Back in 2015, Western Michigan hockey coach Andy Murray took a young Finnish defenseman out to dinner, as he did with all of his recruits.
Murray and his Broncos coaching staff had helped arrange for the player, Oliwer Kaski, to come to the Muskegon Lumberjacks USHL camp. When they watched him, they decided he was good enough to play for the Broncos that year. And, sure enough, he did. But it’s the memory of that dinner that still sticks in Murray’s mind four years later, with Kaski now officially signed to join the Red Wings organization this season.
Oliwer, how would you describe your defensive style? Murray remembers asking.
“And he said, ‘No coach, I’m
offensive,’” Murray recalled. “I said, ‘OK, we’ll accept that.’
“He defends, and he knows to get ice time you’ve got to defend,” Murray added. “But it was kind of a cute answer from a young guy, and maybe a little bit with the language too.”
Whether it was just a language slip or not, what Kaski said that night four years ago has not been wrong, either. This past season, playing in Liiga, the top Finnish league, Kaski scored 19 goals and 51 points in 59 games as a defenseman for the Lahti Pelicans, earning himself the Lasse Oksanen Award as the league’s best regular-season player. He then played on Finland’s gold-medal-winning national team at the IIHF Men’s World Championship this month, where his coach chose him to take a penalty shot in the gold-medal game against Canada.
That’s not exactly typical for a defenseman. But Kaski clearly showed enough offensive acumen to persuade his coach, and while he didn’t convert the shot, the fact that he was selected is telling either way.
“He’s definitely a new-age-type defenseman, in the sense that he’s gifted offensively and can move the puck,” said Murray, who has followed Kaski’s career even after the defenseman left Kalamazoo to turn pro in Finland early into his sophomore season.
“He just needed to get stronger, and I think he’s done that by just, age-wise, physically maturing. The big thing you’re gonna see with him, he’s got a strong belief system in himself.”
The move for Detroit to bring in Kaski has been in the works for a while, with director of player evaluation Jiri Fischer and now-former assistant coach Pat Ferschweiler both reaching out to Murray during their research process.
In a phone call with
The Athletic last week, Murray observed that Kaski had matured physically from the slight kid he had recruited four years ago. He noted his on-ice presence, and the way he runs a power play — whether it’s from up top, ripping his “big time” shot from the point, or sliding down the left side for seam passes.
Detroit, whose leading defensive scorer last season was 38-year-old Niklas Kronwall with 27 points, could absolutely use that kind of boost in its system, especially from a right-handed shot.
“He visualizes (the) ice very well,” Pelicans coach Ville Nieminen wrote in a text message Tuesday. “He anticipates the game, knows what’s gonna happen next. Excellent passer, good shot. He has a lot of courage to play, and wants to play when the game is on the line.”
Kaski’s father, Olli, had a long pro career as a defenseman between the SHL, DEL and Liiga from the mid-1980s through 2000.
Oliwer, Nieminen says, is a “copy of him.”
“We knew his potential, and we knew he (was) gonna have a breakthrough season, but not like
that,” Nieminen said.
Kaski more than tripled his point total this season, from 16 points the year before.
Nieminen added that Kaski took big steps forward physically this season, which is important because despite standing 6-feet-3, eliteprospects.com lists him at just 187 pounds.
His coach acknowledged that as he moves toward his next phase, Kaski will need to “play a little more defense closing gaps, (get) a little stronger in battles and (make) a little quicker decisions with the puck.”
“He will adapt to it,” Nieminen said.
Our Corey Pronman
ranked Kaski sixth among his international, college and CHL free agents in March, higher than fellow Red Wings signees Taro Hirose and Ryan Kuffner. As you might have already guessed, Pronman highlighted his skating, puck movement and shot, as well as his power-play value. He cautioned, however, “I don’t think his skill is high-end, nor do I think he’s that good a defender or all that physical, which may limit his value if he goes to a tougher level.”
For that reason, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Kaski start out in Grand Rapids next season to get reacclimated to North American ice, though he’ll likely be given a chance to compete for a job in Detroit out of training camp.
Kaski is also known as a gregarious, social personality who Murray says was one of the most popular players in Kalamazoo, and with whom many players still keep in touch.
That will serve him well as he adjusts to his new situation, with the Red Wings shaping up to have a crowded blue-line competition entering the season. That’s even before factoring in Kronwall, who is mulling retirement as a free agent but could also decide to come back for one more season.
Regardless, Kaski’s addition means another young defenseman in the picture for Detroit. That could be especially significant in a year, once the contracts of Jonathan Ericsson, Mike Green and Trevor Daley are all up, leaving the Red Wings with a sudden glut of available ice time. Top prospects Filip Hronek and Dennis Cholowski each got about half a season in the NHL in 2018-19, and both should take another step forward this season.
Cholowski stuck in Detroit for 52 games until his blazing-hot offensive start cooled and the defensive challenges of pro hockey caught up to him. Hronek spent some time in Grand Rapids early but ended up playing 46 games with the Red Wings and tallying 23 points — then, he followed it up by being named the top defenseman at this month’s World Championship.
As Kaski readjusts to the North American ice and play, especially defensively, it stands to reason that he may not get that level of NHL exposure in his first season, particularly with those two young players already battling for time. But he will be walking into camp with a Finnish MVP trophy and a summer of national team experience that ended with gold. Those should at least serve as reminders of his ability.
“Oliwer is a player,” Nieminen said.
Next, he’ll try to become one for the Red Wings.
