Kasperi Kapanen

[Semantics]

The Patric Hornqvist comparison is my favorite so far. KK can skate and shoot and is responsible defensively, but his hands and hockey IQ are pretty average so he'll never be a playmaker who can drive a line on his own. I call players like that plug-and-play wingers, because they pretty much fit on any line as a complimentary piece to either a good playmaker or a good two-way center. And I think that type of player is quite valuable. Since they typically don't get top PP minutes, they end up not putting up big numbers and thus getting fairly economical contracts. Kulemin was that type of player.

 

[StuckOutHere]

The Patric Hornqvist comparison is my favorite so far. KK can skate and shoot and is responsible defensively, but his hands and hockey IQ are pretty average so he'll never be a playmaker who can drive a line on his own. I call players like that plug-and-play wingers, because they pretty much fit on any line as a complimentary piece to either a good playmaker or a good two-way center. And I think that type of player is quite valuable. Since they typically don't get top PP minutes, they end up not putting up big numbers and thus getting fairly economical contracts. Kulemin was that type of player.

He really sounds and looks more like Kulemin every time I see him. Straight line, no non-sense winger who is a jack of all trades, but master of none.

 

[dballislife2]

i believe kapanen's puck skills and shot will be better than kulemin, also has another gear when it comes to speed and kulemin could skate too...he wont be as physical but has makings of an impact defensive player

 

[mcleex]

I've learned not to get excited about Leafs prospects
Its just setting yourself up for disappointment

 

[Duke16]

I've learned not to get excited about Leafs prospects
Its just setting yourself up for disappointment

this is a rather ridiculous statement. The Leafs are currently one of the deepest and most talented teams in terms of prospects right now according to many rankings, this couldn't be said a few years back when it was mainly just Schenn and Kadri.

 

[JimmyPower]

this is a rather ridiculous statement. The Leafs are currently one of the deepest and most talented teams in terms of prospects right now according to many rankings, this couldn't be said a few years back when it was mainly just Schenn and Kadri.

How are we "so deep"?

Quantity, maybe. Quality, I don't see anything there that has star potential aside from Nylander and Marner. And even then, are we 100 percent sure?

Let's wait a couple more years into the rebuild, shall we

I liked Kapanen's last game. Hopefully we see more positives.

 

[Duke16]

How are we "so deep"?

Quantity, maybe. Quality, I don't see anything there that has star potential aside from Nylander and Marner. And even then, are we 100 percent sure?

Let's wait a couple more years into the rebuild, shall we

I liked Kapanen's last game. Hopefully we see more positives.

Marner, Nylander- top line potential
Kapanen, Brown, Johnson- top 6 upside
Leivo, Leipsic, Gauthier, Soshnikov, some NCAA guys- top 9 upside
Rielly- already top four, could be solid top pairing guy
Dermott, Percy, Loov, Valiev- top 4 upside

This is not even mentioning:
Dzierkals, Timashov- excellent production in the Q so far (top 9 upside)
Bracco- holds NCAA assist record, that itself shows elite upside, but he's small and plays the perimeter
Dermott- #1 D on strong Erie team, not producing great points but playing good D
Nielsen, Desrocher- producing points and playing solid D (too early to tell)

You throw two 2016 1st's and the 10 other picks we have this coming draft and that is pretty solid.

 

[JimmyPower]

Marner, Nylander- top line potential
Kapanen, Brown, Johnson- top 6 upside
Leivo, Leipsic, Gauthier, Soshnikov, some NCAA guys- top 9 upside
Rielly- already top four, could be solid top pairing guy
Dermott, Percy, Loov, Valiev- top 4 upside

This is not even mentioning:
Dzierkals, Timashov- excellent production in the Q so far (top 9 upside)
Bracco- holds NCAA assist record, that itself shows elite upside, but he's small and plays the perimeter
Dermott- #1 D on strong Erie team, not producing great points but playing good D
Nielsen, Desrocher- producing points and playing solid D (too early to tell)

You throw two 2016 1st's and the 10 other picks we have this coming draft and that is pretty solid.

Yeah so basically what I said. Quantity but not quality.

Don't get me wrong. I love guys like Brown, Dermott and Bracco. But the only surefire things we have are Nylander and Marner. It's not enough. We still need a couple more forwards, a couple high end D and a high end goalie. That is still quite a bit.

I'm still excited and confident we can get it done with the current management group, but it's just not there yet. Way too early.

And for the record, I don't consider Rielly to be a prospect anymore.

 

[Duke16]

Yeah so basically what I said. Quantity but not quality.

Don't get me wrong. I love guys like Brown, Dermott and Bracco. But the only surefire things we have are Nylander and Marner. It's not enough. We still need a couple more forwards, a couple high end D and a high end goalie. That is still quite a bit.

I'm still excited and confident we can get it done with the current management group, but it's just not there yet. Way too early.

And for the record, I don't consider Rielly to be a prospect anymore.

How many teams have more than 2-3 player with star player potential though?
Not many teams have the depth we have, we have many guys who turn out as solid NHL'ers

 

[Raymoondo]

How are we "so deep"?

Quantity, maybe. Quality, I don't see anything there that has star potential aside from Nylander and Marner. And even then, are we 100 percent sure?

Let's wait a couple more years into the rebuild, shall we

I liked Kapanen's last game. Hopefully we see more positives.

What kind of team has more than two prospects that have star potential?

 

[PJJ]

What kind of team has more than two prospects that have star potential?

Edmonton and thats it

 

[jjjshab]

i believe kapanen's puck skills and shot will be better than kulemin, also has another gear when it comes to speed and kulemin could skate too...he wont be as physical but has makings of an impact defensive player

kuli has a pretty nice shot

Bracco- holds NCAA assist record, that itself shows elite upside, but he's small and plays the perimeter

USNTDP*

 

[Duke16]

kuli has a pretty nice shot



USNTDP*

yes, USNTDP sorry; but beating out a guy like Patrick Kane for that record says a lot.

 

[Joey Hoser]

Edmonton and thats it

Well Buffalo with Eichel and Reinhart.

But otherwise yeah.

 

[Daisy Jane]

Well Buffalo with Eichel and Reinhart.

But otherwise yeah.

but that's still two.

Edmonton has more than two.

 

[ULF_55]

but that's still two.

Edmonton has more than two.

Arizona would be in that list wouldn't they?

 

[Daisy Jane]

Arizona would be in that list wouldn't they?

Arizona has more than two sure-fire prospects?

eh. i suppose so. like i'd like to wait to at least 20+ games before i said yes or no.

 

[Raymoondo]

Arizona would be in that list wouldn't they?

Wait who are the superstar prospects? Domi, Strome, and ...? Dvorak? Duclair? Perlini? I wouldn't consider any of the last three to be superstars.

 

[ULF_55]

Wait who are the superstar prospects? Domi, Strome, and ...? Dvorak? Duclair? Perlini? I wouldn't consider any of the last three to be superstars.

Wait, so now the Leafs have multiple "superstar" prospects?

I don't think so!

 

[Mess]

Arizona would be in that list wouldn't they?

If Kaspy Kapanen could become similar to Anthony Duclair in success at the NHL level that would be great.

He isn't in the Strome, Domi range but second tier on skillset if he makes it.

 

[Coaches Coroner]

How are we "so deep"?

Quantity, maybe. Quality, I don't see anything there that has star potential aside from Nylander and Marner. And even then, are we 100 percent sure?

Let's wait a couple more years into the rebuild, shall we

I liked Kapanen's last game. Hopefully we see more positives.

No one can be 100% sure about any prospect, kind of irrelevant question. You seem to think a prospect pool needs to be 10 deep in star power to be worth anything, yet I doubt many teams have more than 2 "star" potential players in their prospect pool...unless you are much more positive about prospects you are less experienced with than Leaf prospects.

Wait, so now the Leafs have multiple "superstar" prospects?

I don't think so!

That's not what he said though. He said "super star" instead of "star", the difference lays primarily in semantics. Not sure what the point of the word twisting is, doesn't really add anything.

 

[saltming]

Yeah so basically what I said. Quantity but not quality.

Don't get me wrong. I love guys like Brown, Dermott and Bracco. But the only surefire things we have are Nylander and Marner. It's not enough. We still need a couple more forwards, a couple high end D and a high end goalie. That is still quite a bit.

I'm still excited and confident we can get it done with the current management group, but it's just not there yet. Way too early.

And for the record, I don't consider Rielly to be a prospect anymore.

The term depth implies quality and quantity. The term defensive depth for the playoffs usually means a team stacks up with as many D men of as high quality they can find to make a playoff run.
There is also the justification of saying 'we have positional depth' or some such qualifier. But the sports definition of depth is "the strength of a team in its reserve of substitute players" so the more you have, the deeper you are.

 

[Raymoondo]

Wait, so now the Leafs have multiple "superstar" prospects?

I don't think so!

Oh my bad. My wording was a bit off. I meant prospects with star potential, not that they were already superstars.

 

[RLF]

Superstar, Star, Depth, whatever...we finally have some future players that are exciting to think about. That is what really matters to me.

We have some young, variations in talent with JVR, Rielly, Gardiner, Kadri, Harrington, Marincin, Corrado, Holland all with the big club and guys like Kapanen, Nylander, Marner, Brown, Dermott etc all developing.

Is there a Crosby, Doughty or Toews and Kane combo there? Very Doubtful, but there may be a Bergeron, Johnson, McDonagh, Hoffman, Plakanec, etc or maybe even better developing in the system. More than we have had in years, with more picks/prospects to come. We would all love to have a guaranteed Superstar, but even without a McDavid, Eichel or Ekblad...things still look very promising. Kapanen should become a pretty good NHLer. The more quality players we have developing, the more options available for the team and for trades.

 

[fahad203]

Superstar, Star, Depth, whatever...we finally have some future players that are exciting to think about. That is what really matters to me.

We have some young, variations in talent with JVR, Rielly, Gardiner, Kadri, Harrington, Marincin, Corrado, Holland all with the big club and guys like Kapanen, Nylander, Marner, Brown, Dermott etc all developing.

Is there a Crosby, Doughty or Toews and Kane combo there? Very Doubtful, but there may be a Bergeron, Johnson, McDonagh, Hoffman, Plakanec, etc or maybe even better developing in the system. More than we have had in years, with more picks/prospects to come. We would all love to have a guaranteed Superstar, but even without a McDavid, Eichel or Ekblad...things still look very promising. Kapanen should become a pretty good NHLer. The more quality players we have developing, the more options available for the team and for trades.

Gone are the days of Ashton, Ross, Biggs and Devane