Prospect Info: Mark Kastelic - Center - 125th

[RAFI BOMB]

I think Kastelic had decent to good IQ at the junior level. I think he holds the puck too long at the AHL level and he does little to nothing that is that deceptive, but that last point doesn't matter much for the kind of player being projected here (4th line defensive C). I do think that his foot, hand and brain speed are lacking for an NHL player.

He is defensively responsible and having watched him a ton with the Hitmen I think he has a good work ethic.

I also think that if this player was 6'1 or even 6'2 no one would be talking about him at all. To me that's never a good sign.

His foot speed improved a lot over the season. He actually has pretty good speed in a straight line and is capable of winning lots of short puck races. He could be more fluid and improve his agility though.

That point you bring up about deception is a key one. I don't think he uses much of it. He has good on ice awareness and decent vision so his hockey IQ works well in a cycle game. His ability to read an intercept passes was pretty impressive this year so that was a good sign. I think he was adjusting to the speed of the game so he will need to make some improvements in his mental processing.

His size, strength and physicality are all beneficial to him. If he was smaller maybe he wouldn't be talked about as much but one problem with that kind of logic is that it can be used to evaluate other players by removing traits that they do have. Size, strength and physicality are all positive traits so to remove them when evaluating him doesn't make a ton of sense to me. It would be comparable to evaluating any other prospect and asking what if they weren't as fast, didn't have as good of a shot, didn't have as good passing or puck handling ability, weren't as strong defensively, etc. If a player has those traits then why would we disregard them when evaluating them?

 

[Cosmix]

If Kastelic can play like Reaves, and be a policeman without taking a lot of pointless penalties, then he could be a very good addition to the 4th line.

 

[Alf Silfversson]

His foot speed improved a lot over the season. He actually has pretty good speed in a straight line and is capable of winning lots of short puck races. He could be more fluid and improve his agility though.

That point you bring up about deception is a key one. I don't think he uses much of it. He has good on ice awareness and decent vision so his hockey IQ works well in a cycle game. His ability to read an intercept passes was pretty impressive this year so that was a good sign. I think he was adjusting to the speed of the game so he will need to make some improvements in his mental processing.

His size, strength and physicality are all beneficial to him. If he was smaller maybe he wouldn't be talked about as much but one problem with that kind of logic is that it can be used to evaluate other players by removing traits that they do have. Size, strength and physicality are all positive traits so to remove them when evaluating him doesn't make a ton of sense to me. It would be comparable to evaluating any other prospect and asking what if they weren't as fast, didn't have as good of a shot, didn't have as good passing or puck handling ability, weren't as strong defensively, etc. If a player has those traits then why would we disregard them when evaluating them?

True that size is another quality that can help a player achieve results. Much like speed though, if it doesn't result in tangible results (more goals in other team's net or less in ours) then it doesn't mean much, eg. Colin Greening or Nikita Filatov. I don't see Kastelic's size doing all that much. Maybe his reach but the things he does well he does from hard work and defensive awareness.

But the kid's still fairly young so hopefully he continues to develop. For now though I don't see a player who can be anything more than filler on the fourth line. On a team that is likely going to be short on superstar forwards, I think we're going to want to do better than Mark Kastelic on our 4th line.

 

[RAFI BOMB]

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

If Kastelic can play like Reaves, and be a policeman without taking a lot of pointless penalties, then he could be a very good addition to the 4th line.

Asking a lot there

 

[IranCondraAffair]

I really don't see where the offense is going to come from for Kastelic to be a significant NHL player. It took until his Draft +2 to put up a PPG in the WHL and then made no significant improvement in Draft+3. I know he's supposed to be some defensive center, but the truly good defensive centers can still put up points in Junior/AHL.

That said, some guys ended up with plenty of offense despite never showing much. Danault never showed much, but mostly guys like Mason Appleton and Pageau were doing more in the AHL in their Draft +4. If he's going to make it, he will probably have a much lower ceiling like Teddy Blueger or Nick Paul. He will likely still need to be able to put up at least 35-45 points in the AHL or he might not make it.

 

[Cosmix]

Asking a lot there

it was a big IF that I don’t see happening.

 

[Icelevel]

I really don't see where the offense is going to come from for Kastelic to be a significant NHL player. It took until his Draft +2 to put up a PPG in the WHL and then made no significant improvement in Draft+3. I know he's supposed to be some defensive center, but the truly good defensive centers can still put up points in Junior/AHL.

That said, some guys ended up with plenty of offense despite never showing much. Danault never showed much, but mostly guys like Mason Appleton and Pageau were doing more in the AHL in their Draft +4. If he's going to make it, he will probably have a much lower ceiling like Teddy Blueger or Nick Paul. He will likely still need to be able to put up at least 35-45 points in the AHL or he might not make it.

I’d expect him to get a good amount of pts if he plays the full season in Belleville.
He does need to develop his offensive game down there if he wants to get something going in Ottawa.

 

[God Says No]

I’d expect him to get a good amount of pts if he plays the full season in Belleville.
He does need to develop his offensive game down there if he wants to get something going in Ottawa.

I'm with Iran. He's not skilled enough offensively to put up any significant numbers in the AHL. As mentioned before, he'll fall somewhere between David Dziurzynski and Derek Grant in terms of points/career.

 

[TheDebater]

I'm with Iran. He's not skilled enough offensively to put up any significant numbers in the AHL. As mentioned before, he'll fall somewhere between David Dziurzynski and Derek Grant in terms of points/career.

Careful now, you will trigger all those racists out there.

 

[aragorn]

Why do people think a 4th line player is going to produce offensively like a top six player? Kastelic will have a role to play if he makes the team & that will be to win faceoffs, play good defensively, shutdown the other team's players & be hard to play aginst, drop the gloves if need be or to protect our players & be a good guy in the room. If he can put up 10 to 15 pts or more per yr would be fine if he does everything else well & continues to improve. IMO he's probably a yr away & will fit in nicely with the team once it moves on from Watson.

 

[RAFI BOMB]

 

[RAFI BOMB]

 

[cudi]

consider me a fan.

 

[Mark Stones Spleen]

Silky smooth hands there, damn

 

[Ice-Tray]

That’s a soft play by ghalleger……. f*** the habs…. Those sens are so hot right now

 

[Dionysus]

Looks like he could be an excellent role player.

 

[TheDebater]

Very glad I did not make any definitive statements in this thread, you simply cannot judge prospects directly after being drafted whether it is round 1 or 7.

 

[Burrowsaurus]

Best player to ever play not named Viktor Lodin

 

[Sweatred]

Congrats Kastelic! Nice to see bottom 6 players do what it takes and and get rewarded.

Kastelic and Kelly are a breathe of fresh air in that bottom 6 group of floaters.

 

[bicboi64]

May he be our starting 4th line centre next year and score his way onto the first line

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Kasty and Kells ... Your Future Ottawa Senators.

2 parts of the 4th line.. Both heart and soul never say die kind of players.

 

[Tuna99]

All his goals are from the front of the net, throws big hits, plays with spirit looks like he’s belong on the St louos Blues - great 4th line player with leadership.

right again. I’m good at this

 

[Psycroptic86]

Starting to really like this guy. Him and Kelly are going to be good additions to the bottom-six next season. After watching Tierney the last 2 seasons, it's going to be a breath of fresh air.

 

[Duncstar]

Starting to really like this guy. Him and Kelly are going to be good additions to the bottom-six next season. After watching Tierney the last 2 seasons, it's going to be a breath of fresh air.

When you stare at trash long enough...

Seriously tho I'm getting excited for next season