In 2014, the Anaheim Ducks, long past their hyped 1st round draft selection of Nick Ritchie at 10th overall, took a relatively unknown winger from the Czech Republic in the 7th round at 205th overall.

It’s not like he was a complete unknown; he was promoted by scouts who focused on European leagues, and some rankings had him pegged as the second best European skater in the 2014 draft.

Many experts expected Kase to go in the middle rounds, anywhere from 4th to 6th. His speed, creativity, and tenacity along with dominating play at the junior levels of the Czech circuit hinted at a potentially exciting NHL player. But a combination of size concerns (Kase weighed only 165 lbs in a 6’ frame at the draft) as well as struggles in limited ice time against men in the top Czech league dropped his stock much more than many anticipated.

Additionally, until 2014, the Czech Republic had stagnated in producing high-end hockey talent; certainly not as much as the 80s through early 2000s with the likes of Jaromir Jagr, Petr Skora, and Patrik Elias.

All of these factors led to Bob Murray and scouting director Martin Madden taking a swing on what was, realistically, a lottery ticket pick in Kase with their final selection of the 2014 Entry Draft.

Fast forward to 2015-2016, his first season in San Diego. Kase saw modest success on the scoresheet with 14 points (8G, 6A) in 25 games under Dallas Eakins. However, he quickly became a low-key San Diego fan favorite, displaying his Energizer Bunny work ethic and flashes of high-end skill.

When Kase was called up to the Ducks for the first time in 2016, many Ducks fans furrowed their brows in confusion. Not many had heard of him, as a 7th round pick not exactly lighting up the scoreboard in the AHL wasn’t the type of player that would generate headlines.

Those furrowed brows quickly turned into raised ones, however, as it quickly became clear why many Gulls fans had raved about the young winger. Scoring chance after scoring chance came his way primarily playing on a line centered by the aging Antoine Vermette and Ritchie on the left wing. Multiple close calls and goaltending robberies eventually gave way to Kase’s first NHL goal against current Ducks backup Ryan Miller in Vancouver on December 1st, 2016. His celebrations and excited but broken English interviews endeared him to fans who absorbed his child-like enthusiasm for the game of hockey.

Now, despite limited playing time due to injuries, including two concussions, we have a large enough sample size to get an idea of Kase’s impact on the ice.

The Ducks as a team have not been one to control games in recent years, as their share of the shot attempts and goals for ranks in the bottom third of the NHL over the past three seasons (also known as the Carlyle 2.0 era).

It gets even more obvious what the Ducks issues are when you visualize their shot rates specifically from last season.

Have you had enough of the beatings to your fandom?

These charts show exactly what the Ducks are in desperate need of: players who can help control shot share and give the team chances to increase its goal scoring.

Enter Ondrej Kase.

Despite playing for a coach that has seasons upon seasons of evidence of being a sinkhole of offense and play driving, Kase has stood out as player who is...well...not that.

Since he secured a permanent roster spot in Anaheim last season, Kase has stood out from the rest of the team in play driving, despite skating on teams that haven’t been above breakeven at shot attempts at any point in his young career.

Moving beyond shot attempts and getting into overall individual impact on the ice when compared to the NHL as a whole, Kase still shines.

If anything, he might be slightly underperforming to this point, as illustrated by the difference in goals for and expected goals for. Yes, he’s carrying a shooting percentage north of 13% on his career so far, which is above the league average of approximately 9.5%. But it is possible for players with high-end shooting talent to carry averages well north of league average: Rickard Rakell and Corey Perry are two notable examples.

Despite his success at 5v5, there hasn’t been as much success on the power play, mostly because of sample size. For whatever reason, his impact on the ice at full strength did not earn him many looks with the man advantage. Look for that to change with Dallas Eakins at the helm this season.

The eye test matches up very well to the numbers here. Kase is a perfect example of a wind-up toy car that seems to never run out of energy, starting every shift like he's been shot out of a cannon. He’s not afraid to go hard into the corners to get pucks out. He’s always moving his feet. And you never have to tell him to shoot twice.

As skilled as Kase is, it’s not even his shot that is his most valuable quality; it’s his ability to get into dangerous scoring areas. It always seems like Kase is either ready to receive the puck and get a shot off in open ice or use his speed to get to the net in a hurry. Once again, the numbers back this up.

The ability to get quality shots off and get into dangerous areas of the ice is also reflected in both his expected goals for and actual goals for numbers.

Kase has also been the most efficient scorer on the Ducks over the past two seasons at a rate of 2.31 points/60 at 5v5. Yes, he’s been even more efficient than Ryan Getzlaf, who clocks in at 2.15 points/60 over that span.

Despite missing the first 18 games of the 2018-2019 season due to a concussion suffered in the final preseason game against the LA Kings, Kase hit the ground running in an attempt to build off his breakout 20 goal performance the previous year.

At one point in the month of December, Kase was playing at a 40 goal, 70+ point pace over a full 82 game season. It appeared everything was coming together for the young Czech winger.

Unfortunately, he only played in 30 games before succumbing to the Ducks injury curse from a torn rotator cuff in his shoulder, ending his season in January. Once again, the Ducks were robbed of the full potential of one of the most exciting and creative players the Ducks have had in years.

The injuries have become a legitimate point of concern. Yes, he's only 23 years old. But since his NHL debut, he’s missed 40% of games he was eligible to play in with Anaheim due to two separate concussions as well as his rotator cuff tear. While he’s been extremely unlucky, there comes a point where a player misses valuable development time if they sit out enough games. Not to mention the potential toll the injuries take on a player’s body. While the concussions didn’t appear to have an effect on Kase’s performance last season, the rotator cuff injury is a bit of a different story.

Shoulder injuries can sometimes be very difficult to heal, especially a full tear of the ligament in Kase’s case. One can only hope that he heals properly with a full eight months to rehab. Indeed, there exist some positive examples with regards to healing from a torn rotator cuff; both Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen had the exact same injury and surgery after the 2015-2016 playoffs, and neither have appeared to be any worse for the wear since returning to the ice.

The Athletic’s Ian Tulloch recently published his list of top-10 breakout candidates for the 2019-2020 season. His number one bet for a true breakout season? Ondrej Kase.

I would take that bet. The underlying numbers are absolutely stellar and stand out on some comparatively weak Ducks teams, especially in the offensive department. Not to mention that Dallas Eakins’ high-event and tempo system is built perfectly for the type of player Kase embodies. Plus, there’s plenty of familiarity between the two from their days in San Diego.

The only thing holding him back is his health. If Kase can keep his head up and avoid some unlucky breaks in the injury department, we could be looking at the top-line scoring winger the Ducks have been searching for.