Kasperi Kapanen: Penguins Not So Secret Weapon In 2015
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- Jun 13, 2010
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Ugene Magic
EVIL LAUGH
- Jun 13, 2010
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No way...Morrow, Despres, Harrington...then he got Maatta who made an impact before Pouliot even sniffed the NHL.
Ugene Magic
EVIL LAUGH
As to whom he was waiting to get/draft, the one they took well ahead of his ranking.
The Old Master
come and take it.
Matters who you ask. I personally think he will make the team or be brought up mid season. He put up 5 points in 7 playoff games with the baby pens. He's too talented for the AHL.
He doesn't win board battles and gets lost on defense but if we can have a season of Kunitz doing it I don't see what's wrong with letting a young guy take his bumps.
BobCole
Registered User
- May 21, 2014
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Interesting. It goes without saying that it would be a major boon if we could get a guy with his talent in the lineup next season. I was just under the impression that from a size standpoint alone he wasn't ready. That said, I guess if they think he can handle the physical duty of the AHL, there's no reason to believe he can't take the NHL.
BrunoPuntzJones
Biscuit Scorer
Playing in the AHL isn't strictly about talent. Being able to play in the NHL is just as much about being prepared for it as having the skill to do it. Bringing up Kapanen before he's truly NHL ready simply because he already has NHL talent could be disastrous. Unless you want every decent forward prospect we see to follow Beau Bennett's career trajectory.
He's going to need to maintain a high level of effort for an 82 game schedule and then playoffs. Fitting him under the cap isn't going to be a juggling act, fortunately.
Ogrezilla
Nerf Herder
Penguinator
Kesselator
I don't agree with this comparison except for the fact that both players are relatively fragile. Even so... BB should be in better shape as opposed to KK just being young & having to bulk up.
I'm actually getting fed up with people always blaming BB's slow development on the Pens, how about he takes some of the blame with what seems to be poor conditionning? Not a glass doll but man, i wish he could last a season just so we could finally assess his sorry ass once & for all!
So, basically you feel he's got enough to forecheck on an NHL level a whole year? What if he's a mellow fellow or gets hot/cold?
Ogrezilla
Nerf Herder
WayneSid9987
Registered User
- Nov 24, 2009
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KK making the big club next year will be up to him. He puts on some muscle and is willing to battle in camp/pre-season, he could make it out of camp.
Ogrezilla
Nerf Herder
I don't expect it to happen, but man would Kapanen earning a spot on this team help a lot. But I don't want to give him a spot just to give it to him. If he's not ready, keep him down. Even if he seems ready, we should have a backup plan ready. He's never played at this level, and he's never played this long of a season.
what did I say that makes you think you have any idea how I feel about Kapanen?
Maybe the music has changed. Conditioning is an evolving science. Don't these guys tend to stall their first year?
You phrasing the question that way played to me that he might have problems around Easter.
BrunoPuntzJones
Biscuit Scorer
The injury he sustained in camp last year was a freak accident. I won't get into the wrist stuff because it was always weird but that doesn't seem like a conditioning injury either. I'm also not saying he wouldn't have gotten hurt in the A, either. The point is he was pretty clearly brought up too quickly and mostly put into roles where he doesn't quite fit. I think it's inarguable at this point that Bennett and the Penguins would have been better off playing him in the AHL until he had nothing to prove there. He showed some flashes of brilliance in 2012-13 with WBS but he wasn't a dominant player at that level. He should have been given the chance to become one before making the jump.
Ogrezilla
Nerf Herder
Right, that's basically what I was getting at. But you didn't answer my question: where did you get the idea that I thought he was ready for a full NHL season? It doesn't really matter, I'm just curious. Because I have questioned whether he's ready for the NHL every single time I've spoken of Kapanen this off-season.
Ogrezilla
Nerf Herder
Agreed. If he was coming up to fill a specific role it would be different, but he was just bounced around the NHL line-up even when he was healthy. That said, let's not derail a kapanen thread with BB arguing before we even finish page 1
billybudd
Registered User
- Feb 1, 2012
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In the prospect game he did some toe-drag move to the center of the ice without checking his blindspot. Ruopp was right there and could have killed him, but let up, probably because it was a prospect game. If that was Gudbranson in an NHL game, Kapanen was dead.
I would very much like him to take the half-way step of a season in the A to get used to the speed and roughness of small rink hockey instead of throwing him to the wolves just because I think he can beat an NHL goaltender if he finds himself with time and space.
Sure a guy like Skinner skipped that step and produced right away. He also gets concussions and shoulder injuries all the time because he never learned what he can get away with without getting killed.
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