Toronto Maple Leafs Player Preview: Kasperi Kapanen
The Phil Kessel trade will forever haunt Kasperi Kapanen while he’s searching for a spot on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Kapanen is one of the Toronto Maple Leafs better prospects, though he’s not thought of much these days with Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander stealing the spotlight – but that’s OK.
After the Toronto Marlies season I wrote about Kapanen requiring more patience:
“Of Kapanen’s 25 points this year for the Marlies – his first full season of professional hockey in North America – 21 one of them were primary points. That’s 84% of his all situation points.
At even strength this year Kapanen had 18 points which is 72% of his entire point total. Of those 18 even strength points 14 were primary, which is 77.8%.
This kid is skilled. Really skilled.”
Right now Kapanen is underrated simply because he’s been forgotten about, but he’s a good prospect with a lot of offensive upside.
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What Kapanen needs, and what the Toronto Maple Leafs likely expect, is a strong season with the Toronto Marlies. There’s a slim to none chance that Kapanen ends up with the Leafs this year, but that’s fine.
He needs a full season in the AHL where he’s one of the main players logging significant minutes in all situations. With Nylander up with the Leafs he’ll get that chance. The dynamic of the Marlies will be entirely different this year and Kapanen will be a centerpiece.
If Kapanen ends up with the Leafs at some point it will be due to a lot of injuries or trades – or a combination of both.
The 20 year old Finn had 25 points in 44 games as a backseat player to Nylander and other Marlies with more AHL time last year. In 2016-2017, with more focus on his development, Kapanen could be in line for a 50 point season in the AHL.
As a centerpiece player, expecting around 0.7 pts/game isn’t unreasonable, and it isn’t out of reach for a player with Kapanen’s talent.
He’s going to have a good supporting cast around him thanks to the Toronto Maple Leafs logjam of veteran players they can’t get rid of. The Marlies are going to be a strong team again this year and Kapanen should be a big part of that.
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