The Athletic’s Max Bultman discusses three items of note this morning, noting Marco Kasper’s stock rising due to his preseason performances, the reinforcement of the importance of the Rasmussen-Copp-Fischer line, and the lingering mess in the Red Wings’ goal crease:
Stock up: Marco Kasper
Kasper has been a standout since early in training camp and he’s carried it into the preseason. He had an assist in his exhibition debut, but really the story of that game for him had more to do with how assertive and confident he looked, especially on the penalty kill.
That’s not an easy role for a young player to thrive in, but Kasper was very impressive in the preseason opener, even creating a couple of scoring chances — one that he started by winning a battle at the defensive blue line, and one off a high-skill play below the offensive goal line.
Those are eye-catching plays from a prospective rookie.
It’s still early, of course. But seeing Kasper translate that impressive camp into game action was the first big step. In particular, seeing that offense come out has been important. Even in practices, he’s displayed some nice touch on his shot, too.
Now it’ll be a matter of seeing if he can keep up his strong play, or even build on it.
Detroit’s roster looks like it’s going to be tough to crack, barring injury. But if Kasper can play like this all preseason, he will give himself a chance — and he already looks like a strong candidate for NHL time at some point this season.
Continued (paywall); Kasper definitely looks like he possesses the versatility necessary to excel at any role which the Red Wings deem necessary for him; for better or worse, the Rasmussen-Copp-Fischer line is the Wings’ “identity line,” and I think that it’s just too early to make any conclusions regarding the Red Wings’ crease.
I’m of the opinion that we’re going to watch the Wings’ goaltending sort itself out over the first 10-15 games of the regular season.
Eight preseason games isn’t quite enough to sort out not only where Cam Talbot, Alex Lyon and Ville Husso fit, but also where Sebastian Cossa, Jack Campbell, Carter Gylander, Gage Alexander and Griffins-contracted Jan Bednar stack up.
At this point, the Wings may not be able to give more than one goaltender a full game’s worth of play later this week, and in terms of the minor league situation, it’s probably going to consist of Cossa, Campbell and Gylander in Grand Rapids, and Alexander and Bednar in Toledo.
