The Case for Kaspars Daugavins

Kaspars Daugavins is at a crossroads in his hockey career right now. He could sign another 2-way contract and hope to heck that he gets some opportunity in the NHL or he could play in Europe for considerably more money than he’d make in the AHL and probably be close to as happy.

However, having tasted success at the pro level - both statistically and by winning the Calder Cup, he’s starting to make a name for himself. Known as “The Rooster” inside the B-Sens’ clubhouse, he’s a character right out of Slap Shot or better yet The Love Guru, where Justin Timberlake sports the same mustache as Kaspars did during the B-Sens Cup run. He’s certainly got the personality, but let’s look closer at the skill which has put him at the center of the discussion of who should make the NHL team out of Bingo. Certainly there are no illusions that Bobby Butler, Colin Greening, Zack Smith and probably Erik Condra are ahead of him on the depth chart - and there are more to come in Jakob Silverberg and this year’s two first round picks, but looking closer, should they be?

Daugavins first had success in the OHL, scoring 18 goals and 60 points in his rookie year with the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors, then the next year he notched 40 goals and 74 points - good for tops on the team by some 25 points. So he has the skill, what else can he bring? In his first year of pro hockey, Daugavins was trying to acclimatize himself to the speed of the pros, so while he played PP, he wasn’t used in a PK role. He put up a healthy 46 points, including 21 goals in his first full year in Binghamton and his pro career was officially launched. This past season, Daugavins posted 19 goals and 54 points - but also added 20 points in 23 playoff games to be a huge part of the Championship Binghamton team. Perhaps more important are the extra responsibilities coach Kurt Kleinendorst bestowed on him - including the penalty kill.

Charged with the task of PK-ing, Daugavins seemed to take his game to the next level. He reads the play well and when he did get a chance to go on the offensive short-handed, the result were some incredibly skilled goals. Routinely he would deke out more than one defender, then the goaltender and even if he didn’t score on that play, the notice was served that he was something to pay special attention to while other teams were on the man advantage. Obviously, he also became one of the B-Sens top shootout players.

More than that though, Daugavins showed a truly gritty side to his game. He went into corners and hit guys hard to get that puck back, aggressively winning puck battles both 5 on 5 and on the PK. Looking at him you’d think he was a smaller player with a flare for offense and nothing much more, but Kaspars frame is wired with muscle as he’s close to 210 pounds and 6 feet.

So, do the Sens need another player who can PK and possibly play exclusively in the bottom 6? Yes they do, especially a fan-favourite and clubhouse favourite like The Rooster. His 20 points in 23 games extrapolates to roughly 70 points over a full season, so it’s not as if Daugavins is only a checking line player, he can play top 6 minutes and while we’re on the topic of promoting from within, shouldn’t the Sens be paying close attention to him? At 23 years old, K-Daug is still maturing as both a hockey player and a human being, so there’s still a lot of work to do and a lot of growth to go through as a hockey player, but sometimes you see something in a player that has you believing. Then you see it again and again...this was the case with Daugavins. He has more than shown he’s capable in all three zones, as well as being an accomplished PK-er in Bingo and a shootout specialist, so while there’s more to learn, the foundation is there in spades. He might need another year in Bingo - particularly if Kurt Kleinendorst is there - which it appears he will be, but he’s one to keep an eye on right from training camp and pre-season.

After all, he’s proven so far that this Daug has bite.