He is only the fourth Austrian first-round draft. Only Thomas Vanek, who was picked fifth by the Buffalo Sabers in 2003, was drafted higher. Marco Rossi 2020 (No. 9, Minnesota Wild) and Michael Grabner 2006 (No. 14, Vancouver Canucks) came a little later. Speaking of later: On Friday, Vinzenz Rohrer, another Austrian, was selected in the third round of the 2022 draft. The Montreal Canadiens secured the rights to the 17-year-old from Vorarlberg in 75th place.
“It will definitely take a few more days to really get that going. It’s a dream come true, but it’s just a step in my career. I will continue to work hard on myself”, Kasper remained down to earth despite all the joy. “I’m grateful to have been chosen by this big franchise, with so many good players in the past, it’s a great honor for me.” He also thanked his family and his previous teams Rögle BK and KAC.
Red Wings with some ambitions
In any case, Kasper was brought in from a traditional club run by a legend. Steve Yzerman, once the Red Wings superstar, has been general manager in Detroit since April 2019 and has been rebuilding the team ever since. “Our scouts, Kris[Draper]and his crew really liked what they’ve seen from him all year,” Yzerman said. Kasper is not a spectacular player like the Russian Pawel Dazjuk, who is revered in Detroit for his skills with the puck. “But he makes the right decisions. He can pass, has a good shot, can carry the puck forward. He’s very efficient,” said Yzerman.
With eleven Stanley Cup victories, the Red Wings are the third most successful club in the NHL following the Montreal Canadiens (24) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (13), but have consistently missed the playoffs since 2016. The new head coach Derek Lalonde, who succeeded Jeff Blashill a few days ago, is to lead the team around Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi and the young stars Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond back into the playoffs.
Assignments in the NHL still open
Kasper might become the second Austrian player with the Red Wings. Vanek played for Detroit in 2015-16 and his final season in 2018-19. But it is quite possible that the Carinthian will continue to attack for the Swedish top club Rögle in the coming year. At the club from Ängelholm and in the Austrian national team, he impressed with strong performances in the past season and played his way up the draft hierarchy.
The son of former ÖEHV team defender Peter Kasper scored seven goals and four assists in the regular season in the Swedish league, added three goals and three assists in the play-off and contributed to the triumph in the Champions Hockey League with six points. At the World Cup in Finland, he also showed that he can hold his own once morest established NHL players. The attacker was mostly used as a wing, but he can also play center.
Two Slovaks at the top
At the draft in Montreal, Slovaks were surprisingly chosen as the first two players. The Montreal Canadiens had first pick, picking forward Juraj Slafkovsky, who was top scorer and MVP (Most Valuable Player) at the Beijing Olympics as a 17-year-old. The New Jersey Devils then secured defenseman Simon Nemec. Canadian center Shane Wright, who most pundits had been expecting to be number one, came fourth behind Logan Cooley (Arizona Coyotes) and went to the Seattle Kraken.
