The Kasper conundrum

The Athletic’s Max Bultman suggests that both Red Wings prospect Marco Kasper and pro try-out Austin Watson have earned spots on this year’s Red Wings team, and this morning, he ponders how the Wings might make room on their roster for one or both players.

Bultman starts with Kasper’s case for making the team:

Marco Kasper deserves a spot on this team.

He was noticeable in training camp. He was impactful to begin the preseason. And he closed out his exhibition season with his best game yet Friday night, a two-goal showing against the Ottawa Senators in which Kasper very nearly recorded a hat trick in the first period.

“(He’s) been excellent,” head coach Derek Lalonde said Friday. “Energy. Some finish there. He’s had a really good camp.”

Lalonde went back to a point he made early in camp about the differences he’s seen between Kasper now versus at this time last year, when the coach felt the young forward looked like a “deer in a headlight.”

This time around? Kasper was the story of the preseason for Detroit. He played an up-tempo game, looked confident with the puck and created chances even when short-handed. And he did that all within what looked like a very sustainable framework, not cheating for offense. Getting the two goals Friday was the final piece of the puzzle, adding some production to a lot of good processes.

Of course, he’s still a rookie, and on Thursday, Lalonde noted that Kasper “probably had his fingerprints” on a goal against, being out of position on the penalty kill. But the mistakes were few and far between, and by the end, Kasper didn’t just look like a good prospect. He looked like one of the Red Wings’ 12 best forwards.

Continued (paywall); I’m honestly a bit flummoxed as to what’s going to happen here.

The Red Wings definitely witnessed a revelatory performance from Kasper, but at present, there’s no room for him on the roster without making some decisions–as in waiving Justin Holl, sitting someone like Jonatan Berggren or Joe Veleno, or waiving a goaltender (and Bultman and I are in agreement that Ville Husso looked superb in the preseason).

Just as importantly, Bultman argues that Austin Watson was literally and figuratively impactful enough that he should earn a contract with the Red Wings. That’s doubly complicated because, even assuming that the Wings make room for Kasper on the roster, there’s no room for Watson on the opening-night roster if the Wings are to a) keep three goaltenders or b) keep 8 defensemen with c) Kasper on the roster.

The Wings would have to waive Justin Holl and somehow waive or trade someone else to make room for Watson, and given that Watson was emphatic about wanting a one-way contract and “not riding buses” this upcoming season, he may have to do both, at least initially, to join the Red Wings’ organization. The Wings could easily sign him to a one-way contract, waive him, and send him to Grand Rapids for now, with the promise that he’d be the first call-up in case of a forward injury…

But it’s just effing complicated, one way or another, to make room for Kasper and/or Watson. Therein lies the problem facing the Red Wings’ management, and if I am to be honest…

I do not think that Kasper makes the opening-night roster, which is going to have the fan base’s blood boiling. There’s no doubt in my mind that Kasper is NHL-ready, but the Wings’ roster matrix is full right now, and I don’t see the coaches and management (who are both in charge of player personnel decisions) making the painful decision to either waive Holl or move a goaltender in order to alleviate the roster jam.

That doesn’t mean that Kasper will remain in the AHL for long, or that Watson would have to ride buses for a long time, because players get injured, and player performances sometimes dictate a roster shake-up.

But I think that we already know what the Red Wings’ roster is going to look like for opening night, and it’s going to contain 12 forwards (including Berggren), eight defensemen (including Holl) and 3 goaltenders.

We haven’t even discussed Michael Brandsegg-Nygard’s future here, but that’s another roster decision that has to be made as he’s eligible to head back to Skelleftea AIK in Sweden, or he could play here in North America in Grand Rapids, but that is another story for today and tomorrow.