry for the puck and not being afraid to get in there and be physical and separate the puck from the player.”

As much as dear old dad influenced his career, Kastelic said he also had a special bond with Stapleton, a solid defenseman who played 635 NHL games (545 with the Blackhawks) and played in four All-Star Games. He also represented Canada in the Summit Series in 1972 and ‘74.

“I definitely had a really cool relationship with him, and I mean, growing up he was really involved in my hockey career,” said Kastelic.

Kastelic would often escape the summer heat in Phoenix to spend time with Stapleton in Ontario.

“There would be some summers where he’d run a hockey camp, a small hockey camp in Strathroy, and I got to be a part of it, and a lot of it was based around the mental part of the game too, so I think he had a really big impact on me in that part with just being mentally tough and having a good positive mind-set about everything,” said Kastelic. “And yeah, he was definitely somebody I looked up to and I talked to a lot. He would text me really regularly with just positive inspirational messages, so that’s something I’m really lucky to have had.”

Stapleton, who died in 2020, wore No. 4 with the Bruins before Bobby Orr immortalized it.

“That’s crazy,” said Kastelic, who has seen pictures of his grandfather in a Bruins sweater. “Obviously I can’t wear that now, but I’m No. 47, so that’s a little part that’s still there for him, so it’s pretty cool. I also wore [his Blackhawks’] No. 12 in the past for him, so yeah, something I try to do to honor him a little bit.”