Detroit Red Wings center Marco Kasper is 22 years old and out of runway. Kasper went eighth overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, he enters 2026-27 on the last season of his entry-level contract, and he becomes a restricted free agent the moment the year ends.
He gets that year without Dylan Larkin in front of him, at least to start. Interim general manager Shawn Horcoff said Sept. 16 that Larkin, who requested a trade in June, suffered an upper-body injury in an off-ice session and would not skate when camp opened. Detroit has missed the playoffs 10 straight seasons, the longest active drought in the NHL. Somebody down the middle has to take the job.
Marco Kasper Has the Clearest Path to the Top Six
Tony Wolak of The Hockey Writers named Kasper one of four Red Wings with something to prove this season, alongside Lucas Raymond, Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard. Wolak wrote:
Center Marco Kasper enters 2026-27 with perhaps the clearest opportunity of any Red Wings forward. After spending most of last season in a bottom-six role, he needs to prove that he belongs in the team’s top six.
That opportunity comes with responsibility. Kasper needs to show that he can handle tougher competition, contribute offensively and remain effective away from the puck. If he can do that and build on the 0.96 ixG/60 he produced last year, Kasper could establish himself as a long-term top-six center for Detroit.
Wolak tied the opening directly to Larkin’s situation. If Detroit trades him, a hole opens near the top of the lineup, and Wolak argued Kasper is one of the players who could be asked to fill it.
The Sophomore Slide He Has to Erase
Kasper finished last season with nine goals and 19 points in 81 games after posting 19 goals and 37 points in 77 games as a rookie, per ESPN. The Hockey News reported he played through injury for much of the year. The rest of the drop traces to deployment: bottom-six minutes limit both the quality and the volume of the chances a center sees.
Where He Actually Slots In Right Now
The public projections do not have Kasper in the top six yet. Jake Tye of The Hockey News, working from Daily Faceoff and PuckPedia, put Kasper on the third line on Sept. 8. Daily Faceoff lists him at center with Carter Mazur on his left wing; PuckPedia slides him to the wing with J.T. Compher in the middle. Both projections were built before Larkin got hurt. Camp is where Kasper changes them.
A Contract Year Leaves No Room
Kasper carries an $886,666 cap hit in the final year of the three-year entry-level deal he signed in July 2022. A 20-goal, 20-assist season settles the lineup argument and the contract negotiation in one stroke. Another year closer to 19 points, and Detroit is writing a bridge deal for a player it took eighth overall.
