Since this trade was made I think we won the trade. Kappy is a very fast 3rd liner and we got cap dump. Hallander looks like a defensively sound 3rd liner and Amirov looks to be better than Kappy once developed.Kappanen never became that 30 goal ,top 6 for us. He may look good with Crosby and Malkin but many do.
Confirmed with Link: [TOR/PIT] RW Kapanen, D Lindgren, LW Aberg for '20 1st(15th), LW Rodrigues, C Hallander, D Warsofsky
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Stephen
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I suppose VGK would have originally preferred to have offloaded MAF and Stastny easy breezy and grab Pietrangelo, so moving Schmidt earlier in the offseason would have never been a viable option, since it was a last resort desperation sacrifice. But, if it had been on their radar, I could see a world where they could have gotten a legitimate hockey trade for him.
Stephen
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I heard someone refer to Kasperi Kapanen as the next Michael Grabner this past week as an all wheels, multiple breakaway no scoring touch player, and I think that's appropriate. I don't think he'll really be missed too much when we're replacing him with a high IQ third line center candidate and a high end, high skill winger like Amirov. We got younger, deeper, cheaper and better.
Martin Skoula
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If Kapanen can be 2016 Hagelin for them, they should be happy. Talking about playing Kapanen on the top line in Game 1 seems to be setting up fans for disappointment.
Stephen
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Yeah, I think that would be a useful player for them, but Hagelin is/was also a real heads up player and had much more of a blue collar work ethic. Kapanen seems to have kind of a bit of an identity crisis in terms of how he fits in the league. Is he a former first round pick and a top six forward in the making? A gritty middle six option? Or a bottom grit grinder like when they paired him with Clifford? You never really know, and his work ethic is never consistent either.
Morgs
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Yeah that's probably what they hoped. We heard teams were asking for a 1st + top prospect (Hague/Krebs?) for MAF. That was definitely the better option.
It's a good thing Dubas traded Kap when he did, the offers clearly werent getting better.
No, he sold high, it wasn't going to get much better. Hallander and Amirov. Plus cap dump. He is learning.
Martin Skoula
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Yeah that's a fair point, you never know which Kapanen you're getting. He's also an ACL tear away from having a bottom-6ers skillset.
That being said if he humbles himself and focuses on being Crosby's ideal winger in the Kunitz mold instead of thinking he's a line driver, he could carve out a long career.
ottomaddox
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This was a risky trade for PIT for sure. I think Rutherford hopes that Kap can refine his game, and benefit from being on the top 6. We know his skating is pretty good, but his offensive contributions were inconsistant. The puck often died on his stick during the play-in series. He even had breakaway that he pulled outside hoping to pass. Definitely an identity crisis there. Rutherford obviously believes he can fit better in PIT. We'll see...
The Iceman
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Kappy has an exciting skill set. If he could ever harness that shot he would be a consistent 25 goal guy. But I doubt this ever happens.
That being said he was not worth the package Pitt gave up.
Rutherford trades 1sts like candy.
Since 2013 Pitt has had 2 - 1st round draft picks and one of them is Kappy
That being said he was not worth the package Pitt gave up.
Rutherford trades 1sts like candy.
Since 2013 Pitt has had 2 - 1st round draft picks and one of them is Kappy
I understand why Pens think they need to go for it yearly, but I do think they miss the playoffs this year and it's over for them.
SeaOfBlue
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You make it sound like he did not make smart trades in the past... He's been doing stuff like this since Day 1.
Maybe one day he'll be as experienced and knowledgeable as you.
ViewsFromThe6ix
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TheGroceryStick
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We dont have to act like we didnt like Kappy and still be ok with the deal.
I think every leaf fan knew that Kap/Johnns were luxury players until we needed to allocate capspace to the backend.
Unfortunately for both those guys, other players played there way into top6 role consideration.
Mikhayev and small sample size Robertson.. have given the Leafs the ability to confidently shed capspace.
I think every leaf fan knew that Kap/Johnns were luxury players until we needed to allocate capspace to the backend.
Unfortunately for both those guys, other players played there way into top6 role consideration.
Mikhayev and small sample size Robertson.. have given the Leafs the ability to confidently shed capspace.
Anthrax442
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It must be frustrating for you, that Shanahan doesn't realize how much smarter and more experienced you are than Dubas. Guess you should be the president too.
ottomaddox
Registered User
I always felt like Kap was never as good as people built him up to be. I always thought some fans (not all fans) pumped him up in order to prove to the world that we didn't lose the Kessel trade. Kap is an NHLer. He just couldn't ever be better than JT, WN, MM, and AM. And his game never complimented any of the other "big guns". Johnsson's ability complimented them, but only slightly better.
Wafflewhipper
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Hallander is averaging about .5 pts per game for his three years in the SHL. I’m not sure what kind of ice time he gets over there but he is stagnant right now
Took Fiala (same draft) until last season to transition into a top line player. Maybe all these teams interested in Kapanen think they see a player who is about to put it together. He did have that incredible pass (to I forget who) at the end of the year...which i didn't think he was capable of. That shorthanded breakaway against Boston in the Playoffs was incredible.
I'm glad Kaps will be getting his chance somewhere. He was hidden behind Nylander, Marner and Matthews in Toronto. Wouldn't be upset with a win-win trade.
I'm glad Kaps will be getting his chance somewhere. He was hidden behind Nylander, Marner and Matthews in Toronto. Wouldn't be upset with a win-win trade.
acrobaticgoalie
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He has the tools, I just don't think he has the IQ to be a top line player. He mostly sees everything in a straight line and takes low percentage shots.
I hope he does well and I can see him putting up at least one 30 goal season in his career but I'm not sure he will ever have more than say 60 pts in a season. He had opportunities to play with Matthews and Tavares but wasn't a fit. The only players that have been able to play with Sid are high IQ players.
613Leafer
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I'd like to seem them get him over here onto the Marlies and under our development staff. Easier to judge the development of AHL players than Euro players too I find.
More than any of the return this deal was about giving us cap breathing room, it doesn’t really matter what Kapanen turns into we couldn’t afford him and other peripheral players around that salary. He had more than enough of a shot here to progress to a legit top 6 forward he couldn’t do it. I was tantalized by his speed but his iq never caught up (yet).
the fact we got a 1st and a very decent prospect is all gravy on top of the cap space. Even if Kapanen finds that switch and becomes a 25g 50p player consistently we still win this trade imo purely because he just wasn’t going to make that progress here. We tried him with all our stars and it didn’t work, maybe it works with Crosby or Malkin who knows but it didn’t with matthews, JT or marner (or to lesser extent nylander)
the fact we got a 1st and a very decent prospect is all gravy on top of the cap space. Even if Kapanen finds that switch and becomes a 25g 50p player consistently we still win this trade imo purely because he just wasn’t going to make that progress here. We tried him with all our stars and it didn’t work, maybe it works with Crosby or Malkin who knows but it didn’t with matthews, JT or marner (or to lesser extent nylander)
Well shanahan did admit that we have been regressing under dubas so maybe he is aware that others are smarter and more experienced than dubas?
Either way, this is dubas' last season as a leaf gm unless we actually start improving.
Less points each season, more goals agaisnt each year, couldnt even beat our own 40 y.o. emergency back up, lost to columbus in the qualifiers, etc.
Results >> anything else.
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