News Article: Kasperi Kapanen Discussion

[Matthews34]

Would you guys be interested in a deal around Virtanen and Kapanen? Small plus could be added from Vancouver

No, Kapanen is only on that line because Hyman is injured.

 

[Myopic]

Kappy did a stupid thing but he's young. I like his fire. Time to move on.

 

[Menzinger]

Whatever... **** happens. Really can't believe how upset people are over this.

Never underestimate Leafs fans ability to make a mountain out of a molehill.

Guy did something dumb in the heat of the moment. That's it. the fact people latch onto these moments that lasted mere seconds as some sort of defining moment for a player is just nonsense

 

[kb]

Never underestimate Leafs fans ability to make a mountain out of a molehill.

Guy did something dumb in the heat of the moment. That's it. the fact people latch onto these moments that lasted mere seconds as some sort of defining moment for a player is just nonsense

In all fairness, last game wasn't an issue for me. Its the EDIT: 21 points in his last 55 games playing exclusively with one or more of Matthews, Marner, and Tavares that is the issue for me.

 

[Menzinger]

In all fairness, last game wasn't an issue for me. Its the 19 points in his last 48 games playing exclusively with one or more of Matthews, Marner, and Tavares that is the issue for me.

Oh dont get me wrong,I think a group of fans here overrated him after his insanely high sh% for the first part of last season.. that said, down the road he does make a potentially ideal trade chip.

I just cant stand the idea of some.folks pointing to an individual play to justify a trade like this. And trading him oy nakes sense if the team gets back something it needs in the roster rather than futures.

 

[djdev]

if he plays well tonight it will all be forgotten and we can get to the more important things that require complaining about...marners video!!

 

[MJ65]

I was pretty upset with Kappy that night, and I know it was really stupid of him but he is still a very useful player. We all make some stupid mistakes in our lives and that's exactly what happened and we should all spare him and move on

 

[Leafsdude7]

I could go around to each thread and post "whatever", but that wouldn't elicit discussion. We are here for discussion.

Pretty sure his point is that it's not worth discussing. Which I agree with.

 

[Muston Atthews]

his playmaking skills are lacking

 

[Hustlr]

Mikheyev was on that line after a PP, but Kappy didn’t have much TOI on it anyways so I’m thinking he got demoted...

 

[CreeksideStrangler]

there is a reason Matthews asked kappy off his line. he is bringing every line he plays on down

 

[thewave]

Demote this guy. Man there was a rumour he was to be traded, if he were, Dubas would have hit genius status.

 

[Trapper]

Demote this guy. Man there was a rumour he was to be traded, if he were, Dubas would have hit genius status.

He will probably be a victim of the cap situation next year anyway.
I would still like a Kadri type winger for Matthews/Nylander. Someone with 20 goals and jam down low/corners.

Then Johnsson and Kapanen funds can be diverted into D.
Moore/Kerfoot/Mich/Goat/Korshkov/etc. can round out the rest.

 

[thewave]

He will probably be a victim of the cap situation next year anyway.
I would still like a Kadri type winger for Matthews/Nylander. Someone with 20 goals and jam down low/corners.

Then Johnsson and Kapanen funds can be diverted into D.
Moore/Kerfoot/Mich/Goat/Korshkov/etc. can round out the rest.

Moore and Miky are the real deal jam brother. Those guys got more jam in them than AJ and Kappy for days.

 

[Trapper]

Moore and Miky are the real deal jam brother. Those guys got more jam in them than AJ and Kappy for days.

They have more jam for sure but I just don't know if they have beside Matthews/Nylander upside + jam.
They could, but there is a tier between them and a Kadri/Oshie type player.
For me it's:
This missing aggressive guy with skill...Matthews...Nylander
Hyman...JT...Marner

The rest is fine

Then D please and backup goalie.

 

[thewave]

They have more jam for sure but I just don't know if they have beside Matthews/Nylander upside + jam.
They could, but there is a tier between them and a Kadri/Oshie type player.
For me it's:
This missing aggressive guy with skill...Matthews...Nylander
Hyman...JT...Marner

The rest is fine

Then D please and backup goalie.

Could be Miky, he seems to have some great raw skills. I bet playing with JT would refine him. Guy never played with really good players before in his life.

 

[Stephen]

Mikheyev is like the Leafs' Pascal Siakam.

Kapanen has been a poor fit on the Tavares line. But the Tavares Marner duo hasn't been good either.

 

[Jussi]

Let's just say Kapanen's comments did not help in decreasing the impression that hockey players don't know all the rules of their sport.

 

[Trapper]

Next year we will have to make a decision on D.
Rank your D UFA priority.
For me it would be:
1. Barrie
2. Muzzin
3. Ceci

Barrie is being paid 2.5 mil by us this year. Remove Kapanen and Ceci for 7 mil.
If Muzzin will accept close to the same salary then I would look to retain him.
Moving forward it is nice to have 3 established 3 breaking in and a final cheaper option like a Polak style.

This makes someone like Kapanen a casualty. D is more important. Even Johnsson is less important than D now that we have committed to 4 up front.

 

[Mad hatter]

I think Kapanen must be uncomfortable playing on his off side because he’s definitely better then he’s showing so far. Still not sure why it’s not Moore there, he’s fast, is good at puck retrieval and Kapanen isn’t great at it. Hyman is probably our best forward at puck retrieval and maybe that’s what the line is missing. I sure Kapanen is going to find his game once he’s on the third line playing against third line players.

 

[paulhiggins]

I would like to see Korshkov tried there.

 

[ottomaddox]

Pretty sure his point is that it's not worth discussing. Which I agree with.

Great. Thanks for discussing it with me.

 

[ACC1224]

Decent enough player but not suited to face the type of players that Marner and Tavares match up against.
Not really his fault, he's just over his head. Hyman will be back soon enough.

 

[Sypher04]

I have an issue with the way people are treating the problems of the Kapanen-Tavares-Marner group as if it's all because Hyman being out and Kapanen that has replaced him to blame. That's completely unfair to Kasperi tbh. He hasn't been as good as he can be overall, he clearly can give more and is working through some adjustment on his off-wing, but let's be real here Tavares and Marner are 22 million of the 25 1/2 million on that line. They are paid to be elite level play drivers, not Kapanen. They are the ones not getting it done. Hanging this on Kapanen is scapegoating and even the coach got in on it last night during the press conference which is very disappointing to see him not have Kappy's back. Especially considering, I thought, Kapanen was excellent last night.

 

[Nithoniniel]

I have an issue with the way people are treating the problems of the Kapanen-Tavares-Marner group as if it's all because Hyman being out and Kapanen that has replaced him to blame. That's completely unfair to Kasperi tbh. He hasn't been as good as he can be overall, he clearly can give more and is working through some adjustment on his off-wing, but let's be real here Tavares and Marner are 22 million of the 25 1/2 million on that line. They are paid to be elite level play drivers, not Kapanen. They are the ones not getting it done. Hanging this on Kapanen is scapegoating and even the coach got in on it last night during the press conference which is very disappointing to see him not have Kappy's back. Especially considering, I thought, Kapanen was excellent last night.

Yeah I agree completely. Guys like Tavares and Marner shouldn't be handicapped by the wrong complementary player. It's not Kapanen that makes Tavares disappear out of games. It's not Kapanen that makes Marner blindly throw chance passes around and take bad shots.

Those two will find their game sooner or later and all we're actually talking about is a bad stretch of games, but we also have to admit that it is a bad stretch of games for them.