Claimed off Waivers: [STL] Blues claim F Kasperi Kapanen off waivers from the Penguins

[TorontoTrades]

What happened? He was a good, quality depth player in Toronto

I mean he had elite speed and flashes of everything else but you only ever got glimpses never consistent stretches.. which was fine at 22 years old as you expect them to figure it out but obviously it's same old story and at 26 it's a bit of writing on on the wall.

Not to just dump on him I was definitely a fan when he was here but he was much more of a prospect at the the time so you hope for growth.

 

[Pengu]

Kapanen is just not worth his contract. Doesn't mean he's terrible and has his usefulness but he's paid twice what he's worth. But if you have capspce to spare why not...

 

[3ladesof5teel]

Kapanen is just not worth his contract. Doesn't mean he's terrible and has his usefulness but he's paid twice what he's worth. But if you have capspce to spare why not...

He likely is worth his contract but he's not worth paying him it playing 10 mins a night in defensive only situations.

 

[kihei]

Prove it.

Don't mean to be the third man in a fight. But when he came over in the Kessel trade, he definitely looked like a potential top six for awhile. He had speed, moves, what initially looked like a scoring touch and he scored a couple of clutch goals. He had the skill, no question, just not the hockey sense to go along with it.

 

[reino]

Kapanen has all the skills to be successful top-6 player in this league. He's too entitled and lacks drive

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Doesn't look like they played together but just wondering if Craig Berube and Sami Kapanen crossed paths either in the Flyers organization or elsewhere? And if there is some familiarity that contributed to the Blues claiming Kasperi.

 

[Harvey Birdman]

Kapanen has all the skills to be successful top-6 player in this league. He's too entitled and lacks drive

If he ever put together any definable form of consistency and focus he would ideally be the 3rd wheel on a L1 or the primary winger on a L2. On a very deep team leading a L3.

He is a that guy that could fill many different roles in a top 9 if he, IF he ever became consistent. But at 27 I don’t think he will ever put it together.

So at this point I think he should just be expected to be a depth forward you park on your 3rd line and hope you don’t have to play him up the lineup due to injuries but he is there if you have too.

So much wasted talent. It’s truly a shame. MM in Pittsburgh is an over inflated ego that mostly just gets paid to troll Pittsburgh sports fans but he said it best, and I am paraphrasing, but “He wants to live the life of a hockey player more than he wants to play hockey and thinks his last name will let him do that.”

 

[BleedBlue14]

Doesn't look like they played together but just wondering if Craig Berube and Sami Kapanen crossed paths either in the Flyers organization or elsewhere? And if there is some familiarity that contributed to the Blues claiming Kasperi.

We need bodies to finish out the season. This is a fairly good gamble to take. No cost and there is upside. He's going to get top 6 looks quite frequently at least this season and I wouldn't be shocked if he did next season too.
Whether he's good or bad for us shouldn't hold much bearing on where we finish in the standings this season or next. It's a really good time for the Blues to take a chance on a reclamation project and there's very little risk to it.

 

[Albatros]

Doesn't look like they played together but just wondering if Craig Berube and Sami Kapanen crossed paths either in the Flyers organization or elsewhere? And if there is some familiarity that contributed to the Blues claiming Kasperi.

Berube briefly coached Kapanen Sr. with the Flyers, yes.

 

[stl76]

If he ever put together any definable form of consistency and focus he would ideally be the 3rd wheel on a L1 or the primary winger on a L2. On a very deep team leading a L3.

He is a that guy that could fill many different roles in a top 9 if he, IF he ever became consistent. But at 27 I don’t think he will ever put it together.

So at this point I think he should just be expected to be a depth forward you park on your 3rd line and hope you don’t have to play him up the lineup due to injuries but he is there if you have too.

So much wasted talent. It’s truly a shame. MM in Pittsburgh is an over inflated ego that mostly just gets paid to troll Pittsburgh sports fans but he said it best, and I am paraphrasing, but “He wants to live the life of a hockey player more than he wants to play hockey and thinks his last name will let him do that.”

Random Q: is Kapanen primarily a RW or can he play both wings?

 

[torniojaws]

Why is the coach announcing this??

Maybe the GM was traded for future considerations

 

[Gurglesons]

Random Q: is Kapanen primarily a RW or can he play both wings?

Primarily RW but he has played LW. Never really in PIT because our staff forces players into roles rather than basing roles around the players.

 

[The Old Master]

Random Q: is Kapanen primarily a RW or can he play both wings?

i think he looks better on his off wing but sully never played him there to know for sure.

 

[mattihp]

He looks much better as a LW.

His dad, whilst a better offensive player reinvented himself late in his career after Jeff O'Neill took his line in Carolina and Sami saw that he needed to become an extremely useful two-way player, so much that he even was useful as an undersized D-man.

Let's hope Sami has a talk with Kasperi..

 

[Artorius Horus T]

3 games, 2 goals for Kappy. PP slapshot & SH breakaway goal.

 

[Tender Rip]

3 games, 2 goals for Kappy. PP slapshot & SH breakaway goal.

Hope he goes Super Nova and gets a f*** Sully tattoo on his forehead.

 

[DatDude44]

He’s looked good so far. Uses his speed well, does a good job playing the body effectively, willing to get to the net with and without the puck and finds space well as an f3 offensively. No issues with his coverage defensively, has blocked like 4 or 5 shots, multiple which were timely and painful blocks. He’s been a nice player for STL so far.

Really helped the Thomas-buch line for a game in a half, so it was smart to break them up and continue to tank….I guess……

 

[Antropovsky]

He’s looked good so far. Uses his speed well, does a good job playing the body effectively, willing to get to the net with and without the puck and finds space well as an f3 offensively. No issues with his coverage defensively, has blocked like 4 or 5 shots, multiple which were timely and painful blocks. He’s been a nice player for STL so far.

Really helped the Thomas-buch line for a game in a half, so it was smart to break them up and continue to tank….I guess……

Reading what Pittburgh fans have said, and watching him myself on Toronto.....sounds like the same player while on both teams. confident that he isn't gonna turn things around.

 

[Zbynek]

3 games, 2 goals for Kappy. PP slapshot & SH breakaway goal.

Was it a PP slapshot or an ENG?

 

[wej20]

3 games, 2 goals for Kappy. PP slapshot & SH breakaway goal.

Was stupid how Pens barely used him on the PK.

 

[jmelm]

Was it a PP slapshot or an ENG?

Slapshot into an empty net?

 

[Extra Texture]

Awesome for Kapanen. Hope he thrives there.

I still don’t really understand his tenure with the Pens. The GM brought him back to Pittsburgh for a pricey return, but that Rutherford and Sullivan were not even close to being on the same page about him. Whenever Kapanen went through fallow periods, he would never move in the lineup. Whenever he had good games, his ice time would be somehow clipped to less than 10 minutes (I feel like only a few times in the past few weeks was he “rewarded” by getting more shifts in a good game). And yet for a coach that seemingly had no idea how to use him, Sullivan always seemed to be praising his attitude and seemingly never wanted to sanction a move to drop him. They had their chance in the summer to do it guilt free. And they…brought him back for 2 years. I have to think the coach had some input in that decision.

There was a hat trick game earlier this season, ironically against the Blues, where Sullivan saw he was on fire and rewarded him with more ice time, but that always seemed like the exception to the rule. That came two days after he had a clutch GWG against vegas. I really thought those flashes were a “turning the corner” moment though it wasn’t to be. But I hope he keeps it up with St. Louis and finds his niche again.

 

[Zbynek]

Awesome for Kapanen. Hope he thrives there.

I still don’t really understand his tenure with the Pens. The GM brought him back to Pittsburgh for a pricey return, but that Rutherford and Sullivan were not even close to being on the same page about him. Whenever Kapanen went through fallow periods, he would never move in the lineup. Whenever he had good games, his ice time would be somehow clipped to less than 10 minutes (I feel like only a few times in the past few weeks was he “rewarded” by getting more shifts in a good game). And yet for a coach that seemingly had no idea how to use him, Sullivan always seemed to be praising his attitude and seemingly never wanted to sanction a move to drop him. They had their chance in the summer to do it guilt free. And they…brought him back for 2 years. I have to think the coach had some input in that decision.

There was a hat trick game earlier this season, ironically against the Blues, where Sullivan saw he was on fire and rewarded him with more ice time, but that always seemed like the exception to the rule. That came two days after he had a clutch GWG against vegas. I really thought those flashes were a “turning the corner” moment though it wasn’t to be. But I hope he keeps it up with St. Louis and finds his niche again.

Uhh no, thats not what happened at all. He had just been healthy scratched like 5 games and that was one of his first games back. So if anything Sully sparked a fire in him to get that effort. (and before you start, No i am not a Sully fan) - just calling a spade a spade here

 

[Linkens Mastery]

So far I'm loving this. Seems to always be where our center or LW wants him to be. Plays pretty well on the PK, uses his speed to his advantage. Played equally as well on the offensive top line and checking 2nd line. No complaints at all.

 

[TooManyHumans]

Give it time. He isn't suddenly going to blossom as a 27 year old. He will go back to doing what he always does, which is pull up once he enters the offensive zone even if everything is screaming for him to take it to the net. He has these flashes that make you think he should be more than he is, but that isn't who he really is.