NHL Player - Kasperi Kapanen

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I see Kapanen as a bargaining chip in trade towards and upgrade on D.

He is a 4th liner at best playing behind Nylander, Marner and Brown on RW and therefore expendable to add a younger RHD man to the group.
 

ULF_55

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I see Kapanen as a bargaining chip in trade towards and upgrade on D.

He is a 4th liner at best playing behind Nylander, Marner and Brown on RW and therefore expendable to add a younger RHD man to the group.

I have no idea where Brown and Kapanen will be playing this year.

Brown really reminds me of a bottom 6 winger, whereas I could see Kapanen as a middle 6 winger.

But then Hyman looks like a bottom 6 winger and he plays 1st. line.

If players were always healthy ... you wouldn't need more than more than 12 forwards.

EDIT: I would not be surprised if the Leafs do make a move for a defender, and perhaps follow the Raptors and go big game hunting.
 
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CantLoseWithMatthews

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I see Kapanen as a bargaining chip in trade towards and upgrade on D.

He is a 4th liner at best playing behind Nylander, Marner and Brown on RW and therefore expendable to add a younger RHD man to the group.
how could he be a 4th liner at best? he's a 4th liner at worst. he's also better than Brown
 

therealkoho

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Scotty Bowman was on Prime Time on the Fan 590 yesterday. Bowman, still sharp and hockey obsessed as always at 84, brought up Kapanen's name as an example of the impact young players with speed on 3rd and 4th lines across the league who are making the game faster than it has ever been. Of course Bob McCown quickly changed the subject to something far more important to a Toronto audience: whether the 40 year old Jarome Iginla was going to make a comeback.
sorry no link, why? otherwise this story is suspect
 

Liminality

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how could he be a 4th liner at best? he's a 4th liner at worst. he's also better than Brown
I think it's debatable. They're both kind of that bottom 9 type forward who can move around the lineup. Both bring a defensive presence and PK. I think Kap is more north south and Brown is more east west.
 

Stephen

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I think it's debatable. They're both kind of that bottom 9 type forward who can move around the lineup. Both bring a defensive presence and PK. I think Kap is more north south and Brown is more east west.

I would say Kapanen is a much superior athlete with elite skating, good shot, good hands, whereas Brown kind of gets it done with intelligence. In the long run, Kapanen's ceiling is much higher.
 

CantLoseWithMatthews

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I think it's debatable. They're both kind of that bottom 9 type forward who can move around the lineup. Both bring a defensive presence and PK. I think Kap is more north south and Brown is more east west.
I like Brown a lot, but I think if we move on from one of them for a defensive upgrade it should be him. Kapanen's skating is a dynamic that nobody else on the team can really bring, and we should hang on to it. he's also got underrated offensive ability i'd say
 
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Stephen

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I could see the Leafs trading Kapanen for a good young D before they have to give him a raise. On the other hand, I could see the Leafs keeping him over Brown and maybe even Hyman. As much as Hyman is a good role player and utility piece right now. He could also see a Komarov style drop off at some point. Then we'd be kicking ourselves wishing we hadn't moved on from Kapanen too prematurely.
 

Liminality

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I like Brown a lot, but I think if we move on from one of them for a defensive upgrade it should be him. Kapanen's skating is a dynamic that nobody else on the team can really bring, and we should hang on to it. he's also got underrated offensive ability i'd say
I think that's fair, Babcock loves both of them it seems.
 

Martin Skoula

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Oct 18, 2017
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Kap still needs to show he has hands

Honestly he'd still be effective if all he did was gain the zone with his skating, drop it off to someone, and wait to get set up for his shot or back check if necessary. We don't really need a high IQ game out of him when he can just abuse his tools against 3rd/4th liners.
 

Boutette

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Kap still needs to show he has hands

His hands are fine, just look at his shooting percentage which is at the same level as Marleaus'. The difference has been the quality of his line mates, and the opportunity to succeed. How well does any speedster like him do when saddled with broken down geezers to play with instead of the likes of Kadri and Marner?
 

Silver91

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There's no way Kyle moves Kapanen before Brown. I'm a fan of Brown, but Kap's speed alone makes him more valuable. I don't think he'll be a lifelong Leaf, but for the next 3-4 seasons, where he'll play out the final year of his ELC and then get bridged, he'll be a super versatile player that you can put anywhere in the lineup.

After that, he'll likely get too expensive to keep, but while he's cheap, KK will be super valuable.
 

Battle Lin

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playing with bad talent on bottom line, no PP, and little ice time, and kapanen still managed 15 goals per 82 games last season, pretty impressive

that speed is special, and dangerous, has created some nice goals with it already...and his shot and skills are improving and coming along, 2 years younger than johnsson and producing offense just as well in the ahl

could be a very useful winger with elite speed, great defender and PKer, with 20-30 goals 50 points potential
 

4thline

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I think people are forgetting that there's a very real "basket" between the Nylanders/Marners of the world and the Hymans/Browns, and that's where KK fits. He's still young. For comparison Kadri's U22 season was 40 in 48 in the A, 7 in 21 in the N.
 

Liminality

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It's funny though how some said Leivo should be able to produce no matter what line he's on
But I digress......
I think what people should look at is are they effective no matter what line they're on. I think you can say say to either Brown or Kapanen, not entirely sure with Leivo.
 

ponder

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I see Kapanen as a bargaining chip in trade towards and upgrade on D.

He is a 4th liner at best playing behind Nylander, Marner and Brown on RW and therefore expendable to add a younger RHD man to the group.
IMO we should move Brown, keep Kapanen. Kap is better defensively, better on the PK, much faster, more physical, and with time I think he’ll be comparable if not better offensively too - don’t forget that Kapanen is 21, while Brown is 24. I see Kapanen maturing into a great 3rd line RW, Brown is just kinda there, without making much impact.

IMO Brown is like a slightly less talented, winger version of Bozak - produces decently, but otherwise doesn’t impact the game much. Kapanen has the ability to be very good defensively, tough to contain due to his speed, while hopefully bringing similar production. If I could only keep one, it’d be Kap.
 
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moon111

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I was a big fan of Komarov's work on the right side of the puck. However, you weren't about to see tic-tac-toe passing plays with him. Connor Brown had 14 assists. 10 of them were first assists. This is the same amount as Marleau. Kapanen had a very decent goals/60, but honestly, can he tic-tac-toe himself? The answer so far is a resounding no. He has some of the worst passing stats the Leafs have seen in their franchise history. Goons have done more. He'll be a defensive player that the line tries to break-out for breakaways. I don't see him being part of any offensive equation working with others. He has potential, but he has plenty of work to do.
 

LeafingTheWay

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I was a big fan of Komarov's work on the right side of the puck. However, you weren't about to see tic-tac-toe passing plays with him. Connor Brown had 14 assists. 10 of them were first assists. This is the same amount as Marleau. Kapanen had a very decent goals/60, but honestly, can he tic-tac-toe himself? The answer so far is a resounding no. He has some of the worst passing stats the Leafs have seen in their franchise history. Goons have done more. He'll be a defensive player that the line tries to break-out for breakaways. I don't see him being part of any offensive equation working with others. He has potential, but he has plenty of work to do.

passing stats?
 
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Walshy7

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I was a big fan of Komarov's work on the right side of the puck. However, you weren't about to see tic-tac-toe passing plays with him. Connor Brown had 14 assists. 10 of them were first assists. This is the same amount as Marleau. Kapanen had a very decent goals/60, but honestly, can he tic-tac-toe himself? The answer so far is a resounding no. He has some of the worst passing stats the Leafs have seen in their franchise history. Goons have done more. He'll be a defensive player that the line tries to break-out for breakaways. I don't see him being part of any offensive equation working with others. He has potential, but he has plenty of work to do.

10 primary assists prove he is a good passer? Marelau had 20 assists all up whether secondary or primary but more importantly 27 goals, one less goal than brown got points. Brown is not close to marleau no matter what cherry picked stat you want to choose. Brown has not earned the right to be off the 4th line over Kapanen. Bot Kap and Brown haven't proved they belong up the lineup but the difference is Brown has been given numerous opportunities to prove he can while kapanen hasn't had that oportunity
 

Notsince67

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I was a big fan of Komarov's work on the right side of the puck. However, you weren't about to see tic-tac-toe passing plays with him. Connor Brown had 14 assists. 10 of them were first assists. This is the same amount as Marleau. Kapanen had a very decent goals/60, but honestly, can he tic-tac-toe himself? The answer so far is a resounding no. He has some of the worst passing stats the Leafs have seen in their franchise history. Goons have done more. He'll be a defensive player that the line tries to break-out for breakaways. I don't see him being part of any offensive equation working with others. He has potential, but he has plenty of work to do.
His EV CF% is decent with poor QoT.
of all his time in EV, his total stats get diluted because of the PK time he spent (almost 11% of EV)
The details of his stats require a bit of digging to find out the reality of his deployment
 

Boutette

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10 primary assists prove he is a good passer? Marelau had 20 assists all up whether secondary or primary but more importantly 27 goals, one less goal than brown got points. Brown is not close to marleau no matter what cherry picked stat you want to choose. Brown has not earned the right to be off the 4th line over Kapanen. Bot Kap and Brown haven't proved they belong up the lineup but the difference is Brown has been given numerous opportunities to prove he can while kapanen hasn't had that oportunity

Brown has been put at the bottom of the lineup, or made to play an entirely defensive game in order for JvR to do his thing with Bozak, a because he isn't Nylander or Marner or B, Marleau was being paid 6 mil, and the love afair Babcock had with the severely declining Komarov. When he has been given the opportunity to play an offensive game he's done comparably to what Marleau managed with a 30 goal center and the team's top scorer. I point out that 5 of Marleau's goals were empty netters, so not so impressive, is it, when he only scored 2 more goals against a goalie than Brown did in his rookie year? Fact is, both Brown and Kap have equivalent shooting percentages to Marleau, so this is a case, not of Marleau's overriding talent, but of the place he was given on a silver platter and a gold plated retirement contract, for you know, his past performances, not his present or future. Kapanen, like Brown have been shoved down in the lineup because the vets, regardless of their flaws were put ahead of them. This year, they'll finally have a chance to excel they should have been offered last year.
 

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