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

[Buddy Bizarre]

PSSSST he is a 3rd liner look around the NHL what 3rd liners get paid

But that's not the full part of the criticism
We could have elected to NOT pay him and he walked.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I think the team sees him as Geno's RW, unless the stars align, the rivers run red with blood, R'leyh dreaming rises from the sea and Rust gets demoted.

 

[Pens x]

I don't think Kap's deal is going to be hard to move, anymore so than any other player we have on the roster. (Note, this does not mean he'll garner a big return.) It's actually probably easier than moving McGinn or Carter's deals, to be honest. I also think people are kidding themselves if they think an equivalent player is going to be much cheaper than what Kap makes now or that we were were even thinking of bringing in another top 6 winger.

People just keep playing themselves.

Carter is effectively immovable and Kap at one year would be a lot easier to move.

We struck out in finding Geno that second winger.

 

[Josey Wales]

But that's not the full part of the criticism
We could have elected to NOT pay him and he walked.

& pay another 3rd Liner as much or more

 

[HandshakeLine]

Carter is effectively immovable and Kap at one deal would be a lot easier to move.

We struck out in finding Geno that second winger.

I don't think the team even tried. It was never even on the radar.

 

[Pens x]

I don't think the team even tried. It was never even on the radar.

Then they are dumb.

I still think they failed to address two huge weak spots in this lineup - a back up goalie and the second line. If you want to half ass the second line, your bottom six better be strong. Ours is not.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Then they are dumb.

Well, yeah? My guess is they decided that the market for UFA wingers wasn't worth what people are getting and there's probably better options to improve via trade in the early part of the season.

I didn't expect them to do anything on that front anyway so, I'm not really disappointed.

 

[Pens x]

Well, yeah? My guess is they decided that the market for UFA wingers wasn't worth what people are getting and there's probably better options to improve via trade in the early part of the season.

I didn't expect them to do anything on that front anyway so, I'm not really disappointed.

Sleepy blew his load dealing Marino for scraps. Our top six isn’t changing until the deadline, best case.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Hex has talked multiple times - including on the radio very recently - about his expectations for Kap this upcoming season.
To the people saying we may still trade him...just stop. Not gonna happen.

He's not giving up on him yet, the same way he didn't give up on Jarry.
And if you're ruling out a bounce back after he had his career low shooting %, then you're either a fool or a very inexperienced fan.

Not to mention strength of linemates to start the season. That won't impact things at all...

When he scored 20 in Toronto he had 45 shots more than last year. He needs more shot volume and more space, and for that he needs to not play with Erod, Zucker and Carter.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Let's think of it this way, to be optimistic for a change: if Kap comes close to 20 goals and 45 points on L2, he's a steal.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

& pay another 3rd Liner as much or more

Well we could have potentially been in the Nino Niederier stakes if we decided to walk away from Kap and not signed clowns like Archibald at above league min. That's a 2nd liner playing on the 3rd line

 

[Randy Butternubs]

I think we all hope that Kap re-finds his scoring touch -- it's just that the majority of us think that's an impossibility.

 

[Giant Yankee Pens]

Well, the most interesting thing for me is that this all but guarentees that one of Pettersson, Zucker, McGinn, Bluegar, or Dumo will be traded. They literally have no one else they can even trade to send out cap who wasn't recently resigned/signed/traded for or part of the core (Jake, Sid, Jarry).

 

[Josey Wales]

Well we could have potentially been in the Nino Niederier stakes if we decided to walk away from Kap and not signed clowns like Archibald at above league min. That's a 2nd liner playing on the 3rd line

Nino the chronic underachiever??? the grass is not always greener elsewhere, Also if Kap is on 2nd Line then you would bitch & moan about Zucker a 5 Mill$ 3rd liner

 

[vodeni]

If I have to bet on one of the two, Zucker or Kapanen to bounce back to legit L2 second wheel,,I'd take Zucker over Kappy any day. i just don't see in him, its not like he is snakebit or playing hurt...he is just not that good at hockey

 

[Peat]

Well, the most interesting thing for me is that this all but guarentees that one of Pettersson, Zucker, McGinn, Bluegar, or Dumo will be traded. They literally have no one else they can even trade to send out cap who wasn't recently resigned/signed/traded for or part of the core (Jake, Sid, Jarry).

Running a 22 man roster for about half the season would also solve it.

 

[Giant Yankee Pens]

Then they would have to waive someone who needs to clear waivers, so, again, interesting who that would be.

Plus, when is the last time they opened a season with a 22 man roster And 300k in cap space?

I suppose they could wait it out until training camp, assume someone will be injured, and LTIR them to start the year. Just seems unlikely to me they would play it that tight to start the season.

 

[Victor Z]

Hex has talked multiple times - including on the radio very recently - about his expectations for Kap this upcoming season.
To the people saying we may still trade him...just stop. Not gonna happen.

He's not giving up on him yet, the same way he didn't give up on Jarry.
And if you're ruling out a bounce back after he had his career low shooting %, then you're either a fool or a very inexperienced fan.

Not to mention strength of linemates to start the season. That won't impact things at all...

When he scored 20 in Toronto he had 45 shots more than last year. He needs more shot volume and more space, and for that he needs to not play with Erod, Zucker and Carter.

So we're aware that Hextall is seemingly happy with Kappy -- but Hextall doesn't set the lines or determine a player's role on the team.

Unfortunately the guy who DOES do those things made up his mind about Kapanen before he ever played a game as a Penguin. And, as ignorantly stubborn as he is, isn't likely to change his thinking anytime in the near future.

People can debate for the next few months whether keeping Kapanen around was smart or stupid but here he is, like it or not. Given that we have ZERO better options to choose from right now for Gino's wingers, the Pens' #2 line needs to be Rakell-Malkin-Kapanen.

And it needs to be configured that way for more than 90 seconds of ice time in order that the involved players maybe (gasp!) develop some actual chemistry with each other, OK Sully?

 

[orby]

I'm not the world's biggest Kapanen fan but, Nino Niederreiter is not really that much better than him, either. I don't think Niederreiter would have moved the needle for the Penguins tbh.

 

[SEALBound]

When he scored 20 in Toronto he had 45 shots more than last year. He needs more shot volume and more space, and for that he needs to not play with Erod, Zucker and Carter.

Agreed. A lot of our wings could stand more shot volume. In fact, shot volume led ERod to have a decent scoring season. Problem is, with Sid and Geno, you don't always get a good quality shot volume. So if the goal truly is to get him shooting, you need to stick him with Carter, not Sid or Geno.

That's not to say the team doesn't produce shots with Sid and Geno. I 100% understand that you can show me a Ryan Wilson special that shows that Sid and Geno get shots. However, for every shot they do get (or the line gets), we've likely passed up 2 or 3 other opportunities.

 

[The Old Master]

Kap has had his issues, but I'm willing to bet he has a bounce-back year.

if the reason was a broken leg or something like that, i would be less worried, but it wasn't. that in the head stuff scares me. remember that pirate pitcher? had to quite the game.

 

[Allie Kitsune]

Agreed. A lot of our wings could stand more shot volume. In fact, shot volume led ERod to have a decent scoring season. Problem is, with Sid and Geno, you don't always get a good quality shot volume. So if the goal truly is to get him shooting, you need to stick him with Carter, not Sid or Geno.

That's not to say the team doesn't produce shots with Sid and Geno. I 100% understand that you can show me a Ryan Wilson special that shows that Sid and Geno get shots. However, for every shot they do get (or the line gets), we've likely passed up 2 or 3 other opportunities.

You want to shoot on Sid's Wing? Better know when the Blind Drop Pass is coming.

 

[Shady Machine]

McGinn, Archibald and Kap are eating up almost $7 mill of cap.

Hextall is special.

Seriously, a third line player doesn’t deserve $3.2 mil when the cap continues to stay the same.

Including Archibald on that list is stupid. He makes league minimum and can be sent down. If not him, there’d be another league minimum player there.

Your post carries more credibility if it included Kap, Blueger, McGinn, and Zucker for over $13mm. That’s the issue in my estimation. 2 of those 4 can go, use the cap space on a legitimate upgrade and let some of the kids fight for the other spot on the cheap.

For whatever reason, they are still betting on Kap. Hopefully he proves them right.

Lol sounds like Baker Mayfield

 

[jmelm]

Let's think of it this way, to be optimistic for a change: if Kap comes close to 20 goals and 45 points on L2, he's a steal.

Still doesn't explain why it was a 2 year deal instead of 1 year. Or if they truly believed in him, why not 3 years?

 

[jmelm]

Hex has talked multiple times - including on the radio very recently - about his expectations for Kap this upcoming season.
To the people saying we may still trade him...just stop. Not gonna happen.

He's not giving up on him yet, the same way he didn't give up on Jarry.
And if you're ruling out a bounce back after he had his career low shooting %, then you're either a fool or a very inexperienced fan.

Not to mention strength of linemates to start the season. That won't impact things at all...

When he scored 20 in Toronto he had 45 shots more than last year. He needs more shot volume and more space, and for that he needs to not play with Erod, Zucker and Carter.

I've only heard Hextall give relatively canned answers to Kap when he was asked about him specifically. He's never come out to defend Kapanen proactively or sing his praises unprovoked.

And it's ridiculous to compare Jarry to Kapanen. Jarry's contract is an absolute steal, and there are no other goalies of similar quality you could get for that cap hit.

Jarry had a few bad games in the playoffs 2 years ago, vs. Kapanen whose entire season last year was total shit except for the games when he was actually scratched. And Kapanen is easily replaced by other forwards via UFA or trade unlike Jarry.