At some point in the next 48 hours, Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is going to sit down with his staff and make roster cuts. There are a number of players whose play — good and bad — has made roster decisions difficult. Among them are a trio of rookies: Marco Kasper, Nate Danielson and Carter Mazur, who all have shown well in training camp and preseason play.
Regardless of who makes or doesn’t make the roster, Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde cautions putting too much stock in the opening day roster.
Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
“Everyone makes such a big deal of making the team on day one, and I’ve never understood it,” Lalonde said. “Because Grand Rapids is two hours away. We’ll have played 33 players by Christmas. … Maybe it’s a little old school, maybe that’s where it was 20-25 years ago — you made the team on day one. I think in reality, we’re probably going to have 15 forwards, 10 D that are going to play for us and make our team. So it will be very interesting to see how it all plays out in the next couple days.”
Lalonde isn’t wrong. Unusually lucky on the injury front last season, Detroit still saw 28 different players skate in at least one game. Four goalies, eight defensemen, 16 forwards. Even if a player isn’t on the initial 23-man roster in October, there are 82 opportunities or more to get to the NHL.
For Kasper, Danielson and Mazur, even if they don’t make the roster this weekend, there are still plenty of opportunities for them to reach the NHL later in the year. That’s a product of the skills they flashed since training camp commenced, as well as the upside of their potential growth. But it’s also due to their ability to play a variety of roles, which might be most important.
[Danielson’s Future: “It’s Just a Matter of Time for Him”: Danielson Proving NHL Question is about When, Not If]
The importance of role is a lesson Detroit learned the hard way last season. Among its forward corps, it tried to cast scorers in bottom six roles, and this had costly side effects when these players tried to outperform what was asked of them. Among a group of high-level athletes who have been integral to their teams since they were kids, so many players want to show that they can be an impact player. But in the end, what can be even more impactful is an ability to deliver in a specifically cast role.
“If you play in the NHL, you know what your role is,” Christian Fischer said. “You have to have some type of role on the team. And I think it just kind of correlates back to last year, when we were a damn good team, we had all four lines doing their job. And whatever that may entail for that night, I think it makes a big difference when you have even just one or two guys that are out of sync, or are just kind of doing uncharacteristic things to their game.”
For prospects, this role conversation is even more evident. Even rookies have to pick up on their role and deliver. But when players haven’t played much in the NHL, when they are trying to prove they belong on a team, there is a tendency among young players to do too much. This is the root of frustration for many young players who struggle to break into the NHL. It’s also cause for caution from coaches who want to put their young players in positions to succeed. Can you rely on a rookie who has never played in the NHL to deliver to a certain standard? Can you trust them to defend? To check? To make the simplest play?
For the Red Wings three closest prospects, the answer, for now, is yes.
“It’s a reality of development and growing guys in the league,” Lalonde said. “What I like about a lot of our prospects, and I’ve mentioned this a few times, is even though they’re 1A and are high picks or mid-first round picks, they’ve got some two-way DNA already in them. I mean, Marco, Danielson, Mazur — you can see these guys in camp winning battles, having energy, having a little grit to them. That’s what excites me about the development of some of these guys.”
Instead of a question of whether these prospects can deliver in an NHL lineup, their overall versatility changes the question to whether it’s good for them to play a certain role. Because they can defend and influence play at both ends of the rink, they don’t limit themselves to one type of opportunity with their play. They can impact the game from the second line down to the fourth.
If one puts themself in Lalonde’s shoes, having three young players show that kind of maturity is incredibly useful not only to get them to the NHL, but to also see them contribute. Whereas a rookie whose impact is limited to offense might buck at a checking role in the bottom six, the trio of Kasper, Danielson and Mazur have shown that they can handle that role. So if such a checking role becomes available due to injury or other opening, those three can be comfortably considered among available applicants.
Role versatility doesn’t automatically mean that these prospects will top the list of call-up candidates. Consider a hypothetical pitched by Lalonde: “I think the tougher decision when we start getting into those call-ups is do you bring Player A knowing it’s a three game road trip and he plays in a lesser role? Or do you bring Player B who’s going to miss out on 20 minutes, both power play and PK down in Grand Rapids?”
It’s a difficult question to answer. The Red Wings’ past treatment of rookies — for example, defenseman Simon Edvinsson’s long spell in Grand Rapids last season — suggests an emphasis on the latter option. But the fact that those three forward prospects raise these questions to begin with is a promising sign. In fact, Kasper’s strong two-way play in the preseason has all but forced Detroit to answer it when making its first roster this weekend. The same would go for an in-season call-up, the same with Danielson and Mazur.
[More on Kasper’s Case: Kasper Makes Persuasive Case for NHL Spot]
But even if any of Kasper, Danielson or Mazur don’t crack the NHL lineup right away, don’t be surprised to see them called up at some point. They can fill a variety of roles, and that can only help them get to the NHL sooner.
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