While the Detroit Red Wings have a Calder Trophy contender in the surprising Emmitt Finnie, one player who was supposed to be a fast riser has seen his stock fall. Finnie is impressing not only Detroit fans, but the NHL universe, with eight points and four goals in his first nine career games to go with a ridiculous plus-7, but Marco Kasper has been a different story.
Heading into his sophomore season, Kasper was supposed to evolve into a player who, at the absolute least, would give the Red Wings a half-point per game. But after nine contests, Kasper has one point, one goal, and a minus-4.
Kasper has been the physical player fans know him for, with 27 hits so far, putting him on pace for roughly 244 in 2025-26, and he's boasting a 52.7 faceoff win percentage. He's also sporting a 56.4 Corsi For percentage at even strength, so it's not like he's not giving his team chances and helping out in the offensive zone.
Still, with an on-ice shooting percentage of 7.1 percent, and an on-ice save percentage of 82.4 percent, and having been on the ice for nine goals against, it further implies that Kasper has been a relatively poor player in 2025-26. But that doesn't mean fans need to push the panic button.
Slow starts are nothing new for Marco Kasper
In 2024-25, Kasper had just five points and two goals in his first 19 games as a Red Wing, and seven in his first 32. So it's not like he played a consistent game in 2024-25. His struggles were prevalent, but when January 2025 rolled around, he started getting it together, and that created a sense of optimism for a player the Wings expect to be in their top six for the next decade or so.
Even if Kasper struggles throughout the final games of October and all of November, it doesn't mean you need to push the panic button. It may imply stagnation, and the coaching staff would still need to figure out how to bring out the best in Kasper early on. But it's not like they need to reassign him to Grand Rapids or even cut his ice time.
While it's tough to watch Kasper struggle and sputter early on, it shouldn't change your perspective on his overall play. But Red Wings fans know how good Kasper is when he finds his rhythm.
When is a good time to start panicking? Honestly, give it until the Olympic break. If he's averaging anything less than 0.25 points per game when the NHL suspends its regular season in February for some international play, then it's time to worry. Until then, stay optimistic.