DobberHockey’s Khurram Sher is the second person over the course of the past 24 hours to suggest that Red Wings center Marco Kasper should rebound from a difficult sophomore NHL season. EliteProspects’ Kareem Elshafey suggested that Kasper will take the same redemptive path on Monday:
In Detroit, Dylan Larkin has declared that he wants out. The center depth behind him is quite weak with Andrew Copp and JT Compher. Michael Rasmussen also split time between center and wing. That leaves the door open for 8th overall pick in 2022: Marco Kasper. Some of you might be thinking ‘I remember that guy, I was open to him being a good player after his rookie season, but he crashed so hard that I have written him off’. Do not be so quick to underestimate him, because the underlying numbers say otherwise.
As is the theme for this article, Kasper’s 5v5 on ice shooting percentage was only 5.9%. His shooting percentage was also on the low end (6.9%). The year before for example he was shooting at 13.1%. Only two of his 10 assists were secondary, meaning he will pick up more secondary assists. Kasper played in 81 games but only averaged 13:48 of time on ice. The year before he received 15:27. With Larkin likely on the move, Kasper’s ice time could shoot up to at least the 17:00 minute mark. Therefore, we could be looking at an increase (a) in ice time (b) in the secondary assist rate (c) in 5v5 shooting percentage (d) in personal shooting percentage and (e) in power play time. Midway through the season, he should be hitting the 200 games played mark as well. In other categories, Kasper also provided a solid 2.30 hits/game.
Continued; Kasper still has high-end potential in my opinion, perhaps becoming the Wings’ second-line center down the line. I believe that he possesses the skills, professionalism and discipline necessary to play a mature NHL game.
