Who put the bee in the bonnet of Mark Kastelic, and will you do it again in October? Mark Kastelic has had the definition of a roller-coaster 2023-24. For example, in last night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, he and the rest of the fourth line did well. Coming out the gate fast and hard, the line with Parker Kelly and Boris Katchouk registered a pair of goals. Kastelic ended up with two assists on the night. Furthermore, he is under contract with the Ottawa Senators at $835K for 2024-25 as well. Therefore, his goal should be to have a strong offseason training and follow it up with a productive contract season.
Mark Kastelic Is Trying to Set the Tone, Each Night and Heading Into the Offseason Now Too
Injuries, Headlines, When Will It Go Right for the Ottawa Senators?
Mark Kastelic has had a difficult season overall for the Senators. Kastelic suffered a lower-body injury back in a game against the Los Angeles Kings in November. He would essentially miss the entire month as a result of the injury. Furthermore, when he did come back, he was mulling around his career ice time at only 8:22 a night. Some nights Kastelic finds it difficult to get 10 shifts in a game. However, lately, something has changed in 25 year old’s game.
How It All Started
There was a game in mid-February against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Kastelic found himself under five minutes of ice time and benched for the entire third period. Moreover, he knew with the Belleville boys fighting for jobs, he needed to do more. That night after the game, Kastelic went back on the ice by himself and skated. He knew something must change. Now, the growth has not been substantial, but it has been noticeable. To that point, Kastelic recently had three games in a row above 10 minutes of ice time. Prior to that, he only had three instances of that all year.
Where Will It All Finish for Mark Kastelic
There are some positives in Mark Kastelic’s game. First of all, he has been and continues to be dynamite in the faceoff circle. He is a career 56.8% in the faceoff dot, which is accompanied by a 70.4% career dSZ%. Secondly, Kastelic seems to be dropping the mitts more regularly this year. Thus far, he has seven fights in 2023-24 through 54 games played. His most recent tilt was one against newly acquired Kurtis MacDermid of the New Jersey Devils just three games ago on the schedule. This is an example of Kasetlic knowing his role, and following through on it. As MacDermid is an example, Kastelic often finds himself throwing them down against the opponents if not heavyweights, the top contenders. In addition, Kastelic is big and can play a heavy game when he leaves his gloves on. At 6’3″ and 210 lbs, he needs to be a prototypical fourth-line grinder. Throughout his career, he has 304 hits in 134 games.
Now, of course, the point of our article, is that it has not been all roses for Kastelic. He struggles with consistent productivity, with only 23 career points. Thus if he ends up at fault on a goal or two, like he did in the February Blue Jacket game, his ice time immediately plunges.
Finding His Own Role
Just trying to find his comfort zone in the NHL, this is still only Mark Kastelic’s third NHL season. He would benefit tremendously from specialty team time, but that is at a premium, especially the power play. Kastelic has shown good hockey sense down low in the offensive zone. Conversely, earning that ice time doesn’t appear to be in the cards on this version of the Sens roster. One underrated intangible Kastelic does possess, especially for a young player, is his reliability. It is difficult for an inexperienced NHLer to be thrown out there in so many defensive zone coverages. But for the most part, Kastelic handles it admirably. That is why there is so much to love about his game. If the Sens can find him some more ice time, they will be looking at a top-notch NHL fourth liner, one who can help lead the Sens through the trenches of a long NHL Stanley Cup playoff battle.
Main photo: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports
