The Edmonton Oilers got the best version of Kasperi Kapanen is the one we saw in round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last spring. Dangerous in limited minutes, defensively responsible, and enough of a threat that his presence needed to be accounted for by the Anaheim Duck's coaching staff. Between Kapanen and Jason Dickinson, there was a spark of potential in that series, though it was snuffed by the Edmonton Oilers' inability to broadly keep pucks out of their own net.
Championship teams find players like Kapanen and they always play a role in capturing the Stanley Cup. The best recent iteration of the Oilers, the one that lost in seven games the first time they faced the Florida Panthers in 2023-24, had several such players. Connor Brown, Mattias Janmark, Warren Foegele, and to a lesser degree guys like Corey Perry and Derek Ryan. But playoff performers get noticed, receive generous contract offers from teams a tier below looking to move up, and ultimately these key role players need to be replaced.
Imperfect but improving
Kapanen has been around the NHL block. He played on some bad Toronto Maple Leafs teams, and was there when they took a step foward. He played with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the Pittsburgh Penguins, and spent some time with the St. Louis Blues as well. Multiple franchises have seen his value, but also deemed him expendable. He's been traded twice, and claimed off waivers two additional times, including how he arrived in Edmonton.
Kapanen has never played a full 82 games in his career, and he missed a decent portion of last season with lower body injuries. That surely limited his options as a free agent, and the Oilers could greatly benefit from a full and healthy season. Kapanen can step into the Top 6 as needed, spark the team with depth scoring on the rare night that both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl can't get their offense going, and chip in special teams minutes as needed, either on the penalty kill or the second powerplay unit.
A peek at Kapanen's career advanced statistics show an imperfect player. Years where his Corsi and Fenwick surge and dip, as well as PDO. His plus/minus tells a similar tale. Sometimes Kapanen puts it all together, and other times it doesn't quite work out. But the good news for this season is that the Oilers' new head coach, Mike Babcock, has coached Kapanen in the past, and gotten the most production out of him/ In 2018-19, Kapanen played 78 games and recorded 44 points (20 goals, 24 assists).
If Babcock can find the right moments to put Kapanen on the ice, with the right linemates, then that's enviable depth scoring, and should go a long way toward making the Oilers the class of the Pacific division this season.
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