Who makes the Detroit Red Wings out of training camp? Danielson, Mazur, or Kasper

Since 2019, the Detroit Red Wings have been bad, like really bad. This, however, has allowed the team to amass one of the strongest prospect pools in the NHL even without winning a draft lottery and attaining a top-3 pick.

Without a top-3 pick in the draft, it makes it very difficult for a team to draft players who would make an immediate impact, as most picks made outside the top 3-5 picks take longer to develop, especially when you're drafting the same player type in nearly every draft.

The Red Wings have many really good prospects and a few of them have shown that they may be ready for the big leagues. Carter Mazur, Nate Danielson, and Marco Kasper have all made really good cases for why they should be heavily considered for a callup in the 2024-25 season. But who has the best possible chance of making the opening night roster?

Carter Mazur could be the exact thing the Red Wings need

Drafted 70th overall in the third round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Carter Mazur shocked a lot of fans by breaking out during his two seasons at the University of Denver. Winning Defensive Forward of the Year while also being nearly a point-per-game player.

He signed his entry-level contract before the 2022-23 season and played 6 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins before their season ended, recording three goals, three assists for six points in six AHL games. The next season he got injured during the Prospect tournament and started the season on the injured reserve, but was soon activated and placed in the care of the Grand Rapids Griffins. He played in 60 games, recording 17 goals, 20 assists for 37 points in the regular season, then he recorded three goals, five assists for eight points in nine playoff games.

It's no secret that one of the biggest problems of last season was team defense. The defense left something to be desired for most of the season and team defense as a whole suffered more often than not. The addition of Mazur, whose biggest strength is his defense, could be a massive asset for a forward group struggling to consistently defend. He's also not void of offense as he has the potential to be a 20+ goal scorer in the NHL.

The Red Wings have also become known for being softer than most teams, whether it's being easily injured or not as physical as they should be. Mazur is known for getting under other players' skin and playing a physical and gritty style of hockey.

Marco Kasper has more pro experience, but is his talent up to par?

Drafted eighth overall in the first round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, Marco Kasper was touted as a good two-way gritty centerman with a knack for getting under other players' skin and being an absolute hound along the boards.

He signed his entry-level contract before the 2022-23 season soon after he was drafted and was loaned to Rögle BK in the SHL where played for a full year amassing eight goals, 15 assists for 23 points in 52 games. That's nothing to scoff at as the SHL is one of the top-5 hockey leagues in the world and he played and produced at that level.

This last season he was brought over to North America and placed in the Grand Rapids Griffins organization. After a slow start to the season, he became one of the team's biggest producers in the last half of the season, finishing with 14 goals, 21 assists for 35 points in the regular season and four goals, three assists for seven points in nine playoff games.

Being a gritty two-way center who can get under players' skin, he brings all the same things Mazur does, he has also been touted as a good playmaker and is always thinking one step ahead. He also has two full seasons of pro hockey under his belt having played in the SHL and AHL respectively, even getting a one game look in the NHL late in the Red Wings season.

Nate Danielson is already showing signs of potential stardom

Drafted ninth overall in the first round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, Nate Danielson wasn't the player most fans would've taken at ninth overall. In fact many Red Wings fans would have preferred they take Axel Sandin-Pellikka, whom they took at 15th overall in that same draft. He was looked at as a cookie-cutter, high-floor, "safe" pick with mediocre-to-ok offensive abilities.

He was drafted out of the CHL from the Brandon Wheat Kings of which he was captain of the team and put up 33 goals 45 assists for 78 points in 68 games. He signed his entry-level contract soon after and was loaned back to the Wheat Kings, where he played 26 games before being traded to the Portland Winterhawks. Putting up a total of 24 goals, 43 assists for 67 points in 54 regular season games and seven goals, 17 assists for 24 points in 18 playoff games.

Danielson showed signs of being one of, if not the, best prospects in the Red Wings prospect pool during training camp and even more so in the preseason before the 2023-24 season. It's been widely recognized that Danielson could've made the opening night roster if it wasn't for log jam at every position on the team. He did get a 2 game stint during the Grand Rapids Griffins playoff run and while he didn't score any points, Grand Rapids Griffins head coach said in an interview on episode 279 of "The Grind Line Podcast" that he was "impressed" with Nate Danielson during his short stint.

He seemingly silenced all his critics by proving that he's not just another two-way, high-floor player. He's shown to be a dynamic playmaker with better goal-scoring ability than many fans originally thought. It should be noted that Danielson pretty much carried Portland in the WHL finals in a 4-0 series loss. While he hasn't played in a pro league yet, he has shown that he can hang with them.