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

[DesertedPenguin]

This still assumes that Kapanen is staying, which I find intellectually unfathomable.

Why am I the only one saying this?!?!? WTF???

While it is possible that he still gets traded, it would have been more likely for an acquiring team to want to negotiate its own contract with him and simply acquire his rights.

 

[MrBrightside]

I'd have rather not have done this but since it's causing Ryan Wilson a great deal of angst I'm ok with it.

 

[Zap Rowsdower]

If he reads this post he will have a great season:
- He's gotta use a longer stick, it's too short for him. I know Sid encourages a shorter stick, but it doesn't work for Kap.
- He needs less flex on his stick. Not too much less, but less.
- He's gotta spend the summer with a stick handling coach. Dude fumbles the puck more than Dupuis

 

[DesertedPenguin]

I would be incredibly concerned if they moved Pettersson to make Kapanen's money work.

While I understand the concern, it wouldn't bother me at all.

You give POJ and Smith a half season to see how they do. If one or both really struggle, you make a deal at the deadline. In that scenario, you likely wouldn't be looking for a lot of offense from a potential defenseman, which would keep the cost down.

Much like letting things play out with the bottom six, trading Pettersson and letting Smith/POJ both play would answer a lot of questions moving forward, either positively or negatively.

 

[orby]

If Kapanen can be a 40 point ish player again this will be a fine deal. If he continues to flounder he will become the new most hated player on the team.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

That seems like too much money.

 

[cvrle1]

If Kapanen can be a 40 point ish player again this will be a fine deal. If he continues to flounder he will become the new most hated player on the team.

Isnt he already? He seems to be catalyst for all the problems pens have

 

[orby]

Isnt he already? He seems to be catalyst for all the problems pens have

Well it used to be ZAR...

 

[K Fleur]

100K per point scored.

Best way to look at it cause he doesn’t do anything else.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

If Kapanen can be a 40 point ish player again this will be a fine deal. If he continues to flounder he will become the new most hated player on the team.

Kapanen at $3.2 million would be fine if he was used on the PK unit as well. 30-ish points and playing on one of the top two PK units is a decent amount.

The issue is Sullivan doesn't seem him as a PKer, so we're paying him over $3 million to score 10-ish goals and not much else.

 

[canadianguy77]

If he reads this post he will have a great season:
- He's gotta use a longer stick, it's too short for him. I know Sid encourages a shorter stick, but it doesn't work for Kap.
- He needs less flex on his stick. Not too much less, but less.
- He's gotta spend the summer with a stick handling coach. Dude fumbles the puck more than Dupuis

His lateral skating isn’t good compared to his straight ahead acceleration/speed. He reminds me of Koltsov sometimes.

 

[Josey Wales]

That seems like too much money.

Yep here they come in droves

 

[Empoleon8771]

While I understand the concern, it wouldn't bother me at all.

You give POJ and Smith a half season to see how they do. If one or both really struggle, you make a deal at the deadline. In that scenario, you likely wouldn't be looking for a lot of offense from a potential defenseman, which would keep the cost down.

Much like letting things play out with the bottom six, trading Pettersson and letting Smith/POJ both play would answer a lot of questions moving forward, either positively or negatively.

I would rather not go into next year with a reclamation project and a guy who played in 4 games last year on their 2nd pair.

You'd have an easier time convincing me to move Rutta to LD and make Ruhwedel a regular than to put either Smith or POJ in the top-4 to start next year.

 

[JRS91]

I would've preferred Niederreiter at $800K more.

Kapanen has been nothing but disappointing. I'm not sure if it's how Sullivan is using him or not, but cant' say I'm a fan.

 

[Jacob]

Nino went to a state with no income tax, so we'd have had to pay at least slightly more to lure him here, and then hope he even wants to play here.

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Gross, hope they move him.

 

[SomeDude]

There's a chance he puts it together and ends up being a good player. So at least there's that. I don't think he will, but he has the talent.

I still wish they didn't qualify him. Then you can try to negotiate cheaper. If he walks, oh well. There's plenty of other players signing for less than that who are guaranteed to at least bring something of value to the team even if they don't score a flashy goal once every 3 months like Kap.

 

[ColePens]

If he reads this post he will have a great season:
- He's gotta use a longer stick, it's too short for him. I know Sid encourages a shorter stick, but it doesn't work for Kap.
- He needs less flex on his stick. Not too much less, but less.
- He's gotta spend the summer with a stick handling coach. Dude fumbles the puck more than Dupuis

Dude I REALLY want to call out the flex on his stick. He cannot control the puck because of it. I think he can keep the shorter stick but using a wet noodle isn't working. I'd love for him to at least test a stiffer flex.

And this is massively common in stuff like tennis/golf. I'm blown away how players are stubborn on certain flexes. He loses the puck so much w/ a noodle 45 flex.

 

[Pengu]

horrible deal. I wanted him traded badly :-(

 

[HandshakeLine]

Who does Kap think he is? A slightly better Brock McGinn?

 

[pistolpete11]

Meh. It's a fair deal for Kap, but I was ready to move on. I've lost all faith in him putting it together to become a top 6 winger and I don't think he brings enough else to pay that type of premium for a 3rd liner.

Curious to see how they make this work. Blueger out and Larsson in makes sense, but I don't know if I support it.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Meh. It's a fair deal for Kap, but I was ready to move on. I've lost all faith in him putting it together to become a top 6 winger and I don't think he brings enough else to pay that type of premium for a 3rd liner.

Curious to see how they make this work. Blueger out and Larsson in makes sense, but I don't know if I support it.

I'm not going to lie, either this is a vote of confidence or an acknowledgement that the organization had no idea how to approach his arbitration hearing, but I'll be damned if I can figure out which is which.

 

[Ryder71]

horrible deal. I wanted him traded badly :-(

I don't know that this would necessarily preclude a trade. In fact now that he's under contract for two more years it probably bodes better for that to happen. Not necessarily saying I would expect him to be traded.

If somehow we can get a taker for Zucker without costing us a high draft pick that would probably remedy the scenario and afford US cap flexibility in acquiring a top six forward in some form or fashion. Or Jason Zucker could actually play like the player we thought we were getting in that trade a couple years back. So, either way. But if both KK and Jason Zucker are going to stay here they need to step up and play to their abilities. They've had more than enough time to find their game here. Either play better or get the hell out!

 

[OnMyOwn]

Im sure someone would take him on at that hit if he is on the block.

I still like Kap, I just think his usage has been iffy.

 

[Peat]

I'm not going to lie, either this is a vote of confidence or an acknowledgement that the organization had no idea how to approach his arbitration hearing, but I'll be damned if I can figure out which is which.

The fact he was qualified at all makes this a vote imo.

Also, remember that Hextall had said he talked with Kappy's agent and didn't expect a difficult negotiation. Given how quickly it's happened after the the UFAs and big dman trades, that seems to hold up. So it's quite possible this was always the idea.