KASTELIC DOING WHAT IT TAKES TO STICK WITH SENS
Centre who scored 47 goals at junior level has adapted to a more physical game in NHL
With a rich family hockey history, with a late start to playing the game, with big goal-scoring numbers as a junior player, Mark Kastelic isn't hung up on his fourth-line status with the Ottawa Senators.
For Kastelic, whose dad Ed played 220 NHL games as a rugged tough guy, uncle Mike Stapleton played 697 games and grandfather Pat (Whitey) Stapleton played 635 games (plus 372 games in the WHA, and also suited up for Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series), it's about doing whatever it takes, working hard not only to keep his job, but to get better and take a step ahead.
Kastelic, who turns 25 in a week, is playing a different role than he did as a junior star with the Western Hockey League's Calgary Hitmen, for whom he had 47 goals and 30 assists in the 2018-19 season and became the team's captain.
Twice undrafted, he was selected by the Senators in the fifth round of the 2019 NHL draft.
He's made the necessary adjustments in his game to get to the NHL and he's hoping it keeps him there.
Into his third season with the Senators, he has played 123 games, with 11 goals and seven assists. This season, he has two goals and an assist. At 6-foot-4 and upwards of 210 pounds, he's asked to be more of a grinder, play a physical style (he's been in five fights this season).
“Going back to when I first got to Calgary when I was 16, it was the same kind of developmental curve I had moving up to the pros,” he said. “You come in and you're a bottom-line guy, you play a role. You're trying to help the team. As you get more comfortable and confident, your role evolves and you get more opportunities. Junior hockey prepared me for this.
“It's a role I embrace and can thrive in. Not everybody can be putting up 47 goals as soon as they turn pro. You look to find something that makes you stick out, you want to evolve your game. When you're young, everybody is the go-to guy, the goal scorer. Here, you have to be able to adjust and learn how to be OK with bringing different elements to a team.”
It's already been a good ride for a player who says he didn't play much hockey until he was seven, honing his skills playing ball hockey in the family driveway.
“Somewhere along the line, something must have clicked,” he said. “I fell in love with hockey.”
The Kastelics — Ed and Susan — settled in Arizona after Ed played the 1992-93 season with the minor league Phoenix Roadrunners.
As a kid, Mark Kastelic was into plenty of sports — soccer, track and field, cross-country, flag football and hockey. At the time, he didn't pay much attention to his family's hockey heritage. That sunk in later.
“I probably didn't realize how cool it was at the time,” he said. “It wasn't until I got older and I saw highlights, stuff from my dad and my relatives, I sat back and appreciated how special it was. It motivated me to be the next generation (of hockey players) in the family.”
Moving to Calgary from the Phoenix area was a big move, but one he felt was necessary.
“I wasn't focused on going to college or anything like that, I was solely focused on making it to the NHL,” he said. “I didn't have a Plan B. The (Western Hockey League) seemed like my best way to get to where I wanted to go.”
Ed and Susan have been a big influence.
His mom was a college volleyball player and was born into the competitive Stapleton family.
“Both my parents pushed me to be the best I could be, take this as far as I can,” said Kastelic. “My dad's pretty quiet off the ice. I'm pretty similar that way. My mom's pretty intense sometimes. I got good qualities from both of them.”
Kastelic has three older sisters — Courtney, Kristen and Kari, all competitive athletes on their own — who have also been good influences along the way.
With the Senators, Kastelic's role may change, but he's not worried.
“There's more there (to my game), for sure,” he said. “It's just a matter of a lot of things coming together. There are things I want to improve on to be able to elevate my game, but I also feel like there are some things that make me special. I can bring a lot of different things to a team at this level.”
And though the Senators have not put together enough wins this season — they're on a fourgame losing skid heading into a game Wednesday in Anaheim — Kastelic has tried to remain on an even keel.
“The biggest thing I've been trying to focus on is staying positive through all the highs and lows,” he said. “You look to find balance in your life for what happens away from the rink and for when it's time to go to work at the rink. When things are going good or bad, either way, you can't drain yourself. There's a lot to be grateful for, to be here, in the NHL.”