The Athletic’s Max Bultman filed a mailbag feature a couple of days ago, and, this morning, Bultman offers a second mailbag story:
After the Red Wings sent Marco Kasper to Grand Rapids to start the season last year, in favor of keeping back-of-the-roster veterans, is there any hope for prospects who have not made their Red Wings debut yet to make the opening-day roster without injuries in front of them? — Peter N.
Kasper was outstanding last preseason and, in my view, deserved a spot on the opening-night roster. That he didn’t start there does seem to indicate how hard it will be for any young player to win a spot outright.
I do think Kasper’s case is also instructive in another, more encouraging way: He still played 77 games last season. Opening night holds some special symbolic meaning, but Kasper only ended up missing five games total. He still made a full-season impact for the Red Wings. It’s a good reminder that the October roster is just a snapshot of a moment in time, and isn’t an end-all, be-all.
Beyond that, the Red Wings’ hole at top-line left wing right now does at least open the door to a youngster in a way that hasn’t always been the case. Remember that Lucas Raymond was once ticketed to start his age-19 season in Grand Rapids, if not for the fact that Jakub Vrana got hurt, creating room high in the lineup.
Now, I don’t know if Nate Danielson, Carter Mazur, Amadeus Lombardi or Michael Brandsegg-Nygård is going to have as dazzling a camp as Raymond did. That’s a high bar. However, if one does, the fact that there’s an upper-lineup spot seemingly available is an interesting factor. Detroit has tended to prefer its young players earn a prominent role in order to make the big club, and there might actually be one up for grabs this year.
Today, I wouldn’t predict any of them to make the cut opening night, but it wouldn’t surprise me if one or more of Danielson, Mazur or maybe even Lombardi play a significant number of games in Detroit next year.
Continued (paywall); the Red Wings are running pretty lean in terms of their AHL depth right now, but it would not surprise me if they stack the Grand Rapids Griffins with some AHL veterans who may supplant the Wings’ youngsters on the depth chart.
The bottom line for most young players is pretty simple: they have to take a veteran’s job in order to make an organization’s NHL roster on a full-time basis.
There are definitely times when a rookie or young player will slot into the lineup due to an injury suffered during training camp or the exhibition season, but a situation like Kasper’s isn’t particularly common. Players like Danielson, Mazur, Lombardi or Brandsegg-Nygard will have uphill battles in terms of winning roster spots this upcoming season.
