RW Kasperi Kapanen (2014, 22nd, PIT; traded to TOR)

[FiLe]

The other thing to remember, not just about Kapanen but about any prospect who crosses the Atlantic later than the rest of the group, is the effect of jet lag. It varies from person to person but is enough to make a person feel slightly "off." A young, fit person is less affected generally but, on the other hand, he is being compared to other fit young players who are at their peak.

Kapanen had been in Finland for a week before Monday's game, so that's hardly a reason.

 

[WTFMAN99]

I guess he'll get a bit more love for the goal right?

 

[dubey]

Elite gamebreaker

 

[FLYLine27*]

So glad Pit traded him to Toronto!

 

[JarvisFunk]

Clutch goal, but lets not go and **** our pants over it. He had a decent tournament.

 

[behemolari]

National hero. After the goal will never been questioned again in Finland. Not joking.

 

[Past Considerations]

Joke: he couldn't score by shooting, so he had to carry the puck to the net.

 

[rduck1]

That goal was pretty amazing... The way he managed to turn that sharply while keeping his balance and then suddenly accelerate just stunned the defense and goalie. His skating is really something else.

 

[WilliamNylander]

Snake bitten tournament but the underlying numbers were there. Was generating a good amount of shots and missed a few empty nets.

Good job Kasu

 

[Combat Koala]

Great goal in the gold medal game, loved it! But I personally still think he has a lot to improve. A decent tournament... that offcourse depending on what a person was expecting. He tends to repeat the same things that seem to make no sense whatsoever. Has his blunders (as do many other young players so I'm not really holding this against him) but the skill and compete level are definitely there. One of the best finnish skaters in a long time and in the golden goal he finally used that skill to his advantage. He used his skating sometimes well in the offensive zone to keep the puck in or create space; I wish he did this a bit more but with more variety. Consistency in every area of the game, even if it's minor tweaks here and there, needs to improve.

Overall an OK tournament but a bit more was expected. A good prospect with good skills and great skating. Time will tell can he reach his potential. I'd easily take him on the Devils prospect pool.

 

[Roland of Gilead]

Kapanen has very good talent, I mean really good. But dont expect too much.

 

[Number 57]

He has some fine skills but will never be a game-breaker in the NHL. He needs to get stronger and there are other things he needs to work on. But his play in the last 2 games of this tourney was very stellar. His strenght are his speed and skating obviously, but also puck control and shooting abilities.

The Leafs have a good one here. If they can get someone like Stamkos for the 1st line to play with Marner and Nylander, Kapanen would be a great depth guy for their 2nd line in the future.

 

[behemolari]

Great goal in the gold medal game, loved it! But I personally still think he has a lot to improve. A decent tournament... that offcourse depending on what a person was expecting. He tends to repeat the same things that seem to make no sense whatsoever. Has his blunders (as do many other young players so I'm not really holding this against him) but the skill and compete level are definitely there. One of the best finnish skaters in a long time and in the golden goal he finally used that skill to his advantage. He used his skating sometimes well in the offensive zone to keep the puck in or create space; I wish he did this a bit more but with more variety. Consistency in every area of the game, even if it's minor tweaks here and there, needs to improve.

Overall an OK tournament but a bit more was expected. A good prospect with good skills and great skating. Time will tell can he reach his potential. I'd easily take him on the Devils prospect pool.

addition to that dream goal, wow i'm speechless. i'll rank that goal no.1 anyone has ever done in finnish jersey. takes hell of amount guts to execute.

 

[JJTT]

addition to that dream goal, wow i'm speechless. i'll rank that goal no.1 anyone has ever done in finnish jersey. takes hell of amount guts to execute.

Mikael Granlund says hi

 

[Gaps]

It looks like he's matured a lot in just a year, now he's more of a team player than he used to be. Glad to see him rewarded in the final.

 

[Combat Koala]

addition to that dream goal, wow i'm speechless. i'll rank that goal no.1 anyone has ever done in finnish jersey. takes hell of amount guts to execute.

Like I said, depending on what a person was expecting. I was expecting him to be a contibutor through out the whole tournament. A great goal like I said, used his strenghts to his advantage but overall he should have had a little better tournament. In my opinion at least.

To be honest, I never expected him to be the one to win it. He just doesn't seem like a big game player to me.

 

[Past Considerations]

Until the final or OT he seemed to have a monkey on his back, and that one lucky goal in an earlier game (deflection from D's stick iirc) didn't seem to take it away. Too much simply missed shots even on empty net and flashy moves that often ended up losing the puck.

 

[FLYLine27*]

I just realized him and his Dad played on the same team for one season in the pro Finnish league back when he was 17, and his dad was 40....that's awesome! (and he outscored his pop by 1 point )

 

[paragon]

I just realized him and his Dad played on the same team for one season in the pro Finnish league back when he was 17, and his dad was 40....that's awesome! (and he outscored his pop by 1 point )

Not that surprising considering his dad is the majority owner of that club. Timonen and Hartnell are also co-owners.

 

[wayne]

He was dominant in that game despite not hitting the score sheet until the game winner. He just seemed to be controlling the play every time he was on the ice...was great to see.

 

[aahola]

To be honest, I never expected him to be the one to win it. He just doesn't seem like a big game player to me.

Very much this.

To me he seems to be way too worried about his own contribution to his team to the extent that it affects his performance in high pressure situations. Seems to be gripping the stick a bit too tight (like today when missing the empty net and then explicitly showing his frustration afterwards).

I guess he proved us wrong though, good for him. I think he might have the best acceleration on the team, super impressed by that!

 

[TheFinnishTrap]

Very much this.

To me he seems to be way too worried about his own contribution to his team to the extent that it affects his performance in high pressure situations. Seems to be gripping the stick a bit too tight (like today when missing the empty net and then explicitly showing his frustration afterwards).

I guess he proved us wrong though, good for him. I think he might have the best acceleration on the team, super impressed by that!

This sounds accurate. He showed a huge improvement from last year regarding his overall game, but it seems that he puts huge expectations on himself. He had numerous chances and near misses, but you have to wonder whether there is a trend here. I was glad to see him score the winner though, I liked his game this year.

 

[Periwinkle]

I saw this post on twitter which reminded that his granddad Hannu Kapanen was the main coach when Finland last won on home ice in WJC in '98 (also in OT). Nice circle of family history.

 

[behemolari]

claims at the interview he has never done wrap-around goal before, definitely didn't look like that.

 

[Plural]

I saw this post on twitter which reminded that his granddad Hannu Kapanen was the main coach when Finland last won on home ice in WJC in '98 (also in OT). Nice circle of family history.

Yeah. Hannu (grandfather), Sami (father) and Kasperi (son) are all world champions. That's some nice heritage from one family. Definitely starting to look like we have some real hockey history in our country.