Yahoo Sports Red Wings Re-Call Top Prospect
On Friday morning, the sun rose in Detroit despite what last night's 5-2 Red Wings loss on home ice to the Rangers might have suggested, and then Detroit brass opted to call up the Red Wings top prospect, 2022 first round pick Marco Kasper, from the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Officially, it's an emergency call-up, so he cannot play unless a different Red Wing is unavailable. There has been an illness floating around the Detroit locker room, with Vladimir Tarasenko missing Wednesday's practice while under the weather, and Andrew Copp and Dylan Larkin missing yesterday's morning skate. Presumably, the emergency conditions suggest someone who played last night won't be able to go Saturday against Nashville, and the bug going through the team may well explain that.
As for Kasper himself, the young Austrian made an excellent pre-season impression, but it wasn't quite sufficient to earn a night one roster spot. "Obviously, some scenarios where he could have found himself in a day one lineup, but...We're just trying to maximize our roster," coach Derek Lalonde said when Kasper was sent down. "And it's not a bad thing for him to go straight down, be playing 22 minutes in every situation and be a simple call at any time."
Now, the 20-year-old has his chance to make an impression. And though the season is scarcely a week old, it comes at a moment of desperation for the 1-3-0 Red Wings. Detroit knew the schedule to start the season would be difficult, but already, there is a sense that something needs to change in a hurry to achieve the progress everyone in Hockeytown craves from the season. Perhaps Kasper can help spark that change.
