Confirmed with Link: Kapanen re-signs for 2 years at $3.2 million AAV

[Pens1566]

My favorite hindsight pick is how we picked Dominik Simon 2 picks away from Kaprizov.

puke

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

My favorite hindsight pick is how we picked Dominik Simon 2 picks away from Kaprizov.

 

[Pancakes]

And the Penguins could've drafted Pastrnak with the pick they used on Kapanen. /shrug

There are almost always gonna be situations where you look back and realize a team made the "wrong" pick--hell, even Staal over guys like Kessel, Toews, and Backstrom was questionable. You're just gonna annoy yourself by going back and looking over drafts with the benefit of hindsight.

Although, the way this team took Pouliot over the obvious consensus pick in Forsberg, or even Trouba if the team wanted to stick to NA blueliners like they adored under Shero, will always be good for a hearty laugh.

A lot of these too are just stupid to complain about. The Penguins drafted Kris Letang in the third round in 2005. Was that a great pick? Yes. Did they have any idea he'd be a franchise defenseman? Absolutely f***in not. They got insanely lucky. If they knew he was that good they woulda drafted him earlier and traded picks to ensure they could

Minnesota got insanely lucky with Kaprizov. If they had any idea he'd be that good, they sure as shit wouldn't have waited until the 5th round to draft him.

I'm not saying there's no skill in drafting well. But I think a lot of that skill is exercised in the first or second rounds where the players are heavily scouted. Past that, there's a ton of luck involved imo.

 

[OtherThingsILike]

My favorite hindsight pick is how we picked Dominik Simon 2 picks away from Kaprizov.

And 11 picks away from Troy Terry.

 

[Zbynek]

A lot of these too are just stupid to complain about. The Penguins drafted Kris Letang in the third round in 2005. Was that a great pick? Yes. Did they have any idea he'd be a franchise defenseman? Absolutely f***in not. They got insanely lucky. If they knew he was that good they woulda drafted him earlier and traded picks to ensure they could

Minnesota got insanely lucky with Kaprizov. If they had any idea he'd be that good, they sure as shit wouldn't have waited until the 5th round to draft him.

I'm not saying there's no skill in drafting well. But I think a lot of that skill is exercised in the first or second rounds where the players are heavily scouted. Past that, there's a ton of luck involved imo.

You're not wrong, but let's not forget it's completely up to the GM+President+Scout team to make the picks. Yes, hindsight is always 20/20, but if they miss on Kaprizov because they were ogling Dominik Simon, that's on the GM.

There's always some element of luck, but it's never 100% luck. No, no one knew Kaprizov was going to turn into arguably the NHL's best sniper. But some dude in Minnesota stepped up and said, let's try this Kaprizov kid, he's worth the pick. Just like someone in our org stepped up and said to JR, let's get this Dominik Simon guy.

 

[Coastal Kev]

Amazing that the Pens won 3 cups with this core when their drafting and asset management has been terrible for over a decade.

 

[Pancakes]

You're not wrong, but let's not forget it's completely up to the GM+President+Scout team to make the picks. Yes, hindsight is always 20/20, but if they miss on Kaprizov because they were ogling Dominik Simon, that's on the GM.

There's always some element of luck, but it's never 100% luck. No, no one knew Kaprizov was going to turn into arguably the NHL's best sniper. But some dude in Minnesota stepped up and said, let's try this Kaprizov kid, he's worth the pick. Just like someone in our org stepped up and said to JR, let's get this Dominik Simon guy.

It's not 100% luck, but I think it is primarily luck after the first and second round. If you mess up in the first two rounds, that's on you as an org. Those players are all heavily scouted, and you should have some clue on them.

But after that I feel like it's buying lottery tickets.

Development does matter too, and we've been a pretty good org at that for a while. Some orgs never hit on late round picks and I feel like it's partially luck but also partially shitty ass development systems.

Say what you will about the Pens drafting but we know how to turn guys into NHL players. We've squeezed out plenty of bottom sixers over Sid's tenure here despite being extremely lacking in pick quantity. I think that's a testament to our development systems

 

[Pancakes]

Speaking of Kapanen, here is how St. Louis is planning to use him:

 

[Flying Dego]

Speaking of Kapanen, here is how St. Louis is planning to use him:

Give it a couple weeks and I bet you anything I could pose a Kapanen trade value in the offseason and the landscape of HF boarde would be night and day lol.

Lotta Blues fans saying "it'll take a 1st to get talking at this cap hit". Other teams fans saying "a speedy guy that pots 40+ pts is what we're missing!"

Rinse and repeat with ex-Pens.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Putting Kap on LW "wrong-handed" is probably giving Mike Sullivan anxiety even if he's on a completely different team, now.

 

[Andy99]

Speaking of Kapanen, here is how St. Louis is planning to use him:

Wasn’t it @The Old Master who said Sullivan should play Kap at LW because he likes to come down that side and shoot…again, Sullivan tried nothing unusual with hiim…I hope he finds his place at LW

 

[Flying Dego]

Putting Kap on LW "wrong-handed" is probably giving Mike Sullivan anxiety even if he's on a completely different team, now.

I bet he puts up decent numbers, the Blues showcase him a bit and he's traded next year for gains.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I bet he puts up decent numbers, the Blues showcase him a bit and he's traded next year for gains.

This is probably a safe bet, tbh.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I bet he puts up decent numbers, the Blues showcase him a bit and he's traded next year for gains.

Yeah this is my assumption on why they or another team in a similar situation would take him on.

Despite his flaws Kapanen has shown he can get extremely hot in the right circumstances. So we'll see.

 

[HandshakeLine]

And if he gets hot, his value goes up even more. It's pretty basic asset management stuff, but it's nice to see it after our weird-ass reluctance to even try any changes.

 

[Zbynek]

Yeah this is my assumption on why they or another team in a similar situation would take him on.

Despite his flaws Kapanen has shown he can get extremely hot in the right circumstances. So we'll see.

"Kapanen" and "extremely hot" in the same sentence kinda hurts my brain.

Yea i dunno guys, I don't see Kapanen turning his value around into a 1st rounder. Playing with Robert Thomas is a great opportunity for him though.

My bet is him staying about the same value he is right now and fetching $1-$1.5million at UFA next year.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

You don't recall when he was first re-acquired?

That was a pretty damned hot streak, I'd say.

I don't even miss the guy. But I also don't really see him as this heinous player many others seem to, either.

 

[Zbynek]

You don't recall when he was first re-acquired?

That was a pretty damned hot streak, I'd say.

I don't even miss the guy. But I also don't really see him as this heinous player many others seem to, either.

He only scored in consecutive games once in the '20/'21 season. I don't call that a hot streak, but his 30 points in 40 games that year really gets people going for some reason.

He did it one other time as a Penguin - this season, the game after his hat-trick goal against STL (then went 13 games without a tally)

And before someone quotes me - yea I know, Mike Sully Sullivan, grumble grumble.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Well it got people going because it was a 60 point pace and he showed an ability to play in the top six and even had some chemistry with Malkin all while being young-ish and potentially cost controlled had he continued to develop along those lines. Perhaps adrenaline in hindsight who knows. I would absolutely never had extended him after the follow-up season, of course. But whatever he's gone now so I guess I don't much care either way.

Honestly I think people are just extra salty on Kap because the team stupidly sunk so much into him. To me much of the ire directed at Kapanen should really be aimed more at coaching and FO management.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I'm not saying there's no skill in drafting well. But I think a lot of that skill is exercised in the first or second rounds where the players are heavily scouted. Past that, there's a ton of luck involved imo.

I think a lot of it comes down to drafting a certain type or looking for certain attributes. It's one of the reasons I've never been a fan of taking "safe" players with very little upside in the mid to late rounds. When you're drafting a Reid McNeil you're basically guaranteeing a wasted pick. Whereas if you draft Joe Scoring Champion who happens to be under 6'0 and has defensive issues, you might also be drafting a future ECHL scorer or because of his skills he DOES have, he develops into a Brayden Point or Kiril Kaprisov.

That was one of my pet peeves with how the Pens often draft. So many "low ceiling, high floor" types who project to be 3rd line/4th line players rather than take a bunch of swings at players who might have flaws in their game, but if they DO hit you've got a legitimate top line player on your hands.

 

[Zbynek]

Well it got people going because it was a 60 point pace and he showed an ability to play in the top six and even had some chemistry with Malkin all while being young-ish and potentially cost controlled had he continued to develop along those lines. Perhaps adrenaline in hindsight who knows. I would absolutely never had extended him after the follow-up season, of course. But whatever he's gone now so I guess I don't much care either way.

Honestly I think people are just extra salty on Kap because they stupidly sunk so much into him. To me much of the ire directed at Kapanen should really be aimed more at coaching and FO management.

Yea, totally. The Kap stink got really bad with me the day this thread was made. It had been brewing all last season but qualifying Kap was really the tipping point. You're down to your last 3 million dollars of cap space and that's your move Sleepy???

 

[HandshakeLine]

To be fair, if we hadn't resigned Carter, it wouldn't have been the last 3 million of cap space.

Like I said, Kap was a symptom, not the root.

 

[Gold Diamond]

Clearly a case of piss poor asset management. They sold at the lowest point they could. And they got what they deserve, nothing.

Kap space is a luxury to have going forward. He was eating 3.2 million for this year and next by being a slightly better version of Konstantin Koltsov.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Speaking of Kapanen, here is how St. Louis is planning to use him:

How dare they use him in a favourable way. Don't they know he needs to be on the third line with the worst center they have????????!!!!!!!!

Give it a couple weeks and I bet you anything I could pose a Kapanen trade value in the offseason and the landscape of HF boarde would be night and day lol.

Lotta Blues fans saying "it'll take a 1st to get talking at this cap hit". Other teams fans saying "a speedy guy that pots 40+ pts is what we're missing!"

Rinse and repeat with ex-Pens.

Ex-Pens that thrive away from us and increase in value with Pens fans being sour pusses is definitely rinse and repeat.

 

[SEALBound]

Speaking of Kapanen, here is how St. Louis is planning to use him:

Go get em Kappy!

I'm actually rooting quite hard for him.