HSJ in the morning: on Marco Kasper

The Free Press’s Helene St. James filed a morning column regarding the maturation of Marco Kasper. The tri-lingual prospect will “make the jump” to North American hockey after two seasons with Rogle BK in Sweden, where Kasper adjusted to playing professional hockey while juggling the demands of completing his high school education outside his native Austria:

Kasper stands to be in for a big change now that he is transitioning to play in North America. Not just the smaller ice surface, but daily practices, games three-to-four times a week, and a demanding travel schedule. Development camp at Little Caesars Arena in early July was a good primer for Kasper to learn how much of an impact nutrition and sleep can make — and to show how far he has come in the year since the Wings drafted him. In fact, there’s an argument for him to slow down a bit.

“He does too much, if that makes sense,” Wings director of player development Dan Cleary said. “He’s wanting more and more and more. It’s like, ‘Kasper, you might have to bring it back a little bit.’ There’s no issue with Kasper’s work ethic and determination. He’s got high character. He’s just a good person.”

Kasper’s drive — along with his skills, skating and hockey sense — are what led general manager Steve Yzerman to select Kasper at No. 8 a year ago. But as with 2021 top pick Simon Edvinsson, Yzerman isn’t going to hand Kasper an NHL job before he is ready. Trading for Alex DeBrincat and Klim Kostin and signing J.T. Compher, Daniel Sprong and Christian Fischer stocked the Wings with NHL forwards, and signaled that higher-ups anticipate Kasper starting with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

To Kasper’s advantage, he already is used to playing in a men’s league; before he was recalled to Detroit on March 30, Kasper played 52 games with Rögle BK in his third season in Sweden’s top men’s league, where he posted eight goals, 15 assists — and a team-high 72 penalty minutes.

It was evident in his one NHL game that Kasper isn’t one to shirk from physical confrontation.

“I’m trying not to back down at all and be where the goals are scored,” Kasper said. “There’s going to be scrums and I’m trying to be there and not back down and stand up for myself and my teammates.”

Continued; Kasper might be best-served adjusting to the North American grind by playing a season in Grand Rapids, but he’s very close to being NHL-ready. If there’s a significant injury that affords Kasper the opportunity to jump into the top six, he may steal a job. We’ll see where the pesky forward lines up come September.

Some due praise for the ‘underappreciated’ Jake Walman

The Hockey News’s Jacob Stoller penned a list of six particularly underappreciated NHL players this afternoon, and he suggests that Red Wings defenseman Jake Walman has at least entered the chat in the “underrated” category:

Jake Walman, D, Detroit Red Wings: Jake Walman flies under the radar, but players like him are a coach’s dream.  The 27-year-old game is centered around simplicity and efficiency. Walman knows who he is. He knows he’s not Mortiz Seider, and you’ll never find him attempting a crafty, highlight-reel dipsy-doodle. 

Ultimately, the beauty of Walman’s game lies in the positive impact he makes that often doesn’t attract the naked, unsuspecting eye. He’s terrific at executing zone exits, finishing 13th among defensemen in carried exits (10) per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 this past season, according to allthreezones.com. 

Walman is a cerebral defenseman who knows when to jump into the play, when to stay back, and when to distribute the puck versus skate with it. The 6-foot-2 left-shot rearguard is the perfect partner for Seider, acting as somewhat of a safety blanket for the uberly talented – albeit sometimes reckless – offensive defenseman.

In 63 games last season, Walman averaged 19:43 minutes per game and recorded nine goals and 18 points. He also averaged only 2.28 expected goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, which ranks him 14th among defensemen that played at least 500 minutes this season, according to naturalstattrick.com. 

Continued; I agree that Walman does sometimes cover up for Seider’s more dangerous plays, and fantastic advanced stats aside, Stoller’s best observations here is that Walman knows who he is and who he is not.

Walman plays as a complementary defenseman, and he plays a simple, smart game, knowing when to simply dump the puck out of the zone and when to send a pinpoint pass, when to sneak a slap shot or when to simply walk into a wrister from the point, and when to stay back and make sure that little to nothing happens during his shift (because, as Henrik Zetterberg said, sometimes a shift where nothing happens is a successful shift).

Monroe posts Q and A with Walleye coach Pat Mikesch

The Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe posted a Q and A with new Toledo Walleye coach Pat Mikesch this morning. We’ll start with the first three questions…

Question: What have your initial impressions of the community been?

Answer: “Ninety percent of my time has been downtown. But I’ve been impressed with all the parks here. We have three dogs. They’ll love getting into the trails and running. We have an older dog, Maggie. She’s a Shih Tzu that’s 16 years old now. We have two other Labs, Beano and Wally, and they are 3 years old. So they’re the active ones. [Toledo] has a very Green Bay feeling to it with the sports community downtown. And we’ve loved our time in Green Bay. It’s set up the same way with some very good neighborhood communities, great people. I think that’s good for us settling in.”

Q: How is the recruiting process going?

A: “Right now I’m just letting [the six players that are already signed] get to know me, and they’ve all done their homework. Those guys are ready to get in town. They want to win a championship, and a lot of these guys have been close. We’re talking to one free agent right now that we’re working hard on. Most of the free agents we’re talking to are still trying to see if they’re gonna get that American League contract. We want that guy who’s right on the fringe. I want players to feel comfortable that if they end up coming to Toledo, they’re coming to a great market and a place that has its own energy every night. Hockey players want to enjoy their experience and be taken care of. Overall it’s been exciting.”

Q: What attributes are you looking for in a player?

A: “Every player has their own skill set, and you’ve got to have all the pieces. Character, the hockey sense, and skating [are important]. I want to play fast. So we better have that core group that can play at that level. I want to see what their history is as far as winning. Where was their last championship team? That’s a big thing. We want to be playing late into the season, very meaningful games, so went to see their playoff stats.”

Continued

Tweets of note: highly reliable report states Noah Dower Nilsson has had shoulder surgery, will miss WJSS

Red Wings Swedish super-fan and “The Swedish Winger” podcaster Lars Thorsell reports that the “upper-body imaging” that Liam and Noah Dower Nilsson had at the end of the Red Wings’ 2023 Summer Development Camp led to some bad news, per Rakapuckar’s Henrik Leman:

This certainly explains why Noah wasn’t listed on Sweden’s World Junior Summer Showcase roster.

Here’s hoping he gets better soon…But Frolunda Hockey’s official channels have not confirmed Noah’s shoulder issue, so we’re going to classify this as a highly-reliable “report” until the official news comes out.

And the WJSS starts next Saturday at USA Hockey Arena. The only two Red Wings prospects who will be taking part are USA Hockey White’s Trey Augustine and Sweden’s Axel Sandin Pellikka.

If you’re interested in heading to the WJSS, games will take place on July 29th, July 31st, August 2nd and August 4th. It’s a fantastic event to take in top 2023-drafted prospects and some top prospects eligible for the 2024 and 2025 NHL Drafts.

Roughly translated: Griffins goaltending coach Roope Koistinen discusses his career’s maturation with Karpat Oulu’s website.

Grand Rapids Griffins goaltending coach Roope Koistinen spoke with Karpat Oulu’s website regarding his decision to leave the Finnish Liiga’s organization for North America. Here’s a rough translation of his conversation:

Roope Koistinen about his AHL contract: “It’s a dream come true”

The career of Roope Koistinen, who worked as the goaltending coach for Karpat’s Under-20 team, and as the youth team’s goalie coaching manager, took a big step this summer. At the beginning of this month, Koistinen, who worked as the goaltending coach for Karpat, signed a contract with the Grand Rapids Griffins, the AHL team of the NHL team Detroit Red Wings.

“Things happened quickly. Through the NHL’s drafting of young goalies, many networks have been formed over the years, and I’ve tried to actively create those networks myself as well. It’s been my goal and dream to one day be able to coach in North America. I didn’t think it would happen in such a short span of time. Discussions took place briefly during June. After that came an invitation to an official interview, and shortly after that they wanted to offer me a contract. After all, it was a dream come true.”

Continue reading Roughly translated: Griffins goaltending coach Roope Koistinen discusses his career’s maturation with Karpat Oulu’s website.

Nate Danielson speaks with his hometown paper regarding his draft and development camp experiences

Last week, the Red Deer Advocate’s Ian Gustavsson spoke with two of Nate Danielson’s youth hockey coaches regarding the on-ice maturation of the Red Wings’ 2023 9th overall pick, and this evening, Gustavsson speaks with Danielson himself regarding his draft and summertime experiences:

“To get drafted by the Red Wings and hear [general manager] Steve Yzerman call my name it was pretty surreal,” he said. “Just the history that they’ve had with such great players go through there it’s cool to be a part of that.”

The selection was also a historical moment for the city of Red Deer. He became the first from the community to be drafted that high since Glen Wesley was taken third overall by the Boston Bruins in 1987. He was surprised to be taken that high but felt he had a great interview with the Red Wings during the NHL combine.

Following the draft, Danielson joined his fellow draftees and prospects at the Red Wings development camp in Michigan which was five days long. Danielson spent plenty of time on the ice developing his skills and learning from experienced coaches. He also got to meet members of the organization and got acquainted with the local media. The camp also wrapped up with a three-on-three tournament.

“It was really fun. Just to get to go down there, see their facilities, and get to meet a lot of the people there was a lot of fun,” he said. “Also, learning through skills work and power skating and a lot of off-ice work too. It was a really great week.”

At the end of July Danielson will head back to Detroit to get settled in before training camp where he’ll compete for a roster spot. Danielson explained the Red Wings have not indicated whether he’ll be playing for their American Hockey League affiliate the Grand Rapids Griffins or if they’ll send him back to the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings where he’s spent the last three seasons.

They’ll talk about that more once training camp starts where they can further evaluate his development.

“It’s been a crazy couple of weeks. Being in Nashville was a really cool week but having my family there too it was nice to be able to spend some time with them,” he said. “Detroit was a lot of fun and I had a really great week. I signed with the Red Wings a couple of days ago so that was a pretty cool moment to sign my first NHL contract. It’s something I’ve dreamed of ever since I was young.”

Continued;

Danielson plays in the Canadian Hockey League (and the WHL, specifically, with Brandon), so he has to play in the WHL if he doesn’t make the Red Wings’ roster out of training camp. The rule right now states that if you’re an 18-year-old or 19-year-old, you can’t play in the AHL–it’s the NHL or the WHL, and nothing in between. The little pandemic exemption that allowed Donovan Sebrango to play in the AHL instead of the OHL has expired.

Khan’s mailbag: Discussing potential personnel moves (or the lack thereof)

MLive’s Ansar Khan filed a mailbag feature today, and his first question might be the most pressing one to Red Wings fans:

Q: We still have cap space and there’s some intriguing options still available, like Patrick Kane and (Vladimir) Tarasenko. Would love to see Kane on (Alex) DeBrincat’s line. They worked well together in Chicago. Any chance of that happening? – Doug

A: For what it’s worth, this is what Yzerman said about potentially making another move after acquiring DeBrincat:

“I’m not going to rule anything out. If there’s a great player out there and we can acquire him … we would strongly consider it. We’re not restrained by finances, we’re restrained by the salary cap. We’re not going to go to the cap just to go to the cap, but certainly if an opportunity comes along that makes our team better … we’re prepared to do that. Having said that, I’m not aware of any scenario that’s going to happen at this time. So, I don’t see us doing a whole lot more.”

Kane underwent hip resurfacing surgery on June 1 and is expected to miss four-to-six months. He’ll likely sign with a team when he’s closer to returning. He’s probably looking for a multiyear deal with a Stanley Cup-contending club. Don’t think he’d be interested in being part of a rebuild at this stage of his career.

Tarasenko reportedly is seeking a multiyear deal in the $6 million-a-year range. He won’t get that in Detroit. If the New York Rangers can’t afford him, maybe he goes to Ottawa as DeBrincat’s replacement if the Senators can find the cap space.

The Red Wings aren’t going to exhaust all of their cap space but could use another forward, maybe a bottom-six center.

Perhaps they’d be interested in bringing back Pius Suter on a reasonable one-year deal. At this point, he’s probably not getting the two-year contract he’s seeking on the market.

Another possibility is helping a cap-strapped team by assuming an expiring contract and acquiring a second-round pick in the process, like they did with Marc Staal and Nick Leddy.

Continued;

Kulfan profiles Marco Kasper

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan profiles Red Wings prospect Marco Kasper today. Kasper is arguably the team’s best offensive prospect, and, as Kulfan notes, he may be Detroit’s most well-rounded player:

The pictures were all over social media and for many Red Wings fans, it was a stark realization of how old many of them are.

The pictures of Marco Kasper, 19, graduating high school in Sweden earlier this spring and beaming in his school uniform. It shows how relatively young Kasper still is. But also shows the dedication and will that are also some of Kasper’s main attributes on the ice.

“In Sweden it’s hard to try to juggle school and hockey,” said Kasper, who happens to speak fluent Swedish, German and English. “I managed to do it with help from the teachers and principal.”

A typical day in Sweden the last couple seasons was practice early in the morning, work out, have lunch, then go to school. Kasper would get his classes done, maybe get caught up in his school work right after, then go home, have dinner, and finish up more homework.

“Then do it all over again the next day,” Kasper said.

Continued (paywall)

Press release: Grand Rapids Griffins reschedule Wednesday, March 13th game at Cleveland for Tuesday, March 12th

Per the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The American Hockey League on Friday announced that the Grand Rapids Griffins’ road game against the Cleveland Monsters originally set for Wednesday, March 13 has been rescheduled for Tuesday, March 12 at 7 p.m. due to a scheduling conflict at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

The Griffins will begin the 2023-24 season at Van Andel Arena on Oct. 13 against the Colorado Eagles. Fans can secure their full-season, select-season  or group ticket packages by calling (616) 774-4585 ext. 2 or visit griffinshockey.com for more information. Single-game tickets for the Griffins’ 2023-24 season will go on sale to the public later this summer through griffinshockey.com/tickets. Be sure to sign up to receive the Griffins Nation newsletters to be the first to know when tickets go on sale.