Confirmed with Link: Kasperi Kapanen traded back to Pittsburgh - Part II

[cygnus47]

Dupuis is a pretty good comparable. Kapanen probably has the better hands and shot but he really has zero creativity with the puck and he plays himself out of options a lot. The puck dies on his stick a lot more than it should with his physical skills.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Yep. His floor is pre-breakout Rust. And none of us had an issue playing him with 71 entering this season.

40ish ES pts is 2nd line production all day.

Note that pre-breakout Rust was also bad with Crosby.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Dupuis is a pretty good comparable. Kapanen probably has the better hands and shot but he really has zero creativity with the puck and he plays himself out of options a lot. The puck dies on his stick a lot more than it should with his physical skills.

Dupuis was a phenomenal forechecker though.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Kapanen is still young. He’s entering only his 3rd full NHL season, so it’s not unreasonable to think that there’s still room for development. But on paper he looks like an ideal winger for Sid: fast, defensively responsible, moderately skilled. People won’t like to hear this but JR could’ve even flat-out asked Sid if he thought he’d fit on his RW. And if it doesn’t work we can go back to Rust there and put Kapanen with Malkin. Kapanen is absolutely a top 6 winger though, production-wise.

He's right winger Hags with a better scoring potential.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

He's right winger Hags with a better scoring potential.

Man, I hope so. That'd be so good for us.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Man, I hope so. That'd be so good for us.

He's literally that. Which is why my initial reaction was mostly because JR wasted a chance to dump a bad contract.

I think Kap will surprise me and everyone here in a good way.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

He's literally that. Which is why my initial reaction was mostly because JR wasted a chance to dump a bad contract.

I think Kap will surprise me and everyone here in a good way.

We've missed a Hagelin/Dupuis-type on Sid and Jake's line for a while. If Kapanen can be that kind of puck-hound guy who does the grunt work for those guys, and he has a respectable scoring touch on top of that? Man, that'd be such a blessing.

I'm still not entirely convinced. I fully expect him to be too squirrelly for Sid, and be on the 3rd line in a month--which wouldn't be a bad thing, but obviously sticking and excelling with Sid would be preferable.

 

[Gurglesons]

Note that pre-breakout Rust was also bad with Crosby.

I would not say he was “bad”.

 

[dogthateats]

he has some creativity

 

[66-30-33]

he has some creativity

The announcer ed in his pants.

 

[Gurglesons]

he has some creativity

This video gives a better idea.

Way more hands than Dupuis. I wonder if Toronto fans are blinded by the fact they have Matthew, Nylander, Marner and Tavares and Kapanen simply wasn’t on their level.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Some of those goals are legit impressive. I remember when we landed Kapanen and he was thought of as way more offensively capable. Hope he finds that ceiling here.

 

[Empoleon8771]

The nice thing about adding Kapanen is that his play style is pretty similar to Zucker's, so a Guentzel-Crosby-Kapanen line on paper should work on the ice as well. That setup also has your best and 4th best wingers with Crosby and your 2nd and 3rd best wingers with Malkin, which is probably the optimal way to set up the top-6. I would leave the top-6 alone after replacing Sheary with Kapanen, it looks good to me after that.

 

[66-30-33]

The nice thing about adding Kapanen is that his play style is pretty similar to Zucker's, so a Guentzel-Crosby-Kapanen line on paper should work on the ice as well. That setup also has your best and 4th best wingers with Crosby and your 2nd and 3rd best wingers with Malkin, which is probably the optimal way to set up the top-6. I would leave the top-6 alone after replacing Sheary with Kapanen, it looks good to me after that.

Or Zucker-Crosby-Kapanen while letting Jake torch the league with Malkin and Rust.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Or Zucker-Crosby-Kapanen while letting Jake torch the league with Malkin and Rust.

I have never understood why people on here are so excited with the idea of splitting up Guentzel and Crosby. No, I'm keeping Guentzel locked with Crosby and not considering putting him with Malkin.

 

[66-30-33]

I have never understood why people on here are so excited with the idea of splitting up Guentzel and Crosby. No, I'm keeping Guentzel locked with Crosby and not considering putting him with Malkin.

He works with both centers well, Zucker works with Crosby well and needs more time with Malkin to fully know how they are together, not 5 months off and told they have to gel right away.

 

[Empoleon8771]

He works with both centers well, Zucker works with Crosby well and needs more time with Malkin to fully know how they are together, not 5 months off and told they have to gel right away.

So why are they splitting up Guentzel-Crosby, who have won a cup as a duo and have generally destroyed the NHL in their entire time together, instead of just giving Zucker more time to mesh with Malkin?

I just don't get it. Like you know Guentzel-Crosby works, why do we need to change that? Guentzel-Crosby in the last 2 years has equal offensive stats (Guentzel-Malkin with better xGF stats, but Guentzel-Crosby produces more) and superior defensive stats to Guentzel-Malkin.

 

[66-30-33]

So why are they splitting up Guentzel-Crosby, who have won a cup as a duo and have generally destroyed the NHL in their entire time together, instead of just giving Zucker more time to mesh with Malkin?

I just don't get it. Like you know Guentzel-Crosby works, why do we need to change that? Guentzel-Crosby in the last 2 years has equal offensive stats (Guentzel-Malkin with better xGF stats, but Guentzel-Crosby produces more) and superior defensive stats to Guentzel-Malkin.

Because why not, I aint married to Jake-Crosby just like I am not married to Jake-Malkin, just mix things up a little.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

There's no wrong answer, imo, just preference. Sid and Zucker worked really well. Sid and Jake's got years of evidence that they're fantastic. Geno and Jake is also fantastic, and for as much as people seem to like to shit on Zucker, I thought Geno and Zucker were great together too.

That being said, I prefer Sid-Jake and Geno-Zucker.

 

[Andy99]

I think the winger pairs are key...so far, I don’t think Rust and Zucker are the right combo of complimentary yet different skill sets...I think Jake-Rust is a better winger combo, and I’d be interested in seeing Zucker with Kapanen...Zucker and Rust, at least the new and improved Rust of 2019-20 (and who knows if that’ll last) seem too similar...but I dunno

 

[Gurglesons]

So why are they splitting up Guentzel-Crosby, who have won a cup as a duo and have generally destroyed the NHL in their entire time together, instead of just giving Zucker more time to mesh with Malkin?

I just don't get it. Like you know Guentzel-Crosby works, why do we need to change that? Guentzel-Crosby in the last 2 years has equal offensive stats (Guentzel-Malkin with better xGF stats, but Guentzel-Crosby produces more) and superior defensive stats to Guentzel-Malkin.

I think at this point having a player that helps drive play with Geno is more essential than having two muckers with him.

Malkin gets thrown off his game when he has to do everything and I don’t think Jake will ever have that issue. I also think Rust works way better with Geno.

 

[waker]

This video gives a better idea.

Way more hands than Dupuis. I wonder if Toronto fans are blinded by the fact they have Matthew, Nylander, Marner and Tavares and Kapanen simply wasn’t on their level.

How about this one. He’s got some sweet mittens.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I would not say he was “bad”.

He wasn't bad, but he definitely wasn't as consistent as he was with Geno.

The issue people here have is that "He's fast! We gotta put him with Crosby!" and assume that should work, when it's never the case, it's a style thing. Rust may be the quick guy, but it doesn't mean he's also great with only quick players. Malkin isn't a north-south guy, he's all over and likes to carry the puck, give and go, and then likes to find the player, which Rust fit far better and it showed.

Sid's line is usually - Go to an area Sid will find you and try to stay open, Rust isn't that kind of player, he plays more of a cycle game that fits Geno's style.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

This video gives a better idea.

Way more hands than Dupuis. I wonder if Toronto fans are blinded by the fact they have Matthew, Nylander, Marner and Tavares and Kapanen simply wasn’t on their level.

You see those goals and his game and you're reminded that he was drafted, stylistically, to fit the Pens core, not the Leafs core. Sure it's great he was angry and worked on his 2-way game and all of the criticisms the Pens had about his game when he was traded away, all that does is benefit the Pens now as he's back. He's likely going to be a better fit on the Pens, the Leafs don't play the "speed" game as much as they think their team does.

 

[pistolpete11]

I had never heard of this Kapanen doesn't have hands thing until last week. I always thought of him as talented, but young and inconsistent.

So I always thought they should split up the 'skill' guys (Guentzel, Kapanen) and the 'grinder' guys (Rust, Zucker).

4 games after 5 months off aside, I don't think you can break up Geno-Rust after the season they just had. At least not for a good long while.

So that's always led me to wanting:

Zucker - Crosby - Kapanen
Guentzel - Malkin - Rust


I might not know Kapanen well enough though, so I'm not going to fight anyone on that. Geno-Rust is the only thing I don't think they should mess with.