When the Detroit Red Wings called up Marco Kasper from the American Hockey League (AHL) back in October, it meant that they were committing to the idea of having three scoring lines instead of just two.
Since then, the Red Wings’ lineup has featured offensive lines centered by Kasper, Dylan Larkin, and J.T. Compher. The team’s top line, featuring Larkin with Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond on his wings, has produced by far the best and most consistent results through 17 games this season. The second line, featuring Compher with Andrew Copp and Patrick Kane on his wings, has produced the worst results despite looking good together when the line was first formed earlier in the season.
The Red Wings’ third line, with Kasper down the middle and Jonatan Berggren and Vladimir Tarasenko lining up on his wings, has been a pleasant surprise since it was formed. While they aren’t where they want to be in terms of raw production, they are doing things that good lines do and there is reason to believe that the production is coming based on their process.
Kasper & Berggren Shining
Kasper’s arrival in Detroit was highly anticipated entering this season. He was the franchise’s top pick in the 2022 draft, and he has impressed in every season since then thanks to his high-end compete level and underrated stick skills. Last season, his first in North America, he overcame a slow start and was knocking on the Red Wings’ door by the time the season was over.
Related: Red Wings Need to Consider a Coaching Change
This season, his first in the NHL, Kasper has provided youth and skill to the Red Wings’ center rotation. Though he, much like his line. hasn’t produced a ton in terms of points, he does the little things right. He regularly moves the puck well and grinds to maintain possession. When he isn’t trying to create a scoring chance, he has quickly earned the coaching staff’s trust as a defender at even-strength and the penalty kill.
Though it is still early on in the season, it is not too farfetched to suggest that Kasper will be playing a role in the Red Wings’ top six sooner rather than later. The upside is obvious, and it is just a matter of time before he gets a firm grasp on what works and what doesn’t at the NHL level.
Just like last season with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL, Kasper finds himself on the same line as Berggren, and the two have formed an tantalizing duo down the lineup. However, the 2024-25 season isn’t an arrival party for Berggren like it is for Kasper; after playing in most of the 2022-23 NHL season, this season is more of a welcome back party for the Swedish winger.
Among Red Wing forwards to play in all 17 games, Berggren has the best offensive metrics of any player not named Larkin, Raymond or DeBrincat. Berggren leads the Red Wings with an expected goals-for percentage of 51.98 at five-on-five, and only DeBrincat has a better shots-for percentage among forwards in the same category. Though he has just two goals and three points to this point in the season, the numbers say that he is doing the things that lead to scoring chances – and if you can consistently create scoring chances, they will go in eventually.
With Kasper playing a sound two-way game and Berggren playing the role of playmaker on the wing, the Red Wings’ coaching staff has almost recreated the Griffins’ top line from last season. However, instead of Carter Mazur and his scrappy game on the other wing, Kasper and Berggren find themselves on the same line as Tarasenko, a veteran of over 800 NHL games (regular season and playoffs) who built his career on producing offense at a high level.
Red Wings Need More From Tarasenko
Last season, split between the Ottawa Senators and the Florida Panthers, Tarasenko was a steady source of secondary scoring. He finished the season with 23 goals and 55 points while averaging 15:44 minutes a night in ice-time. When the Panthers won the Stanley Cup, he was a regular member of their third line with two young players, Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen, while playing between 13 and 14 minutes a night.
To start this season, Tarasenko is averaging the lowest ice-time (13:50) since his rookie season back in 2012-13. That isn’t necessarily by design, either, as he began the season on the Red Wings’ second line along with Compher and Kane. That line was heavily outmatched in their limited time together, and it ultimately resulted in Tarasenko being demoted to the team’s third line. While this did help create a deeper offensive lineup, it was an early indication that the Russian winger wasn’t performing up to expectations.
Tarasenko is currently on pace for 10 goals and 30 points, which would be career-low totals for the soon-to-be 33-year-old. The premise of the Red Wings’ third line is that Kasper can create time and space while Berggren and Tarasenko try to make plays. Detroit’s coaching staff clearly sees Berggren and Tarasenko as wingers that should be able to play off of each other well as they have both been steady fixtures on the team’s second power play unit.
It goes to reason that if Tarasenko can settle in and become more dangerous as a shooter, that third line with Kasper and Berggren should start to produce overwhelming results. As a line, they are outshooting their opponents 46-45 at five-on-five; they are the only Red Wings line to have a positive shots-for percentage, and that speaks to their ability to possess the puck and create chances. Neither Berggren or Kasper have a track record of scoring like Tarasenko does. Unlocking Tarasenko’s goal-scoring abilities would, in turn, unlock the capabilities of the Red Wings’ third line.
That’s why their line has been so impressive. It’s a new-age version of “Two Kids and a Goat” and while the puck hasn’t always gone in while they have been on the ice, they are producing positive results that seem to be improving as they spend more time together.
The Red Wings were never going to be successful this season without depth scoring. While their lineup is still far from perfect, assembling this third line is already one of the best things the team has done this season. With any luck, it could become one of the biggest reasons for the Red Wings’ success (or lack thereof) this season.
(All statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick)
