Speculation: Kapanen vs. Johnsson

[Throw More Waffles]

Keep whichever player agrees to the lower cap hit.

These are players with very similar goals/points to Brown on their respective rookie seasons, and pretty much everybody here thinks Brown is overpaid at 2 million aav.

 

[Jozay]

I'd rather keep Kapanen, but he was brutal down the stretch. Wasnt scoring and his tunnel vision was beyond frustrating to watch.

 

[Rielly4]

Kappy because of age and size but positional needs say AJ. Johnsson is definitely the better playmaker and has better hands/offensive instincts. Kapanen the better forechecker and rush threat.

Both are valuable trading assets. I dont think Johnsson or Kapanen are great fits to play with Matthews though. Matthews needs a top tier playmaker beside him which will likely be Marner/Nylander on his right side. Then he needs a puck retrieval guy who is heavy on the cycle on his left. Hyman or someone who is heavy like him with more skill.

Tavares on the other hand is very heavy downlow himseslf and might not need sucha player. Maybe we could run something like this.

Hyman-Matthews-Marner
AJ-Tavares-Nylander

With this lineup i might tend to lean towards getting rid of Kappy.

 

[killer1980]

Keep'em both! They put in an effort every time they step on the ice. Give them each half of what Nylander's getting if you find anyone foolish enough to take his contract.

 

[Its not your fault]

Kapanen is not right in the head.
His confidence is fragile at best.
Johnsson is lowkey dirty and i love it.

He wasnt afraid to be bumping uglys I liked Johnsson playoff game much better.

 

[Guided by Veseys]

Neither are really anything special, just a couple of young borderline top 6 guys. Kap has the more unique skill set so him even though the AJ has higher iq and more polish.

 

[IPS]

I think in 2 years time Johnsson will be a much better player. The difference in IQ is just too much. I actually said this a year ago too.

 

[horner]

Both are gone

 

[thewave]

Absolutely no way on AJ, too small.

 

[Kiwi]

I don't really care about either of them

So my decision would be based on what there new contracts look like, who can bring back the best return in trade and who I think is more useful moving forward

Or you just trade both if your that way inclined

 

[rumman]

keep both, trade Nylander.

 

[AreBe]

Keep them both - they have a chemistry we should foster

Make qualifying offer to Mariner and hope someone gives you 4 consecutive first round picks

Mariner an nice Good Canadian Kid to be certain, but a couple of speedster Europeans - despite Leafs Nation protests to the contrary - never hurt a roster!

If Edmonton (or anyone) gives us 4 consecutive first round picks by offer -sheeting Mariner, I think you need to consider taking those picks, because only an idiot gives up 4 consecutive first round picks and if you get 4 first rounders for Mariner and resign Kapanen and Johnsson, you may be pulling off some pretty neat tricks!

 

[6ix]

I’d keep Kap. Younger and put up the same amount of points plus can PK. I agree that he was frustrating down the stretch and needs to improve his passing ability. Too many times his passes get blocked or intercepted.

 

[PemIceKing]

Keep whichever player agrees to the lower cap hit.

These are players with very similar goals/points to Brown on their respective rookie seasons, and pretty much everybody here thinks Brown is overpaid at 2 million aav.

Deal whichever one gets you a decent RD.

 

[Ziggdiezan]

Went AJ due to the lack of left wing depth and deep RW depth

 

[PemIceKing]

He wasnt afraid to be bumping uglys I liked Johnsson playoff game much better.

Johnsson was better all around but I found Kapanen’s speed was fantastic and he really surprised me physically.

 

[Its not your fault]

Johnsson was better all around but I found Kapanen’s speed was fantastic and he really surprised me physically.

Yes hopfully we can see what they can do with another year under their wings.

 

[FraumBallard]

Obviously due to the salary cap things some player movement was going to happen anyway, but let's say we are faced with a choice between these two players, the other needing to be used in a trade.

which of these two wingers would you keep going forward, and why?

Neither.
Both soft as butter and lousy hockey players to boot.
Hope they both go.

 

[FraumBallard]

But I don’t see why the Leafs need to lose BOTH. I can see wanting to trade say one for a D man, but not seeing the justification for losing two of the better depth wingers the team has. Especially since each brings different aspects - Kapanen a bit more grit, AJ the more offensive minded ect

Kapanen.
Grit?
Be serious.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

We have a surplus of RW.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Easily Kapanen. We have guys coming up who have the potential to replace Johnsson (i.e. Timashov, Carcone, Moore, etc.). Nobody can really replace what Kapanen brings.

 

[horner]

All we get is greedy players
Mathews
Nylander
Marner

Let them both go

Probably think they are stars.

I will include marleau in that group if he doesn't except a trade.
One of the boys that he was nurturing will be traded.
Thanks for one year of good hockey dad.

 

[egd27]

I agree that depth is replaceable, but Dubas isn’t going to lose two of his skilled depth pieces before he moves a guy like Brown. Got to remember who the GM is here. I just have a hard time seeing a scenario where they opt to lose both in one offseason

While I can see Dubas moving Brown, it's only going to save about $1.25M off the cap. This move does very little to address the fact that both AJ and Kap are looking for new deals.

IMO at least one, and perhaps two, of the following are going to have to be moved to alleviate next year's cap crunch.
Marleau
Zaitsev
Kadri
Nylander

It just becomes a matter of how, and what the return each will bring.

 

[qqaz]

Kapanen is the better player, in my mind. But we don't need more skilled RWs. What we need is cheap complimentary LWs. So Johnsson is the pick for me. Trade Kapanen, unfortunately.

Keeping them both sounds great, but is pretty unrealistic at this point. We can't afford them both, plain and simple.

IMO at least one, and perhaps two, of the following are going to have to be moved to alleviate next year's cap crunch.
Marleau
Zaitsev
Kadri
Nylander

I am slowly coming to terms with that fact, myself. I think you're absolutely right.

 

[BlueForever75]

I answered Kapanen only because I feel he can offer more to the team with defense and PK responsibilities if given the opportunity. That being said, he can be used in trade to acquire much more then Johnsson and will be more expensive to sign because of where he was drafted.

I would love to keep Kapanen, but I think he is dealt to help on backend and with salary cap. Destination be Carolina where his dad plied his trade for many years.