Kastelic Stepping Up For Bruins, ‘Very Happy with How He Came Along’

BOSTON –– Marco Sturm did not know a lot about Mark Kastelic when he first got to Boston as the Bruins’ new head coach.

One thing those around Sturm told him, though, was that Kastelic wanted to play his natural center position. To the contrary of his initial wishes, the right wing has been Kastelic’s exclusive home through 27 games this season.​

“When I told him the first time, he was not happy, probably,” Sturm said of moving Kastelic from the middle. “He didn’t say anything, but I knew he was not happy. But now look at him.”

The 26-year-old forward has been an unexpected difference-maker on Sturm’s roster. It is more than the fights and hits that give Kastelic value on this Bruins team; it is the precision at the face-off dot, penalty-kill ability and desire to always do more.

Kastelic’s promotion to the third line with Fraser Minten and Tanner Jeannot was a result of this. It is a combination Sturm has left untouched for the last month, despite other movement in the forward group.

“We have toughness, we have grit, we have a little bit of speed. We have a young kid kind of playing his way into this league, I would say, and he doesn’t have to worry about anything else,” Sturm said. “They work extremely hard. So for me, there was no reason to change it.”​

That young kid Sturm refers to is Minten. The 21-year-old center has skated in every game for Boston so far this year and is becoming more comfortable with his NHL role. Kastelic has been a help with that.

“He does great alongside Tanner on the wings and is very good at talking things through during the game. Smart, hardworking, great teammate,” Minten said of Kastelic. “They’re actually really nice guys, but I’d be really scared of them if I was on the other team, probably. It is good to have toughness like that. Guys that are competitive and have your back.”

In the dwindling moments of Saturday’s scoreless first period against the Detroit Red Wings, Kastelic dropped the gloves with Moritz Seider and handily managed the bout. The Bruins went on to open scoring early in the middle frame, and ultimately won 3-2 in a shootout.

“We were just playing hard and physical, and that just happens as a result of that,” Kastelic said. “Hopefully, it gave everybody a bit of juice. I think it’s never really my mindset when I’m in that kind of situation, but I definitely think the guys had a good start to the second period.”

To pair with his signature edge, Kastelic has been one of the Bruins’ top performers in the faceoff circle; he has a 58.3% success rate thus far. Sturm noticed Kastelic’s knack for winning draws, and now deploys him at the start of every overtime to get the puck for his team, and change right after. Is Sturm throwing Kastelic a bone? No, the head coach says. He just wants the best guy out there for the task.

“We want the puck, first of all. We think with him, getting it right from the faceoff, he’s our best guy as a righty,” Sturm said. “And now he’s already waiting for it. That’s the best part. I talked to him about it, and he’s like, ‘Yes, that’s my job, I want to do that.’ As soon as it’s OT, I can see him looking.”

Kastelic won the opening faceoff during Saturday’s overtime. While it may seem like a small part of the game, it can be the difference in wins and losses. And it has also been the difference in Kastelic’s growing confidence.

“It is a great opportunity for me to just do a job for the team and feel like I have a role. It’s just little moments like that where I feel like I just take a lot of pride in, personally,” Kastelic said. “It is great to feel that trust from the coaching staff to get put in those big moments. It’s been pretty cool to go out there. The boys definitely have been – it’s such a little thing – but they hype me up so much. It is awesome to see.”

As the Bruins continue to work through injury adversity, Kastelic has emerged as a dependable bottom-six piece who has fortified the group while shorthanded. His average ice time has gone up from 10:44 last season to 13:43 this year, and he is on pace for a career showing in points.​

It has been a welcome surprise for Sturm, who knows a lot more about Kastelic now than he did two months ago.

“I just see him as more of a winger, powerful – but I never thought I would use him probably that much, either. So that is on him,” Sturm said. “He grew with his role, he grew as a penalty killer and he does it extremely well. I’m very happy with how he came along the last three months, I would see. I didn’t see it coming either, I have to say that. So good for him.”