Red Wings Have Their New Future Shutdown Center

Scoring goals is the name of the game.

Preventing them helps out a ton, too.

The Detroit Red Wings are finding ways to score more goals under Todd McLellan. They are also finding ways to stop their opponents from cashing in.

Marco Kasper is a young center who can help the team with his two-way game. He has all the right tools to be a great defensive player, and he's earning his new coach's trust despite needing to grow more as a center.

He could also be their shutdown center of the future.

Already Has A Strong Defensive Game

Kasper has many tools that make him a strong defensive player. He's not afraid of being physical, forechecks hard, and mucks it up in tough areas of the ice.

Those are qualities that you want a player to have. They are necessities if that player is destined to play a shutdown role. Kasper has the makings of a strong shutdown center in that regard.

His speed is an underrated part of his game. Kasper also has great offensive instincts. That makes him even more dangerous, as he can make opponents pay for making a mistake with him on the ice.

Has Quickly Earned Coach's Trust

Kasper has been slowly earning the trust of his new coach, and his promotion to the top line is evidence of that.

His ice time has been north of 15 minutes for the two games he has played on the top line. Before that, the most he played with McLellan as the head coach was 11:47.

Kasper has also earned his coach's trust in another major way. He was on the ice late in the game when the Red Wings defended a one-goal lead. McLellan commented on this and explained why he made that decision.

"He played the whole game against really good players," McLellan revealed. "So I have no problem playing him in the last minute."

"He's quite a responsible player," McLellan said. "Sometimes maybe too defensive, but the good thing is he found a way to score."

An empty net goal is often all a player needs to gain offensive confidence. His goal and assist last night were the first points Kasper has recorded since the coaching change.

Needs To Develop More At Center

Admittedly, Kasper has played as a winger for the past few games. This doesn't mean he will always play there, even if that is where he plays for the rest of the season.

However, the older and stronger Kasper gets, the more likely he is to obtain a center position with the team. He just needs to step up his game a bit to do so.

Young centers can often struggle in the faceoff dot. So far this year, Kasper is 47.7 percent in faceoffs. That is not good enough to be a top center for a team. The more he works on that aspect of his game, the better he will be.

While Kasper has seen an uptick in ice time, there is one place he has not been utilized yet—the penalty kill. A true shutdown center can play special teams without issues.

I don't believe Kasper will have an issue there. He has all the tools to be an efficient penalty killer. The next step in his two-way development is the coach's decision to use him in those situations.

When you add it all up, Kasper is poised to be the Red Wings shutdown center of the future. He has all the tools, he already has the new coach's trust, the next step is to further his development as a center and watch him flourish.

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