This article is mainly to shoehorn in this link from Dejan Kovacevic's new enterprise, DK on Pittsburgh Sports (which we recommend you checking out, since Dejan has always been very friendly to us and his new-age media model will be an interesting case of "main stream media" adapting to the new digital world).
Dejan's first solo Pittsburgh Penguins related piece is in regards to the flashy young winger Kasperi Kapanen.
Look at that top six right now and, if the puck was set to drop between the Penguins and Ducks, Crosby would again be with Chris Kunitz, who faded badly in the playoffs, and Pascal Dupuis, who’s coming off completely reconstructive knee surgery. Both those wingers will be 35. Malkin will be with newcomer Patric Hornqvist, with no guarantee of chemistry anywhere approaching what was enjoyed with James Neal and … I don’t know, whoever fills in for Bennett.
I like the Hornqvist trade, but don’t tell me that top six instills any great hope of change.
Kapanen’s addition can. He could be that difference. He could be that extra-energy winger that you saw all playoffs long with the Kings in the forms of Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson. He could be that wild card that scores that big, bonus goal in the biggest of situations.
Understand, I’m not advocating for Kapanen to make the roster unconditionally. He’s got to earn it. That means continuing to add strength, to focus on his backchecking and to — in my estimation, anyway — to make himself more available for passes. There were times in that scrimmage when he’d get lost if he didn’t have the puck. That can’t happen at the NHL level.
Before this begins, yes, I realize that even I floated the idea three weeks ago that Kapanen could be the Pens top six answer as soon as this year, but perhaps it's time to pump the breaks a little.
All this flowery talk about Kapanen makes perfect sense- he is an exciting, young skilled forward and the Penguins haven't had such a dynamic prospect in ages. (Beau Bennett doesn't count, because he was going to college after his draft year and wasn't close to being mentioned as an NHL factor so soon after being drafted).
There are two sides to every coin. Kapanen could be that difference making player at such a young age. To go along with being on a cheap entry level contract would be just what the doctor ordered for the cramped salary cap situation that the Pens perennially find themselves in, due to paying their core so much money.
But why did Kapanen (the #1 rated European skater by Central Scouting) fall all the way to #22 last month and behind #2-4 of the European ranked players? Obviously some didn't like him as much as the Pens do now, and they were employed by the 21 teams that picked ahead of the Pens and liked another prospect better.
One such scout would have been Mark Staudinger, who works for the Red Line Report. In their final subscription based report, RLR had Kapanen as the 29th best prospect in the draft- citing his compete level along the boards and away from the puck as major reasons why they weren't as high on him as some that liked his pure skill and rated him higher.
Staudinger also recently tweeted the following:
Easily most interesting 2014 NHL Draft note is how highly media thought (i.e. fans) of Kasperi Kapanen and how little scouts felt about him.
— Mark Staudinger (@MarkStaudz) July 26, 2014
I talked to at least a dozen NHL scouts and all felt Kasperi Kapanen wasn't a Top 20 pick, yet most in media had him as high as a Top 10....
— Mark Staudinger (@MarkStaudz) July 26, 2014
This isn't to say Kapanen can not make the Penguins roster this fall, just because there were some scouts out there that didn't like his game. The Pens are going to have to see what they have as top 6 options- as in how Dupuis is doing after reconstructive knee surgery and how Bennett looks, and compare Kapanen.
They'll also have to make sure they don't throw the just turned 18 year old too deep in the pool. Kapanen's listed at about 180 pounds and if you saw him in PIttsburgh earlier this month for prospect camp (he's on the left here in this picture) it's easy to see that he might not be physically ready for the ringer of an 82 game NHL season just quite yet.
All of which, by the way, is totally fine. A player so young really shouldn't be counted on to make the NHL team for a self-proclaimed contender like the Pens. If Kapanen goes back to Europe for the year to develop and hopefully dominate the World Juniors in December, it would be a great year for his progress and development. As always, the word on a hockey prospect (who is 18 years old, at that) should be patience.
It will be interesting and exciting to see if Kapanen is already good enough to force the Penguins hand and make them keep him (like his teenaged countryman Olli Maatta did last fall) but such a scenario should probably be seen more as a hopeful best-case scenario and not a plan that the team is relying on.