Prospect Info: Oliver Kapanen, RHC, KalPa U20 (U20 SM-sarja), 64th Overall

[Harry Kakalovich]

A nice 2nd round center prospect - he seems like he could become a good one - hopefully he's a good skater

 

[Harry Kakalovich]

I feel like they drafted a few guys who can rip the puck. I don't know enough about their overall game, but I see Kapanen, Kostenko, and Trudeau being able to fire the puck. They also got Gordin last year, who if the kid has one quality, it's his wicked shot.

Apparently Mailloux has a bomb of a shot as well!

 

[Adam Michaels]

KalPa is playing a preseason game and Kapanen is in the line-up at 1RW (#91):

 

[montreal]

no pts, and 0 for 1 in the SO

 

[montreal]

he didn't dress in today's Liiga preseason game, so he's only appeared in 1 of the 3 games so far but it's possible he already left the team to join Team Finland for the 4 Nations tournament, but the games aren't for another week from today.

 

[Adam Michaels]

Martineau will have an article on Kapanen soon. He interviewed him. Kapanen told him he expects to play in KalPa all year. He said he played one preseason game so far. He was nervous at first but got more comfortable as the game went on.

 

[Gael]

A nice 2nd round center prospect - he seems like he could become a good one - hopefully he's a good skater

I assume he's a good skater given his last name

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

I assume he's a good skater given his last name

He has to work on it a bit but he's not terrible .

 

[Skip Bayless]

I don't have good vibes about Olli y'all.

 

[montreal]

Martineau will have an article on Kapanen soon. He interviewed him. Kapanen told him he expects to play in KalPa all year. He said he played one preseason game so far. He was nervous at first but got more comfortable as the game went on.

Timmins did say in that interview with Grant that he expected him to be in Liiga this year. So hopefully a good showing at the WJC's and a good year in Liiga.

 

[JadedRandom]

Timmins did say in that interview with Grant that he expected him to be in Liiga this year. So hopefully a good showing at the WJC's and a good year in Liiga.

I wish Kapanen all the best and will cheer for him this year in the Liiga/WJC, but I unfortunately get some Jacob Olofsson vibes with this pick (IE decent minor league player but not an NHLer).

I would have taken Pastujov there 10 out of 10 times had I been in charge of the pick. But hopefully I'm wrong and Kapanen ends up being a damned good NHLer.

 

[montreal]

I wish Kapanen all the best and will cheer for him this year in the Liiga/WJC, but I unfortunately get some Jacob Olofsson vibes with this pick (IE decent minor league player but not an NHLer).

I would have taken Pastujov there 10 out of 10 times had I been in charge of the pick. But hopefully I'm wrong and Kapanen ends up being a damned good NHLer.

I don't know him too well yet, and it sucks that our 2 2nd round picks were more like 3rd rounders since they were the last 2 picks of the round. I do like that he led his team in scoring, that he was 2nd in the league in points among U-18 players, so there's something there but then again you look at Leks, KK, at the same age they were doing great in Liiga for their age. That said as I always say, with prospects it's all about how much or little they progress over time. So he's young for the draft, seeing that he just turned 18, he should have some time in Finland to work on things over the next 2-3 or 4 years.

I don't follow the draft too much, I liked the Czech defensemen Svozil and there was Martino but we'll see what happens.

I have never seen a Finnish juni0r league game so I don't know how good the level is, and I haven't seen what is their AHL, where he put up 5 pt in 5 games at 17. Not to compare them but I was very impressed with Ylonen in Laval this year after not being a huge fan of the little i'd seen of him up till then. He really opened my eyes this year, now of course he has the speed, skating that Kapanen doesn't but just for fun,

Ylonen - (age 17, JrA) 37-15-16-31 +3 14 pims
(age 17, 2nd league) 3-0-0-0 -2 2 pims

Kapanen - (age 17, JrA) 37-25-16-41 -1 26 pims
(age 17, 2nd league) 5-3-2-5 +2 12 pims

now Ylonen was 3 months younger and you have to look at the teams they played on as well but Ylonen was 5th on his team in points while Kapanen led his. For his age 18 season, Ylonen spent it in Mestis (their AHL) and was once again 5th on his team in points but only 1 goal away from the team lead. After that he wa in Liiga at 19 and had a solid year for sure but then struggled a little to match his first seasons totals, which some times can be impacted by the team not being as good but still is a red flag. So it will be interesting to see how Kapanen does, if he's in Liiga all year and how it goes and then can he build off that.

 

[Apfel Struble]

I don't know him too well yet, and it sucks that our 2 2nd round picks were more like 3rd rounders since they were the last 2 picks of the round. I do like that he led his team in scoring, that he was 2nd in the league in points among U-18 players, so there's something there but then again you look at Leks, KK, at the same age they were doing great in Liiga for their age. That said as I always say, with prospects it's all about how much or little they progress over time. So he's young for the draft, seeing that he just turned 18, he should have some time in Finland to work on things over the next 2-3 or 4 years.

I don't follow the draft too much, I liked the Czech defensemen Svozil and there was Martino but we'll see what happens.

I have never seen a Finnish juni0r league game so I don't know how good the level is, and I haven't seen what is their AHL, where he put up 5 pt in 5 games at 17. Not to compare them but I was very impressed with Ylonen in Laval this year after not being a huge fan of the little i'd seen of him up till then. He really opened my eyes this year, now of course he has the speed, skating that Kapanen doesn't but just for fun,

Ylonen - (age 17, JrA) 37-15-16-31 +3 14 pims
(age 17, 2nd league) 3-0-0-0 -2 2 pims

Kapanen - (age 17, JrA) 37-25-16-41 -1 26 pims
(age 17, 2nd league) 5-3-2-5 +2 12 pims

now Ylonen was 3 months younger and you have to look at the teams they played on as well but Ylonen was 5th on his team in points while Kapanen led his. For his age 18 season, Ylonen spent it in Mestis (their AHL) and was once again 5th on his team in points but only 1 goal away from the team lead. After that he wa in Liiga at 19 and had a solid year for sure but then struggled a little to match his first seasons totals, which some times can be impacted by the team not being as good but still is a red flag. So it will be interesting to see how Kapanen does, if he's in Liiga all year and how it goes and then can he build off that.

Pretty interesting! His Mestis numbers are good too albeit on a very small sample. I've never seen him play but the knocks on him are his skating and playmaking if I remember correctly? Ylonen had a pretty strong shot in Laval so scoring at that higher a pace must mean Kapanen is a good goal scorer. I look forward to what he can do and I hope he's not like Olofsson

 

[LastWordArmy]

Timmins did say in that interview with Grant that he expected him to be in Liiga this year. So hopefully a good showing at the WJC's and a good year in Liiga.

As a second round pick, its NHL or Liiga for him, the Habs couldn't even bring him to the AHL if they wanted to. Its only first rounders where they can bypass his Finnish deal and send him to the AHL under the IIHF-NHL Transfer agreement.

 

[26Mats]

I don't have good vibes about Olli y'all.

I'm much more confident in our Dmen 2nd round picks than our forwards.

Subban and Romanov were 2nds.

Who's our best forward 2nd round pick in the Timmins era? Lehkonen? I suppose it's Latendresse, as I believe he would have had a good career if not for it being ruined by concussions.

But I'm not liking that the last four 2nds were used on forwards, although I'm happy the last two 1sts were used on Dmen.

 

[montreal]

Pretty interesting! His Mestis numbers are good too albeit on a very small sample. I've never seen him play but the knocks on him are his skating and playmaking if I remember correctly? Ylonen had a pretty strong shot in Laval so scoring at that higher a pace must mean Kapanen is a good goal scorer. I look forward to what he can do and I hope he's not like Olofsson

I know the knock on him is his skating, he's going to be a tough one to get a read on since Liiga games are so hard to find streams.

As a second round pick, its NHL or Liiga for him, the Habs couldn't even bring him to the AHL if they wanted to. Its only first rounders where they can bypass his Finnish deal and send him to the AHL under the IIHF-NHL Transfer agreement.

yes i'm aware as i've been telling people all summer about the rule in regards to Norlinder, I was saying Liiga over Juniors or Mestis. He's not even signed so it's not like currently the NHL would be an option. Timmins said he expects him to stay over there for a few years I believe, would have to look up his exact quote.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

CH: l'audacieux espoir qui pourrait tout changer - TVA Sports

 

[dcyhabs]

I'm much more confident in our Dmen 2nd round picks than our forwards.

Subban and Romanov were 2nds.

Who's our best forward 2nd round pick in the Timmins era? Lehkonen? I suppose it's Latendresse, as I believe he would have had a good career if not for it being ruined by concussions.

But I'm not liking that the last four 2nds were used on forwards, although I'm happy the last two 1sts were used on Dmen.

Is it just me or do habs prospects get a lot of concussions? They happen a lot in hockey, and it's certainly not just our team, but Latendresse, Leblanc, Tinordi, and McCarron were all pushed into situations where they had concussions in the AHL. Evans seems to just get smoked at least once a year.

Kapanen looks good for an end of second pick, maybe 30% chance he ever makes the team.

 

[A55P2]

CH: l'audacieux espoir qui pourrait tout changer - TVA Sports

Not sure if the author of the article caught that Oliver was joking around. Anyway, it might still happen. He might become better, but this was a tongue in cheek kind of remark.

 

[1909]

CH: l'audacieux espoir qui pourrait tout changer - TVA Sports

Good in depth article for those who can read French.

 

[ZUKI]

Not sure if the author of the article caught that Oliver was joking around. Anyway, it might still happen. He might become better, but this was a tongue in cheek kind of remark.

Interesting that you were not there , but tell us that the author of the interview didn't caught that Oliver was joking around. The journalist talked to him, his uncle, his cousin, his coaches... he should know what he was talking about

 

[Skip Bayless]

Not sure if the author of the article caught that Oliver was joking around. Anyway, it might still happen. He might become better, but this was a tongue in cheek kind of remark.

Yeah, I stopped reading right after that. Can't take any "journalist" seriously when they're that much off the mark.

 

[A55P2]

Interesting that you were not there , but tell us that the author of the interview didn't caught that Oliver was joking around. The journalist talked to him, his uncle, his cousin, his coaches... he should know what he was talking about

I mean yeah I wasn't there, but I've lived in Finland for about 2 years so I do know a bit about their kind of humor. It's deadpan, if you don't get it you just don't, it's easy to mistake for just a regular comment.

I could be wrong, but I doubt it given the context and the fact that Kasperi is obviously a good player. I mean who goes around saying they're that much better than proven NHLer? Kasperi was well regarded as a youngster too, I'd say more so than Oliver.

 

[MD thaivuN]

I mean yeah I wasn't there, but I've lived in Finland for about 2 years so I do know a bit about their kind of humor. It's deadpan, if you don't get it you just don't, it's easy to mistake for just a regular comment.

I could be wrong, but I doubt it given the context and the fact that Kasperi is obviously a good player. I mean who goes around saying they're that much better than proven NHLer? Kasperi was well regarded as a youngster too, I'd say more so than Oliver.

from the good old days with Markov, Habs journalists have proven to not understand sarcasm and deadpan humor

 

[Grand Admiral Thrawn]

Not sure if the author of the article caught that Oliver was joking around. Anyway, it might still happen. He might become better, but this was a tongue in cheek kind of remark.

It's a typical fluff piece, that's all.