The season finish has brought the next climax of his young career for Marco Kasper.
The 18-year-old Klagenfurter has been ordered by the Detroit Red Wings in the NHL team and could make his debut in the strongest ice hockey league in the world in the next two weeks.
On Friday morning he played a first training session before the away game in Winnipeg, but was not used in the 2: 6 defeat against the jets.
Kasper was brought to North America after the end of his Swedish Club Rögle BK.
On Wednesday he took off towards Detroit and traveled with the team to a multi -day away trip to Canada with games in Winnipeg, Toronto (Sunday) and Montreal (Tuesday).
Getting to know each other is the order of the day.
“He is a very relaxed guy. I like that he is there in the whole process. He was at all our meetings and was able to run a bit of ice skating,” said head coach Derek Lalonde.
Since Kasper is slightly battered, he still has to wait for his match premiere.
“It is not yet entirely available for us. He still has to struggle with a small upper body situation from the play-off in Europe,” revealed Lalonde.
Boy in Rögle ends
For Kasper, the week is still one with many moments of happiness.
“It’s really cool. I get to know the team,” said the Carinthian.
“It is something special to come here and go on a away trip with the team. I am looking forward to the next few weeks and try to get better every day,” said Austria’s ice hockey player of 2022.
Kasper was elected in the NHL draft in 2022 by the Red Wings to number eight and signed a three-year contract in July.
However, the young striker continued to be awarded to the Swedish top club Rögle, where he was used as a center this season at the behest of the Red Wings and with 8 goals and 15 assists made the second most counters of a U20 player.
With the club from Ängelholm, Kasper left the SHL quarter-finals last Sunday.
Shortly afterwards he received the call from Detroit and was sent to the NHL team and not to the Farmteam Grand Rapids Griffins.
Now he could be used as a ninth Austrian after Reinhard Divis, Christoph Brandner, Thomas Pöck, Thomas Vanek, Andreas Nödl, Michael Grabner, Michael Raffl and Marco Rossi in the NHL.
Kasper, who turns 19 in a week on Saturday, would be by far the youngest red and white-red NHL debutant.
Marco Rossi was a little over 20 years and three months old in his first NHL game on January 6, 2022.
Detroit still has seven games in the basic round of the National Hockey League and only theoretical chances of promotion to play-off.
After the games in Toronto and Montreal, the next home game on April 6 is against the Buffalo Sabres.
