DETROIT—Last Wednesday, following a winless three-game tour of California, the Red Wings retreated to the BELFOR Training Center, their subterranean lair beneath Little Caesars Arena. That they needed a spark required neither explanation nor justification, and coach Derek Lalonde sought that spark in reshuffled forward lines. At the heart of the rejiggered lineup was rookie Marco Kasper, now centering the second line with Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat (a combined 1,787 games and 1,747 points Kasper’s senior in NHL experience) on his wings.
Lalonde’s explanation was simple: “Marco’s playing very well. You can see it in his game. And there’s times when he’s playing with pace, he can drive, and I think that can help Patty…[Kasper] can transport pucks out of his zone. He can middle lane drive and help on the forecheck. There is a purpose with that line, and putting Marco there.”
20 years old and, at the moment of the new assignment, just 15 games into his NHL career, but already there is a sense that Marco Kasper drives the Red Wings. Of course, just because Kasper can take the wheel of a top six line doesn’t mean he’s done acclimating to the NHL game. After Thursday’s win over the Islanders and Saturday’s loss to the Bruins, he’s now played 17 NHL games (16 this year and one at the end of the 2022-23 season), but of course, that still leaves him too green to have possibly seen all the league can and will throw his way.
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“Obviously, I’ve played a couple games now, but it’s not a lot,” Kasper told The Hockey News Saturday morning. “You’re learning every game. You get on the ice, and there’s guys helping you out with stuff. The coaches have some video for you, things you can do better, things that look good, so this is a big part of just growing as an individual, growing as a team.”
The days of prospects over-ripening in the AHL has given way to a salary cap reality in which teams across the league have financial incentive to lean on young players still learning the NHL ropes. Impressive and mature though Kasper may be, he is no exception to that learning curve, so as the Red Wings look to break him and fellow rookie Albert Johansson into NHL roles, each passing game provides new lessons.
As Lalonde explained it Saturday morning, “Today’s NHL…you’re developing on the fly. You get a little extra video, extra reps.” Friday’s practice had been optional, but Kasper and Johansson both took part, because, in Lalonde’s words, “it was important for those guys to get reps and touches and work on some things in their game, so it’s a little more involved.”
At the heart of the learning process for youngsters like Kasper and Johansson are those extra video sessions with Detroit’s coaching staff. “It’s just a conversation,” explains Kasper. “It’s really good to see. It really helps you to understand the game at a high level.” That idea of “seeing” is a crucial one for a young player getting accustomed to life in the NHL. That the meetings function as a conversation rather than lecture offers a chance to share what you saw in real time and juxtapose it with what a coach saw. The objective is to demystify the NHL game for two players who can’t lean on experience to understand what they’re seeing each night.
“Every game here is so hard to win, and there is so many good players here,” Johansson tells The Hockey News Sunday afternoon. “I think my first couple games, I knew it was gonna be a challenge for me. And then I felt like maybe, as the season is going, I think maybe I get a little nervous. You never want to make mistakes, but maybe I was thinking of it a little bit too much, to not make mistakes, and then mistakes come. For me, I’m just trying to work hard every day to get better and play simple hockey that I know I can play: moving pucks and use my feet and skating to be involved.”
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Lalonde has seen something similar in Johansson’s game. “There’s times Albert has looked overwhelmed in his game,” the coach said over the weekend. “It’s been pretty evident…I think it shows up in slow play. There’s things like fanning on eight-foot passes, fanning on pucks at the blue line. That’s not him. That’s a nervous, not-trying-to-make-a-mistake player.” While the Red Wings have consciously ensured he never goes too long in the press box, that process of discovering an NHL level of confidence has meant some healthy scratches.
Johansson debuted in the NHL on October 12th. He played in Detroit’s next game two days later, then spent five games scratched before a run of five straight games in the lineup. Then two games in the lineup, two games scratched. Then one in the lineup (Thursday’s against the Islanders), then another scratch against the Bruins Saturday.
Given the reality of time out of the lineup, Johansson has to find ways to take find value in the game days where he won’t feature come 7 pm. “When I’m not playing, I’m working extra on the ice and the gym, and then I watch the game,” he says. “Of course, you’re learning things every day, and I think that’s important too. Sometimes when I’m not playing to just watch the game and look at different players out there and see how they handle different situations. There’s a lot of players you can learn from, so I just think when I’m not playing, I’m trying to look at the game and look at small things in the game that I can use to improve my game.”
One of the challenges for inexperienced players like Kasper and Johansson is that nearly every opponent is a new one. “When you play a team a couple times, you know what to expect,” Kasper points out. “Like the Islanders [who he saw for the second time last week, and will see again tonight for a third], I kind of knew what their preferences are—forecheck, backcheck, face-offs. Especially as a centerman, going up against other centers, you learn what they like to do, and you have to adjust.”
To Kasper, studying an opponent can offer tricks to add to your own game or shed light on weaknesses to exploit: “You use other guys on other teams, like ‘Wow, that guy’s a great skater.’ I’ll try it out maybe in practice, but also knowing what other teams good sides or bad sides are, and you try to expose the bad sides.”
However, with so much unknown around them, both Kasper and Johansson prioritize their own play over any opponent’s. “Of course we have a pre-scout before the game and [I’m] paying attention to that, but overall I’m just trying to think about my game and how we want to play as a team,” Johansson tells THN. “I think that’s the biggest key. If we’re playing our connected hockey, we’re a really good team too.”
Kasper offers a similar message, saying “Obviously, you wanna know what you’re opponent is like, but I think it’s important to focus on your team, your group, and yourself to try to give everything you can every day I think.”
With 27 combined games of NHL experience, everything is new for Kasper and Johansson, so each must balance the intake with a slew of novel information with the simple knowledge of what has always made them successful, as they find their footing in the most competitive hockey league in the world.
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