Prospect Info: Oliver Kapanen, RHC, KalPa U20 (U20 SM-sarja), 64th Overall

[beowulf]

Surprised there is not more talk about him leading the Finnish playoffs in scoring with 7 goals and 14 points in 12 games.

 

[26Mats]

Surprised there is not more talk about him leading the Finnish playoffs in scoring with 7 goals and 14 points in 12 games.

He's getting noticed. He will probably be the biggest riser on our prospect rankings. He'll be one of the top forwards near Beck, probably ahead of Mesar and Farrell.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Surprised there is not more talk about him leading the Finnish playoffs in scoring with 7 goals and 14 points in 12 games.

Probably would have gotten a bit more attention if he was due to join Laval but since he's signing with Timra, it's another year before we see him over here, so expect some more hype if he plays well in a better league.

Filip Eriksson
Volokhin
Kapanen
F. Xhekaj
Miller

Would be my top 5 surprises in the prospect pool this year.

 

[Adam Michaels]

Today was Kapanen's last official game of the season. Even though they lost in the semi-final series and were eliminated from the playoffs, Liiga has a 3rd place game between the two teams that lost in the semis. Today, KalPa played Karpat and lost 3-2 in OT. So KalPa ends in 4th place. No pts for Kapanen today.

Now that his season is officially over, we should expect Timra to confirm his signing there and we should expect Habs to sign him to an ELC.

 

[26Mats]

Today was Kapanen's last official game of the season. Even though they lost in the semi-final series and were eliminated from the playoffs, Liiga has a 3rd place game between the two teams that lost in the semis. Today, KalPa played Karpat and lost 3-2 in OT. So KalPa ends in 4th place. No pts for Kapanen today.

Now that his season is officially over, we should expect Timra to confirm his signing there and we should expect Habs to sign him to an ELC.

Interesting. Oli Jokinen is the head coach if Timra.

I wonder how much Kapanen will make over there. Before his explosion O guess he wanted more development time before coming to North America. But he seems ready for the AHL right now.

 

[Adam Michaels]

 

[Adam Michaels]

Translation: Cloutier's European contacts expect Kapanen to be signed to an ELC over the summer and will be at Habs' camp.

 

[HomaridII]

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Reg + playoffs, Kapanen finished with 21 goals and 47 pts in his last 55 games

 

[26Mats]

Translation: Cloutier's European contacts expect Kapanen to be signed to an ELC over the summer and will be at Habs' camp.

That's good news. It will be interesting to see him in preseason games, to see where his game is at. It will also give him a taste of the AHL/NHL level and what he needs to work on.

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

Reg + playoffs, Kapanen finished with 21 goals and 47 pts in his last 55 games

I know a few people were low key stoked about him being a 4th line C last year because they liked his game despite production not quite being there.

Then he goes Scorched earth in the back half of this season and you wonder what his upside is.

How was his production for similarly aged players in Liiga? I think it’s been said a few times but I forgot how he ranked.

 

[montreal]

I know a few people were low key stoked about him being a 4th line C last year because they liked his game despite production not quite being there.

Then he goes Scorched earth in the back half of this season and you wonder what his upside is.

How was his production for similarly aged players in Liiga? I think it’s been said a few times but I forgot how he ranked.

If you look at total points in the regular season, he's got 65 pts in 124 games in Liiga. That ranks tied for 65th All time among U-21 skaters.

https://www.eliteprospects.com/league/liiga/stats/all-time?age=u21

If you look at just this season, his 34 points in the regular season would rank him tied for 110th OA among U-21 skaters all time.

Elite Prospects - Liiga Stats All-time season

All-time/historical regular season stats and leaders per season for Liiga, including top goal scorers, most games played, PPG leaders and more.

www.eliteprospects.com

If you look at just this season, he ranks 6th OA among U-21 skaters in points.

Elite Prospects - Liiga Stats 2023-2024

2023-2024 regular season player stats for Liiga, including top goal scorers, most games played, PPG leaders and more.

www.eliteprospects.com

In the playoffs, since he had only 1 pt last year, I will just look at this year. His 14 pts in 13 games ranks 6th OA all time among U-21 skaters in the Liiga's playoff history.

Elite Prospects - Liiga Stats All-time season

All-time/historical playoffs stats and leaders per season for Liiga, including top goal scorers, most games played, PPG leaders and more.

www.eliteprospects.com

He is tied 1st OA in playoff points in Liiga this season among all skaters.

Elite Prospects - Liiga Stats 2023-2024

2023-2024 playoffs player stats for Liiga, including top goal scorers, most games played, PPG leaders and more.

www.eliteprospects.com

 

[Tyson]

A sleeper pick that could reap huge benefits for this organization. I hope he gets signed soon.

 

[Adam Michaels]

A sleeper pick that could reap huge benefits for this organization. I hope he gets signed soon.

I haven't watched his games a lot. But, I've liked his progression:

- D+1 = played Liiga (4 pts in 18 GP) with KalPa and on loan to Karpat for a few games + Mestis (4 pts in 8GP) + U20 (15 pts in 7 GP)
- D+2 = played all year in Liiga as a 3C (27 pts in 55 GP) and 1 pt in 7 playoff games.
- D+3 = played all year in Liiga, starting as a 2C and ended up the 1C (34 pts in 51 GP) and 14 pts in 13 playoff games. Tied for 1st in pts in playoffs.

Each year so far, he's taken on bigger roles and performed at them.

In his D+4 year, he will either make the Habs out of camp or go back to Europe and play in the SHL, which is another step to take as it's a better league than Liiga.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

 

[sampollock]

Probably would have gotten a bit more attention if he was due to join Laval but since he's signing with Timra, it's another year before we see him over here, so expect some more hype if he plays well in a better league.

Filip Eriksson
Volokhin
Kapanen
F. Xhekaj
Miller

Would be my top 5 surprises in the prospect pool this year.

will be good to see him in laval ... hope this dude turns out

 

[26Mats]

A sleeper pick that could reap huge benefits for this organization. I hope he gets signed soon.

The only two piece I see missing in the organization, at least in terms of projections, are two top 6/9 forwards:

Caufield Suzuki Slaf
---------- Dach. -----------
Roy Newhook Kapanen/Beck
Kapanen/Beck Evan's Xhekaj/Tuch/Heineman/RHP/Ylonen/etc...

Matheson/Engstrom Guhle
Hutson Reinbacher
Xhekaj Mailloux

Fowler
Monty/Primes/Dobes

 

[Tyson]

The only two piece I see missing in the organization, at least in terms of projections, are two top 6/9 forwards:

Caufield Suzuki Slaf
---------- Dach. -----------
Roy Newhook Kapanen/Beck
Kapanen/Beck Evan's Xhekaj/Tuch/Heineman/RHP/Ylonen/etc...

Matheson/Engstrom Guhle
Hutson Reinbacher
Xhekaj Mailloux

Fowler
Monty/Primes

Don't write of Jakub Dobes just yet. He was as good as any goalie in the entire AHL from January on. Folks have penciled in Fowler whose numbers resembled Primeau's NCAA numbers.

 

[Shutdown]

there's also this quote from the article

 

[26Mats]

Don't write of Jakub Dobes just yet. He was as good as any goalie in the entire AHL from January on. Folks have penciled in Fowler whose numbers resembled Primeau's NCAA numbers.

Yes! I meant to add him. This is all just projections...

 

[Tyson]

there's also this quote from the article

When Lehkonen made the jump Saku Koivu said that he was NHL ready. He went on to score 18 goals as a rookie.

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

there's also this quote from the article

My French is non-existent but does that say Kapanen’s Liiga coach thinks we hit the jackpot with him and he could be a 2nd line C?

 

[Nico Cauzuki]

My French is non-existent but does that say Kapanen’s Liiga coach thinks we hit the jackpot with him and he could be a 2nd line C?

Yes he said his potentiel longterm is a 2nd line center

 

[CHwest]

Yes he said his potentiel longterm is a 2nd line center

Man our picks never pan out....

Am I doing this right?

 

[26Mats]

My French is non-existent but does that say Kapanen’s Liiga coach thinks we hit the jackpot with him and he could be a 2nd line C?

Yes you got it.

Also he said Kapanen could cause a surprise and play in Montreal next year