Kasperi Kapanen

[Leaf Rocket]

Yeah he's pretty much been shunned by the Penguins

he's close to eklund level...he's a pain in the ass. even the pens brass hates him

 

[FlyingLeafus]

Fun fact: Michael Nylander and Sami Kapanen are both 42 year olds with sons drafted in the first round in 2014. Maybe they can be bros and develop some scandinavian chemistry playing on the Marlies this year?

 

[BIitz]

The guy was drafted in the first round last June and is going to be 19 entering his first North American season. Where do you think he ought to be at this point in his career?

He's played in the Liiga for 3 years. If we want to compare him to a Finnish kid who's come over and had success compare him to TT. Look at the growth in TT's draft +1 year compared to KK.

That's what I expect if we're going to call him a good prospect. KK tore up the u-18 in the year before his draft year. Ever since he's done terrible in international competitions. Nothing screams he's trending upward since that year except for modest production increase in Liiga.

 

[VictorLustig]

Kapanen was ranked 11th in Bob McKenzies final draft rankings. Some teams obviously had him ranked much higher than where he was picked, guessing the leafs did.

 

[TimeZone]

He's played in the Liiga for 3 years. If we want to compare him to a Finnish kid who's come over and had success compare him to TT. Look at the growth in TT's draft +1 year compared to KK.

That's what I expect if we're going to call him a good prospect. KK tore up the u-18 in the year before his draft year. Ever since he's done terrible in international competitions. Nothing screams he's trending upward since that year except for modest production increase in Liiga.

He looked good in the AHL Playoffs from what I read. Decent production as well albeit small sample size. Sounds like a good prospect. Solid potential.

 

[Bravid Nonahan]

Pittsburgh beat guy Rob Rossi says he projects as a third line winger

I'm sure some other people project him as a top 6. Only time will tell

 

[TheLeastOfTheBunch]

Kapanen was a ~PPG player in Finland before his WJCS, btw. Think he suffered an injury afterwards, and his production took a big hit

 

[Clark4Ever]

If he ends up being an offensive minded top 6 winger, and Harrington ends up being a reliable top 4 defenceman, I think it will be a solid deal.

The 2016 1st round pick could give us the edge in the trade long term.

Kessel will probably light it up in Pittsburgh for a few years, but under the circumstances, I think management made the right call.

 

[JMilne*]

That speed.

Damn he's fast im starting to like him

 

[Atomos2]

That speed.

He'll make a decent 3rd liner. Like Matthew Lombardi.

 

[crump]

He'll make a decent 3rd liner. Like Matthew Lombardi.

Comedy gold.

 

[ChrisCall]

I will make a thread everyday until we have determined the top 30 prospects according to Leaf fans on HFBoards.

Rankings:
1. William Nylander -- 93.26%
2. Matt Finn -- 37.14%
3. Frederik Gauthier - 32.97%
4. Josh Leivo -- 57.46%
5. Stuart Percy -- 52.63%
6. Connor Brown -- 43.90%
7. Petter Granberg -- 52.29%
8. Andreas Johnson -- 40.32%
9. Carter Verhaeghe -- 44.76%
10. Carter Ashton -- 29.66%
11. Tom Nilsson -- 40.20%
12. Victor Loov -- 37.96%
13. Sam Carrick -- 24.00%
14. Greg McKegg -- 30.38%
15. Tyler Biggs -- 37.61%
16. Antoine Bibeau -- 23.38%
17. Dominic Toninato -- 33.33%
18. Rinat Valiev -- 46.27%
19. Andrew MacWilliam -- 34.85%
20. David Broll -- 39.34%
21. Fabrice Herzog -- 44.07%
22. Garret Sparks -- 28.57%
23. Pierre Engvall -- 33.33%
24. Tony Cameranesi -- 22.00%
25. Eric Knodel -- 36.67%
26. Ryan Rupert -- 21.95%
27. Jamie Devane -- 41.30%
28.
______________
On The Docket:
Brandon Kozun
Nolan Vesey
Chris Gibson
Dakota Joshua
Brad Ross
Max Everson
John Piccinich

Worth looking back at where people on here ranked out prospects last year. Kapanen has a very small sample size in NA and the AHL. Plenty of people won't have enough exposure to him to really know how good he could turn out to be. I'm interested to see where he gets ranked on the list this year.

Of course if the draft pick and Kapanen bust this deal doesn't look so good, but this is a player with a very high ceiling and is far too young and untested to suggest he won't possibly reach it.

 

[Crysis]

If he ends up being an offensive minded top 6 winger, and Harrington ends up being a reliable top 4 defenceman, I think it will be a solid deal.

The 2016 1st round pick could give us the edge in the trade long term.

Kessel will probably light it up in Pittsburgh for a few years, but under the circumstances, I think management made the right call.

And the return on Spaling assuming he's not part of the future.

If he has a good season we could get a late 1st or 2nd.

 

[PJJ]

The IQ on our future team is going to be off the charts

 

[7even]

Lightning fast, great release, good puck skills, couldn't show you the defensive zone on a map. He's like a supremely less talented Phil Kessel.

 

[BrannigansLaw]

Name me the last Finnish star forward not named Selanne or Koivu. Every year there is always some overhyped Fin in the draft that never amounts to much.

Obviously, Kapanen can become that caliber of player but I'm not going to be holding my breath on that one.

Not a single blue chipper in this trade.

 

[91Kadri91*]

He's played in the Liiga for 3 years. If we want to compare him to a Finnish kid who's come over and had success compare him to TT. Look at the growth in TT's draft +1 year compared to KK.

Teravainen had 24 points in 49 games (0.49 PPG) in his draft year, and 33 points in 50 games (0.66 PPG- third on his team in PPG, excluding NHL players) in his draft+1. Kapanen had 14 points in 47 games (0.30 PPG) in his draft year, and 26 points in 47 games (0.55 PPG- second on his team) in his draft+1 season.

 

[johnny_rudeboy]

The IQ on our future team is going to be off the charts

This, so much this.

 

[Menzinger]

Name me the last Finnish star forward not named Selanne or Koivu. Every year there is always some overhyped Fin in the draft that never amounts to much.

Obviously, Kapanen can become that caliber of player but I'm not going to be holding my breath on that one.

Not a single blue chipper in this trade.

Well that's a sweeping generalization....

 

[crump]

http://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/540075
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=726712&navid=nhl:topheads

from last summer..

 

[johnny_rudeboy]

Well that's a sweeping generalization....

I never understod reasoning like that. Sure, I dont mind speaking in generalisations but one got to keep in mind that an individuals chances to achieve something has nothing to do with what country, group he or she comes from.

 

[TimeZone]

He'll make a decent 3rd liner. Like Matthew Lombardi.

Kapanen has top 6 upside. If you can't see that I don't know what to tell you.

 

[Durrr]

Really happy to find out this kid is not 5 '10 lol

6 feet, 180 at 18 is solid.

 

[richardn]

Love Kapanen as a prospect. He is very high end upside arguably just as good of a prospect as Nylander. Throw in Mitch Marner to that prospect pool and we have lots of high end skill potential 1st liners. All three of these guys should be in the top 6 within 3 years.

 

[Community]

5 years from now.. The future is very gord. So bright..

Nylander-Marner-Kapanenn
Leivo-Brown-Johnson
Leipsic-Gauthier-Verhueaehgea
Devane-Carrick-Komarov

Rielly-Harringhton
Valiev- Gardiner
Nielsen- Granberg

Gibson/Bibeau/SParks

- Rakesh

So close on the spelling!