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

[Tyson]

His development curve has been insane. This is exciting!

Yes the upward trajectory has been impressive.

 

[jaffy27]

This doesn't age well for some of our more well known posters who were calling him a bust after his first two seasons......their opinion was ludicrous then and even more so now.

Probably Ikonen PTSD….this kid is the real Mckoy. Think he gets sent back but holy shit lads, watch out next season, seems he’s just finding his groove!

 

[Tyson]

Probably Ikonen PTSD….this kid is the real Mckoy. Think he gets sent back but holy shit lads, watch out next season!!

Playing 20 minutes a night on the 1st line in the SHL being coached by Olli Jokinen is exactly where he should be. What I want to see for him is that he leave an impression that won't be forgotten.

 

[jaffy27]

Yes the upward trajectory has been impressive.

Sorry, when I read your quote it’s the first thing that came to mind lol

Playing 20 minutes a night on the 1st line in the SHL being coached by Olli Jokinen is exactly where he should be. What I want to see for him is that he leave an impression that won't be forgotten.

Think that notion has already nested in their minds but ya, that holy shit look as they all look at each other moment…..he’s just gooooood

 

[Tyson]

View attachment 908198

Sorry, when I read your quote it’s the first thing that came to mind lol


Think that notion has already nested in their minds but ya, that holy shit look as they all look at each other moment…..he’s just gooooood

He reminds me of a right handed Lehkonen.
Victor Tikhonov once described Bob Gainey as the best technically sound hockey player in the world.
Lehkonen came out of Finland very technically sound. Kapanen seems to be in the same mold.

I am not saying either Finn are at the Bob Gainey level but they play a similar style.

 

[Egresch]

If he is better than Dvorak, there should be no debate about this. We keep Kapanen and trade/waive Dvorak. In this phase of rebuild, we should not hesitate and try to implement prospects to our first team whenever they are ready. Hutson and Roy are expected to be the only two rookies to make the team. Maybe Mailloux/Reinbacher later in the season, but this would put us under a lot of pressure next season. Do we really want to bring all new prospects to replace Savard, Dvorak, Armia, Evans in one year? We know Demidov is coming, he will require a lot of focus.

 

[Jaynki]

With the way the bottom six is shaped right now. No one has a safe chair.

Evans, Dvorak, Armia and Pezz are all on their final contract year.

Anderson and Gallagher will be buyable this summer as they will enter the two final year of their deal.

Roy can still go to the AHL.

Kapanen can truly steal a spot and if he is seen as someone that could be here longterm, and if management don't plan on re-signing Dvorak or Evans for example.

I think one of the latter could be waived/traded with retention, to make room to the former before the season opener.

We can waive Gallagher and send him to Laval then buy him out this summer. (Doubt Hughes will entertain such a move tho.) But the possibility are there for youngster to steal spot.

 

[McGuires Corndog]

Genuinely excited to see him at camp.

He’s flown under the radar to alot of people but he’s progressed really well the last 2 years. As others have mentioned he has that Lehkonen-type game to him.

Could be stellar support piece to our rebuild

 

[Essenege]

To me, if he is better then Anderson and Gally, he should play ahead. Pezz/Barré-Boulet in the minors. There’s room.

It’s not like we’re destroying asset value, they have none. So no downside, even more so if it’s a player on an ELC whi take their spot. The upside is we’re a better team and maybe, just maybe it lights a fire under them.

 

[yianik]

The big deal is that 2 of our best projected bottom 6 guys are centers in Kapanen and Beck. If one of them can be a 3C then that is a home run.

The building of the skaters started with the top 6 and as that is well along in forming with hopefully Suzuki, Caufield, Slaf, Dach, Laine and Demidov (in a year) all justifying spots, its the D and bottom 6 which should really show progress in the next 2 years. Besides Beck and Kapanen guys like Evans, Roy, Newhook, Heineman will be fighting for spots. Thats 6 guys right there, to be followed by more.

 

[schwang26]

Yes the upward trajectory has been impressive.

They’ve drafted a few guys like that. Flo, Thorpe, even Slaf

 

[Rapala]

This doesn't age well for some of our more well known posters who were calling him a bust after his first two seasons......their opinion was ludicrous then and even more so now.

When was that when he was doing his mandatory military training?

 

[schwang26]

Probably Ikonen PTSD….this kid is the real Mckoy. Think he gets sent back but holy shit lads, watch out next season, seems he’s just finding his groove!

I agree. He’s probably going back to play big minutes. I’m sure they want to see what they have in Roy as well, rather than sending him back down because of a numbers game

 

[Jaynki]

To me, if he is better then Anderson and Gally, he should play ahead. Pezz/Barré-Boulet in the minors. There’s room.

It’s not like we’re destroying asset value, they have none. So no downside, even more so if it’s a player on an ELC whi take their spot. The upside is we’re a better team and maybe, just maybe it lights a fire under them.

The downside is bad perception and destroying relationship with player/agency. That is a double edged sword tho if we scratch a more-deserving player.

As a former agent, if Hughes has to waive/cut a veteran like Gallagher, i am sure he will do it the right way to control the potential damage. He is savvy and a good human.

Apart from this, yeah, only upside.

 

[Justin11]

If Kapanen makes the roster, he better relinquish the #91, otherwise there will be an angry mob here that have already purchased the Demidov jersey.

Oh boy lol.

 

[Tyson]

If Kapanen makes the roster, he better relinquish the #91, otherwise there will be an angry mob here that have already purchased the Demidov jersey.

Oh boy lol.

He can snag #27 from ABB.

 

[Essenege]

The downside is bad perception and destroying relationship with player/agency. That is a double edged sword tho if we scratch a more-deserving player.

As a former agent, if Hughes has to waive/cut a veteran like Gallagher, i am sure he will do it the right way to control the potential damage. He is savvy and a good human.

Apart from this, yeah, only upside.

Yeah of course he has to be better then them. Honestly I think Gally is a bit underrated and would be better then other option playing 10-12 min a night on the 4th line.

Anderson makes his teammates a lot worse, even if he scores 20 he’s a net negative on the team. I don’t want him screwing over Roy on the 3rd line. He’s the one I’d waive/bench if Kapanen or Beck or any other proves worthy.

 

[Justin11]

He can snag #27 from ABB.

He can if ABB doesn't make the team.

 

[Vachon23]

Yeah of course he has to be better then them. Honestly I think Gally is a bit underrated and would be better then other option playing 10-12 min a night on the 4th line.

Anderson makes his teammates a lot worse, even if he scores 20 he’s a net negative on the team. I don’t want him screwing over Roy on the 3rd line. He’s the one I’d waive/bench if Kapanen or Beck or any other proves worthy.

I do think Anderson can have his utility on a physical grinding role on a bottom 6 role if you forget about his salary

 

[Tyson]

He can if ABB doesn't make the team.

ABB was signed as an AHL veteran leader. If he makes the team the Habs are a bottom 5 team again. They can do better.

 

[Justin11]

ABB was signed as an AHL veteran leader. If he makes the team the Habs are a bottom 5 team again. They can do better.

Agreed.

 

[LaP]

If he is better than Dvorak, there should be no debate about this. We keep Kapanen and trade/waive Dvorak. In this phase of rebuild, we should not hesitate and try to implement prospects to our first team whenever they are ready. Hutson and Roy are expected to be the only two rookies to make the team. Maybe Mailloux/Reinbacher later in the season, but this would put us under a lot of pressure next season. Do we really want to bring all new prospects to replace Savard, Dvorak, Armia, Evans in one year? We know Demidov is coming, he will require a lot of focus.

Don't think this is as easy as that. Ideally i would say we probably want to send Kapanen to the Liiga for another year and try to maximise Dvorak's value for the deadline. Kapanen will know what he needs to work on and will go grab some pro experience in the Liiga and international tournaments.

We need to think about the big picture. We wil eventually be cap stranded and adding more picks / young players will help down the line. If you can get a 2027 or 28 pick for Dvorak that pick will have lot of value at those deadlines. Another year in the Liiga would not hurt Kapanen now that he'll have a good feeling of the NHL speed.

I think this year will be another (the last) transition year. They'll want to see what they have in Roy and Haineman. They'll probably want to see Newhook at center a few games again (i actually liked Newhook at center last season). They'll want to grab the max value for the remaining free agent vets because we still need to make our assets grow and not the opposite. It's the last transition year though next year they'll go for it for real.

 

[Rapala]

I do think Anderson can have his utility on a physical grinding role on a bottom 6 role if you forget about his salary

Honestly I'm a bit worried.
I hope the bulk of his time spent this summer was geared towards stripping pucks and making quick simple plays.
I was actually hoping our coaching staff would come to the conclusion that some of our lines need to play a north/south game.
While we do need Anderson to pot some goals more importantly we need to make sure the puck doesn't find the back of our net on his watch.

 

[Vachon23]

Honestly I'm a bit worried.
I hope the bulk of his time spent this summer was geared towards stripping pucks and making quick simple plays.
I was actually hoping our coaching staff would come to the conclusion that some of our lines need to play a north/south game.
While we do need Anderson to pot some goals more importantly we need to make sure the puck doesn't find the back of our net on his watch.

Yes they need to let him play his game, but he had a great end of the season 2 years ago where he scored 20 goals and he did had a good start last year but just couldn’t score and he seem to have lost confidence after that.

I don’t think he will score 20 this year but I expect him to bounce back

 

[LaP]

I do think Anderson can have his utility on a physical grinding role on a bottom 6 role if you forget about his salary

You can't forget his salary though. At one point that 5.5 millions spent on Anderson and that 6.5 millions spent on Gallagher will become a problem. Let's hope it will be not be before the last year of their contract.