Red Wings rookie reaping net-front benefits

DETROIT – Coaches emphasize the importance of players going to the net but getting them there often is easier said than done.

Not with Marco Kasper. The Detroit Red Wings rookie goes to the net and stays there. And he’s been getting rewarded for it.

“Really good because you tend to arrive as a star player that has the puck on the outside of the perimeter and making plays,” coach Todd McLellan said. “He’s now learning to go there, does a real good job and if he understands the reward that exists by going there at a young age, he’ll probably continue doing that for years.”

Kasper’s net-front redirect of J.T. Compher’s pass proved to be the winning goal Saturday in a 2-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The team’s top pick in the 2022 draft has benefited from the coaching change and is capitalizing on the chance to play on the top line with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. He has five goals and three assists in his past eight games.

“Playing with Larks and Razor, (the net) is what I’m trying to get to, to open up space for those guys to play a little bit more on the outside, have the puck,” Kasper said. “Try to go to the net, create offense from there, hunt pucks after shots.

“We shoot a lot more right now. That means you got to get to the net because the puck is getting there way more. You have more chance of scoring goals. Also being there and support my teammates off rebounds. I think I can play all kind of roles right now. Just trying to work to get to the net a little more, create some offense off of it.”

McLellan described Kasper (6-1, 183) as heavy, direct, with an intensity to him, a player who complements Larkin and Raymond well because “They can play around with the puck and allow him to get free.”

McLellan said playing against top players every night forces Kasper to continually be sharp.

“Playing with good players, getting more ice time, which leads to more opportunity,” McLellan said. “If you’re only getting eight minutes a night, you’re probably sitting on the bench worried about those eight minutes and getting scored on. When you play (on the top line), you don’t even have time to think. You get back to the bench, you’re tired, you jump out again.

“But he’s finding his way around the net. He’s getting good looks and good opportunities. His confidence has to be high right now. If we can get him just to chip in as the year goes on and he continues to grow and doesn’t give anything back, he’ll be a great player.”

McLellan said Kasper’s move to wing probably will be temporary. They would eventually like him back at center.

“But right now we want to play him up there and get him as much experience against some of the best players in the world,” McLellan said. “Done it before Quentin Byfield (in Los Angeles), Logan Couture (in San Jose), some of those players that have come in and gone to those spots and then back. And that’s probably the plan for (Kasper), but we’re just going to take it day by day. He maybe has the puck on his stick a little less often because Larkin and Raymond have it so much. Somebody has to go in and loosen it up and forecheck and create.”