The New York Islanders hold the 13th overall selection in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, the highest they will choose since 2018, when they took Oliver Wahlstrom at 11 and Noah Dobson at 12. It is also the first time they have picked in the first round since 2019. Over the next few weeks, we will be taking a look at some of the players that the Islanders could draft with that pick. So far, we have looked at Brad Lambert and Conor Geekie. This week, we will take a look at another forward in center Marco Kasper.

Kasper, 18, was born on April 8, 2004 in Innsbruck, Austria. His father, Peter, played defense in multiple leagues around Europe from 1990-2007, while also spending one year in North America with the Florida Everblades of the ECHL IN 1990-2000, scoring one goal and 11 points in 63 games. He is now an assistant coach with EC-KAC U18 in the ICEHL.

The 6’1″, 187-pound center’s youth team in Austria was Klagenfurter AC. He spent all of the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons with EC-KAC U18, along with 22 of 25 games played the year following, scoring 45 goals and 143 points in 66 regular season games, and added 12 goals and 30 points in 16 playoff games. He also spent time with EC-KAC II in the AlpsHL and Austria2 during the 2019-20 campaign, registering one goal and two points in three regular season games (AlpsHL) and one goal in two playoff games (Austria2).

Ahead of the 2020-21 campaign, Kasper made the move to play professionally in Sweden with Rögle BK. After beginning the year moving in between the J18 and J20 teams, he made his professional debut for Rögle BK on Jan. 21, 2021, where he played 11:35. He became the second player born in 2004 to play in the SHL following fellow 2022 NHL Draft Prospect Elias Salomonsson, who did it for Skellefteå AIK.

Kasper finished 2020-21 with three goals and eight points in seven J18 games, two goals in six J20 games, and one assist in ten regular season games with the SHL team. He was held scoreless in six playoff games, and also scored one point in four games with Austria’s U20 team.

2021-22 has been a big year for Marco Kasper’s development as a player. Early in the season, he signed a new two-year contract extension with Rögle BK. Playing with the J20 and SHL team, he combined for 13 goals and 24 points in 58 games (6-7-13 in 12 J20 games). Rögle BK made the SHL playoffs this year, and he scored three goals and six points in 13 games, while also playing one game with the J20 team during their playoff run, scoring a goal and two points.

Marco Kasper also played with Rögle BK in the Champions Hockey League, scoring two goals and six points in 12 games. He represented Austria in multiple competitions this year, tallying two assists in seven games at the World Championships. He also started the 2021 World Junior Championships scoreless in two games as the captain of Austria’s team before the tournament was canceled. Kasper will play for Austria when the tournament gets replayed during the summer. In total, so far this season, he has scored two goals and six points in 11 contests representing Austria.

Once again, I reached out to Will Scouch to ask for an opinion on Kasper and how he is as a player. Scouch is a McKeen’s Hockey contributor and founder of Scouching, where he takes both aspects of the “eye test” and advanced analytics to give a different perspective on the game to fans. He contributed to my “Digging Into the Islanders’ 2021 NHL Draft Class” series, and also added to the other articles in this series. I would like to thank Will for adding his insight and make sure to check him out on Twitter, Youtube, on his website, and maybe even consider supporting him on Patreon!

Check back in next week for another look at a potential draft target for the New York Islanders.

All statistics are as of May 30, 2022.

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