With the No. 8 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, the Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman selected Marco Kasper out of the Swedish Hockey League.
But according to Kasper’s dad, Peter, the Red Wings were not the only team that planned to take Kasper and one team even tried to make a trade to move up to No. 8.
Kasper’s dad told Kleine Zeitung, which is an Austrian newspaper, that the Buffalo Sabres had a plan to take his son with the No. 9 overall pick.
Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman said NO to trade offer from Buffalo Sabres
Translation via The Malik Report:
The Buffalo Sabres really wanted to draft Marco Kasper!
It’s been a little over two weeks since the Detroit Red Wings drafted Marco Kasper. But they weren’t the only team that really wanted to do so.
Marco Kasper was drafted by the Red Wings 8th overall in this year’s NHL Draft, making him the second-highest Austrian pick in NHL history, after Thomas Vanek, who was picked 5th overall in 2003.
As his father, Peter Kasper, told the Kleine Zeitung, it wouldn’t have hurt his son’s hockey career if he wasn’t drafted in the first round. But it would have certainly been a disappointment if they went [back to the hotel] after four hours of waiting having not been selected.
But that wouldn’t have been the case, either, if the Red Wings hadn’t picked him. As the elder Kasper explains, the Buffalo Sabres, who picked 9th overall, directly after the Red Wings, would definitely have picked him.
It’s been a little over two weeks since the Detroit Red Wings drafted Marco Kasper. But they weren’t the only team that really wanted him.
The Sabres, who also picked Austrian Thomas Vanek in 2005, were so confident in Kasper that they even discussed a trade with the Red Wings. But [the Red Wings] wanted the 18-year-old center for themselves, and weren’t receptive to it.
The forward is now going to Sweden for another season, where he’ll continue to breathe the high-class professional air with his SHL team in Rogle, and will prepare himself properly for his first NHL season, which will probably be in 2023-2024.
Steve Yzerman knows best!
