Coach Todd McLellan is direct and honest in his assessment of the Detroit Red Wings to the point that it’s hard to think his actions could ever be louder than his words.
But sometimes they are, such as today when McLellan moved Marco Kasper from the second line to the third line and changed his position from center to left wing. Kasper now is on a line with center Andrew Copp and Mason Appleton, while J.T. Compher will now center Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane, presumably starting in Sunday’s 1 p.m. home game against the Chicago Blackhawks.
“(Kasper’s) play hasn’t matched what we expected from him and probably from himself,” McLellan said. “I’d think he would tell you that.”
The overriding thought is the Red Wings should not employ a player with no assists in 15 games centering sharpshooters such as DeBrincat and Kane.
“So we’ll put him on the wing and let him play there a little bit and see how that works,” McLellan said. “Or in the middle. We’ll figure it all out. But we’ll mix things up as we go and try to get him back to where he needs to be.”
Kasper was drafted as a center but took a development leap last season when he was inserted as a wing on a line with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond.
McLellan said the coaching staff believes Kasper is thinking the game too much instead of reacting to it.
Not Same Player
“If you remember last year when he was really playing well, he was taking people to the net,” McLellan said. “He was drawing penalties, drew more penalties than most players on our team during down the stretch, scored on rebounds, deflections, shot it off the goaltender and went and got it himself. I remember a two on one that he did that. We haven’t seen that pop out of him.”
Kasper’s offensive output totals three goals this season, and two came in one game. His struggles seem even more important because the Red Wings’ team has only scored six goals in the last four games. The Red Wings are 1-3 in those games.
Kasper said recently that he felt he was getting closer to rediscovering his game.
“I don’t think I’ve played the best how I want to play,” Kasper said. “Worked hard over this summer. I think I work hard every day. But it’s sometimes you go through phases where you just don’t maybe play the way you want to play. Sometimes it’s frustrating. Now, we’ve lost two games. It’s no fun to lose games, and then maybe not be in your A game… Just trying to go out there tomorrow and play a good game and get back on the winning side, too.