After one game with the Red Wings, Marco Kasper's rookie cameo is over.
Derek Lalonde announced Wednesday that Kasper is likely done for the season with a lower-body injury that's "a little more significant" than the Red Wings had initially thought.
Lalonde said Kasper played through the injury in his NHL debut last Sunday against the Maple Leafs, but subsequent X-rays "showed a little more than (the doctors) had anticipated."
Fortunately for Kasper, the eighth overall pick last year, "nothing that will require surgery," said Lalonde.
"It's going to be a little longer than we had expected," Lalonde said. "It's very unfortunate. We'd love to get him some games, and the one game he played was extremely valuable. We won't question his toughness. The underlying issue he has with the lower body, he played with for two and a half periods.
"He probably won't be available for the rest of the year. Nothing serious or long term, it will probably cut a little bit into his offseason, but he'll have a good summer and be ready for day 1 of camp next year."
After summoning Kasper to Detroit after his Swedish Hockey League season ended last week, the Red Wings plan to keep him around the team for the rest of the season, which ends next Thursday in Tampa.
"I like him being around the process, being around our meetings and what we're trying to accomplish," Lalonde said. "Even (Tuesday's) game, those habits and the way we want to develop our team game, just being around it and just the value of having individual clips from the one game (he played) are huge experiences for him.
"So we'd like to have him around as much as possible over the next couple weeks."
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