News Article: Kasperi Kapanen Discussion

[ACC1224]

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.

No matter who you are it's tough playing shorthanded. There were many times last night you could see that Kapanen didn't know where to go.
With Hyman they know what to expect, where he will be.

 

[Sypher04]

No matter who you are it's tough playing shorthanded. There were many times last night you could see that Kapanen didn't know where to go.
With Hyman they know what to expect, where he will be.

They are not playing shorthanded. Kapanen hasn't been anywhere close to that bad or out of position.

I'm not saying Kapanen, instead of Hyman, has no impact on the line, but Hyman doesn't drive that line when he's in, and neither should Kapanen be expect to. Tavares and Marner have simply not found the level of play yet 5 on 5 that we've come to expect of them and Kapanen is getting blamed to an unfair degree for the line's struggles. It's not like Hyman didn't have his own adjustment he needed to make to play with Tavares/Marner. That chemistry was built over the year.

Case in point, headlines like this:
Kapanen's struggles highlight Hyman's importance to Leafs - Sportsnet.ca

 

[kb]

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.

I wonder if Korshkov could be that guy.....

 

[BlueForever75]

People need to layoff Kappy. He was one of our best players last night. Yes still no points, but look who hes playing with!!! Tavares leads that line not Marner as I have always said. Without Tavares up to snuff yet, his wingers will struggle. If it weren't for the PP how many points do Tavares and Marner have? 3 combined instead of the 8 total right now. Should tell you something.

Kappy will get going when Tavares does cause like always that line goes as he does. Not Marner!!!

 

[CDN24]

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.

This could be an issue for both Kapanen and Johnsson? They accumulated lots of points last year in a 3rd/4th line role facing 3rd d pairs and 3rd/4th liners. Playing exclusively against tough competition will be an adjustment. It seems the sky is falling on Kapanen but about Johnnson?
In 4 games Marner and Tavares have combined for 8 points and Kapanen has none.
In 4 games Matthews and Nylander have combined for 9 and Johnnson has 1

They all will be fine. 4 games is a small sample size.

 

[BlueForever75]

This could be an issue for both Kapanen and Johnsson? They accumulated lots of points last year in a 3rd/4th line role facing 3rd d pairs and 3rd/4th liners. Playing exclusively against tough competition will be an adjustment. It seems the sky is falling on Kapanen but about Johnnson?
In 4 games Marner and Tavares have combined for 8 points and Kapanen has none.
In 4 games Matthews and Nylander have combined for 9 and Johnnson has 1

They all will be fine. 4 games is a small sample size.

Totally agree this is why I think for the Leafs to be successful they should be lining up the lines as such:

Micheyev-Matthews-Nylander
Moore-Tavares-Marner
Johnsson-Kerfoot-Kapanen
Spezza-Gauthier-Petan

 

[ACC1224]

This could be an issue for both Kapanen and Johnsson? They accumulated lots of points last year in a 3rd/4th line role facing 3rd d pairs and 3rd/4th liners. Playing exclusively against tough competition will be an adjustment. It seems the sky is falling on Kapanen but about Johnnson?
In 4 games Marner and Tavares have combined for 8 points and Kapanen has none.
In 4 games Matthews and Nylander have combined for 9 and Johnnson has 1

They all will be fine. 4 games is a small sample size.

Yep, no fault of their own, they are decent players just not top line players at least Kapanen isn't.
I think Johnsson could be

 

[kb]

People need to layoff Kappy. He was one of our best players last night. Yes still no points, but look who hes playing with!!! Tavares leads that line not Marner as I have always said. Without Tavares up to snuff yet, his wingers will struggle. If it weren't for the PP how many points do Tavares and Marner have? 3 combined instead of the 8 total right now. Should tell you something.

Kappy will get going when Tavares does cause like always that line goes as he does. Not Marner!!!

Kappy's had 21 points in his last 56 games playing with absolutely elite talent.

He played ok last night, but he's still way over his head playing in an unfamiliar role. Playing lesser minutes with lesser talent isn't going to make his numbers jump.

Maybe it is time to rethink what he really is? A speedy winger who can PK, but has poor hockey IQ and tunnel vision when he gets the puck to the detriment of his linemates.

He hasn't shown much (if any) growth in his game yet. And that's the concerning part.

 

[CDN24]

Totally agree this is why I think for the Leafs to be successful they should be lining up the lines as such:

Micheyev-Matthews-Nylander
Moore-Tavares-Marner
Johnsson-Kerfoot-Kapanen
Spezza-Gauthier-Petan

I think Micheyev and Moore might struggle higher in line-up as well. That said they are both Left shots vs kapanen who is a right shot on left side right now. I might be tempted to try one of the 2 on LW with Tavares/Marner until Hyman is back.

Leafs have the advantage of 2 top lines, they can win most nights with one of the 2 going. I would love to see marner and matthews together and I would put Marner at centre. With Matthews release and Marners set ups I could see matthews breaking 70 G

Matthews-Marner-Nylander
Hyman - Tavares - Kapannen
Johnsson- kerfoot- Moore

Matthews/Marner can alternate on face-offs based on who's strong side draw is on.

 

[CabanaBoy5]

Totally agree this is why I think for the Leafs to be successful they should be lining up the lines as such:

Micheyev-Matthews-Nylander
Moore-Tavares-Marner
Johnsson-Kerfoot-Kapanen
Spezza-Gauthier-Petan

These lines should be given a chance. Why not? I'll tell you why. Babcock is a stubborn ego-driven pompous all-knowing dinosaur who thinks things only work the way he thinks and he couldn't possibly be wrong. He set these lines up for his reasons and darn it they're gonna work. He doesn't realize you have to adjust if things aren't working. While he dawdles, we lose valuable points.

 

[ACC1224]

These lines should be given a chance. Why not? I'll tell you why. Babcock is a stubborn ego-driven pompous all-knowing dinosaur who thinks things only work the way he thinks and he couldn't possibly be wrong. He set these lines up for his reasons and darn it they're gonna work. He doesn't realize you have to adjust if things aren't working. While he dawdles, we lose valuable points.

Salary Cap.

 

[Mess]

Kappy is playing his off-wing as a natural RWer and it has impacted his play and coverage abilities defensively. He seems more comfortable on the right side.

 

[glue]

Not to take away from the criticism of Kappy, but plenty of blame to go around. Why hasn’t Babs made zero effort to change things up to get that whole line going? Mitch and JT haven’t been good, they shouldn’t need Hyman to be good!!

 

[CabanaBoy5]

Salary Cap.

But these are the players that put us within the cap. We’re just asking to shuffle the deck a bit. No guarantees it would work, but give it a try. It hasn’t worked as is, try to get some chemistry with a different face on a line.

 

[ACC1224]

But these are the players that put us within the cap. We’re just asking to shuffle the deck a bit. No guarantees it would work, but give it a try. It hasn’t worked as is, try to get some chemistry with a different face on a line.

They’ll need to be paid next year, can’t inflate their numbers.

 

[moon111]

Kappy is playing his off-wing as a natural RWer and it has impacted his play and coverage abilities defensively. He seems more comfortable on the right side.

Hyman's a right-handed winger as well.

 

[LeafingTheWay]

Keep Kapanen there.

Wait until Tavares-Marner actually start playing well at 5v5, and then we can judge. Not fair for Kapanen to be called-out (other than that stupid penalty), when Tavares-Marner haven't stood out at 5v5.

He's 23 years old and his skill is evident. Let him figure it out with his linemates, it's only been 4 regular season games.

The major reason I say this is because Kapanen is likely the main candidate to be used as a trade-piece in the future. I would imagine Edmonton fits the mold for a Kapanen type player. A speedy player to keep up with McDavid.

 

[Stephen]

Development isn't linear, and Leafs management and coaching needs to figure out how to get this guy over the Kulemin/Brown hump. If he isn't the digger on the Tavares line, figure out where he fits best.

 

[CabanaBoy5]

They’ll need to be paid next year, can’t inflate their numbers.

So you’re saying they’re deliberately not going to ice the lineup that gives us the best chance of winning because they’re concerned about cap implications next year? I don’t buy it. One thing, say what you want about Babcock, but the man wants to win. Secondly, Shanahan loves to win. Third, it’s disigenuous to the fans. We’re not going to accept that. Fourth, at some point the media would get hold of this and have a field day.

 

[MJ65]

The coaches need to think about shuffling the lines, some thing has to be done in order to get some offense out of JT / Marner line and no I am not blaming Kappy for those struggles or any one else on that line, it's simply not working

 

[HamiltonNHL]

We are pretty weak on the left wing like the last few years.
Other teams must have a surplus of good Left wingers ..... of course Marner and Matthews stole our trade money.

Give it another 5-10 games, but if things dont improve .... maybe do a Left wing swap ?

 

[HamiltonNHL]

^^^^^ You like ?

Should absolutely be in the top six forwards. If they put him with Matthews and Nylander that line dominates. However it’s Tavares and Marner who are struggling the most with Kapanen killing so many opportunities. Swap him with Kappy and that line gets going again.

 

[ACC1224]

So you’re saying they’re deliberately not going to ice the lineup that gives us the best chance of winning because they’re concerned about cap implications next year? I don’t buy it. One thing, say what you want about Babcock, but the man wants to win. Secondly, Shanahan loves to win. Third, it’s disigenuous to the fans. We’re not going to accept that. Fourth, at some point the media would get hold of this and have a field day.

They've always tried to suppress numbers in an attempt to keep the cap hit down.
Poor usage of players has been discussed here since the cap became a thing. Not a huge issue since they've been winning but it certainly exists.
You even list a bunch of reasons why they would optimize the lines yet they don't and haven't.
I understand the skepticism but it's a reality of todays league.

 

[Twowingcantfly]

It was a boneheaded play, but whatever, hockey players are idiots every so often. More concerning is his zero chemistry with JT/Marner - this line looks real bad. Time to bump Moore up to the 2nd line, and Kappy down to the 3rd line, will work out better for everyone IMO.

How about Moore Marner Kappenen on the third line. Lights out Presidents cup. EZ PZ

 

[Its not your fault]

Kappy's had 21 points in his last 56 games playing with absolutely elite talent.

He played ok last night, but he's still way over his head playing in an unfamiliar role. Playing lesser minutes with lesser talent isn't going to make his numbers jump.

Maybe it is time to rethink what he really is? A speedy winger who can PK, but has poor hockey IQ and tunnel vision when he gets the puck to the detriment of his linemates.

He hasn't shown much (if any) growth in his game yet. And that's the concerning part.

Yet he's still better then most the prospects to come out of our system for the past decade. I'm okay with it if that's all he is. Keep in mind his dad got better with age.