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

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lifelonghockeyfan said:
Besides Kapanen and Soshinikov, there is Johnson playing wing, who is ready too.

I've been reading that Michalek is the first to go.....but he and Lou have a handshake deal that he has a NMC. (otherwise he wouldn't have agreed to waive his NTC when he was traded from Ottawa.) And Lou isn't going to give the Leafs a sour repetition by going back on his word.

Injuries happen and you saw it last year, the transition from the Marlies to the Leafs seem to pretty seamless when guys were called up.
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I've never heard of the handshake deal?
 
lifelonghockeyfan said:
Besides Kapanen and Soshinikov, there is Johnson playing wing, who is ready too.

I've been reading that Michalek is the first to go.....but he and Lou have a handshake deal that he has a NMC. (otherwise he wouldn't have agreed to waive his NTC when he was traded from Ottawa.) And Lou isn't going to give the Leafs a sour repetition by going back on his word.

Injuries happen and you saw it last year, the transition from the Marlies to the Leafs seem to pretty seamless when guys were called up.
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And Michalek has been perfectly fine as a 3rd liner here.

No need to rush kids. We may become a Detroit Red Wings with a healthy amount of youngsters in the farm.
 
lifelonghockeyfan said:
Besides Kapanen and Soshinikov, there is Johnson playing wing, who is ready too.

I've been reading that Michalek is the first to go.....but he and Lou have a handshake deal that he has a NMC. (otherwise he wouldn't have agreed to waive his NTC when he was traded from Ottawa.) And Lou isn't going to give the Leafs a sour repetition by going back on his word.

Injuries happen and you saw it last year, the transition from the Marlies to the Leafs seem to pretty seamless when guys were called up.
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Michalek might have interest in moving to a contender at the deadline. But who knows, I don't think the Leafs will screw him over.
 
He is starting to look like his father on ice. That speed is quite impressive and I hope his hands are better than Sami's
 
agent082 said:
He is starting to look like his father on ice. That speed is quite impressive and I hope his hands are better than Sami's
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He's also noticeably bigger. While I obviously hope for more, I think other than full out busting, I think at the very least he can be a quality 3rd liner who can be disruptive on the forecheck and a quality penalty killer. The kid has a ridiculous tool set, you just sometimes wonder about his hockey-IQ and assertiveness. This is a big year for him, he's the main prospect on the Marlies and will be given all the chances in the world.
 
Antropovsky said:
I've never heard of the handshake deal?
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I don't have a source either but I also heard something like this. At the very least, I believe Michalek opted to have his NTC remain in effect after the trade (I think generally speaking, players have this choice and it's usually not reported on. Can anyone confirm?).

I seem to have heard NMC come up with him and the trade as well, though I haven't heard of any precedent to this where a player has "upgraded" their NTC to a NMC unofficially in order to accept a trade? It seems odd.

I suppose the circumstances can make it a fairly reasonable result. Consider a scenario where Ottawa is considering sending Michalek to the AHL. They come to Michalek and say "Hey, the Leafs want to trade for you, and it will be good for you because they have smaller forward depth and it means you'll be able to stick in the NHL", and Michalek says "Fine, if that's the case, then Toronto should be able to agree to NMC".
 
Magic Mitch said:
He is so fast. Very impressive prospect.

I always lol'd when people were saying he was a bust already and that his season in the A last year was unimpressive.
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Same, you can look at all my posts on kapanen and I'd always mention how players with his package are very sought after.

If he played in junior last year he'd eat any league he was in up.

Typical certain part of the fan base though that was still upset over the kessel trade.

That deal worked out great for the penguins and I think it will work out great for the leafs as well, the way it was intended to I.e pens win now leafs win later.

That package helped get andersen as well.
 
MrVisser said:
I don't have a source either but I also heard something like this. At the very least, I believe Michalek opted to have his NTC remain in effect after the trade (I think generally speaking, players have this choice and it's usually not reported on. Can anyone confirm?).

I seem to have heard NMC come up with him and the trade as well, though I haven't heard of any precedent to this where a player has "upgraded" their NTC to a NMC unofficially in order to accept a trade? It seems odd.

I suppose the circumstances can make it a fairly reasonable result. Consider a scenario where Ottawa is considering sending Michalek to the AHL. They come to Michalek and say "Hey, the Leafs want to trade for you, and it will be good for you because they have smaller forward depth and it means you'll be able to stick in the NHL", and Michalek says "Fine, if that's the case, then Toronto should be able to agree to NMC".
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Yes except I read about the relationship between Bryan Murray and Michalek and it definitely didn't happen that way.
 
AuraSphere said:
He is playing really really well right now. I think he'll probably be one of the scoring leaders this year in the AHL. Might get called up around trade deadline.

He def raised his value and I wouldn't mind trading him off in a package for trouba
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Last season his main issue was consistency, and there's no better way to increase his consistency and confidence by playing as a top player in the AHL. If he can continue his start, I'd hope he's not a throw in for a trade. I don't think management will be moving young guys anymore anyway and probably won't move this guy
 
Yup, consistency is an issue with most young players though and he's only 20 at the moment. I think he'll carve himself out a decent career as a middle 6 winger.

Here's hoping he gets a permanent callup towards the end of the season
 
Leafs at Knight said:
Or if he progresses well he'll be in the Leafs top 6.
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Obviously can happen, the Leafs just have such riches in prospect that someone will have to go when they feel they're ready to contend. I see Kapanen as being a guy who's used as a great trading chip in a few years if he keeps going like this. A lot of teams will want a player like him and will give up good assets for a guy like Kap. Leafs have a few similar players as is. Just my opinion of course.
 
Rhino Reilly said:
Obviously can happen, the Leafs just have such riches in prospect that someone will have to go when they feel they're ready to contend. I see Kapanen as being a guy who's used as a great trading chip in a few years if he keeps going like this. A lot of teams will want a player like him and will give up good assets for a guy like Kap. Leafs have a few similar players as is. Just my opinion of course.
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certainly possible, but I'd say Brown, Soshnikov, Rychel, Johnsson are just as likely to be used as trading chops. All similar caliber IMO.
 
MrVisser said:
I don't have a source either but I also heard something like this. At the very least, I believe Michalek opted to have his NTC remain in effect after the trade (I think generally speaking, players have this choice and it's usually not reported on. Can anyone confirm?).

I seem to have heard NMC come up with him and the trade as well, though I haven't heard of any precedent to this where a player has "upgraded" their NTC to a NMC unofficially in order to accept a trade? It seems odd.

I suppose the circumstances can make it a fairly reasonable result. Consider a scenario where Ottawa is considering sending Michalek to the AHL. They come to Michalek and say "Hey, the Leafs want to trade for you, and it will be good for you because they have smaller forward depth and it means you'll be able to stick in the NHL", and Michalek says "Fine, if that's the case, then Toronto should be able to agree to NMC".
Click to expand...

To be honest, no one is entirely sure what happens once a player drops his NTC. Most insiders believe that once a player drops his NTC, it's his new team's choice whether or not to continue to honour it.

So it's unlikely that Michalek has his NTC in tact post trade.
 
Kapanen might just be the best skater in the entire Leafs organization. Very very impressive skating skills, and a ridiculous combination of top end speed, acceleration and edgework/transitioning/pivots. The only player who might rival him is Jake Gardiner.

He's looking real good thus far, and I think the issue was that people set unrealistic expectations when they saw how junior eligible guys like Nylander and Rantanen were tearing it up and Kapanen's numbers were not as impressive. Thing is Kapanen was not a top 10 pick like the other two, and if he was also tearing up the AHL then he too would have been considered one of the world's best prospects. That's simply unfair to expect from him. A good 2nd line winger is what I see and I think he tracking well to get there.
 
Looks like a good start to the season. His issue has been consistency, otherwise he has always had the tools. You could say he really dodged the bullet at the WJC final, but it also depicts him as a player. Had he not scored that OT winner, he would always be remembered as "the guy who missed that easy open net and cost us the championship", assuming we then lost the game. I was fairly confident he would carve out a career as a 3rd liner with his speed and newfound willingness to actually backcheck alone, but it seems like he could become a solid 2nd liner too. He can wow you and be a gamebreaker, just don't count on him too much.
 
93LEAFS said:


After having a solid to good camp, Kasperi has had a great start to the AHL year with 5 points in 2 games. His speed is absolutely disruptive. I'm starting to think that he might play himself into a full-time gig post TDL and a solid role in 2017-18. I'm really hoping everything clicks and he can become a solid scoring winger, but I think if that doesn't work out, he could carve himself a Carl Hagelin type role in the league. The Leafs seem to really be challengning him this year with top PP and top PK minutes.
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Babcock is impressed with Kapanen. He'll eventually work his way into the lineup. He plays the kind of game we want to play. Speed, good on both sides of the puck, great shot.

He's only 20 years old. This would be his first AHL season if he wasn't drafted from Europe. A lot of people seem to forget that.
 
His age is why the leafs would be dumb to give up on him this early.

As I said a month ago, this is a massive year for him.
 
Mad Brills said:
His age is why the leafs would be dumb to give up on him this early.

As I said a month ago, this is a massive year for him.
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He's got an incredible set of tools, fit, electric speed, great release, good puck handler and passer.. only question has been his hockey IQ or maybe his confidence. Should be fun to watch him now that hes the man for the Marlies.
 
Barring any injuries I don't see him being called up again until at least the trade deadline. Sosh, Leivo & Leipsic will play for leafs before Kasperi imo
 
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