Toronto Maple Leafs: The Kasperi Kapanen Debate

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a lot of talented players waiting for their chance.

Kasperi Kapanen is right ready to crack the Toronto Maple Leafs roster, however, fitting him into the lineup is a lot easier said than done.

In my last article, we talked about how the Leafs will be rolling out four lines of pure dominance for the 2017-18 season, right from the get go.

At the very end, I touched on the fact that Kapanen and Leivo were two players left outside looking in, but for the purpose of this article, we’re just going to focus on Kapanen.

Does he need more time with the Toronto Marlies?

No, I don’t think so.

Then what’s the holdup?

The Leafs have too many wingers in the system and it’s just hard to get Kappy in, regardless of the fact that he can probably contribute right now.

Let’s dive into this a little more.

The Debate

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The Leafs are rolling with three potential superstars in Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Mitchell Marner, or ‘MNM’ as we like to call them.

There’s a debate that Kapanen might make that four.

It’s just a matter of getting the kid ice time, which has been quite difficult since he was acquired in the Phil Kessel trade some two years ago.

He’s skated in 17 regular season games for the Leafs over the past two seasons and has produced only one goal, but his late game heroics in the playoffs make up for the lack of points at the NHL level.

Who am I kidding, he hasn’t been given enough time to properly transition into the NHL yet, so he’s doing just fine.

That double overtime goal made into my top five 2016-17 Leafs moments list and was his second goal of the night, meaning he’s amassed two playoff goals at the NHL level.

Through 87 regular season games with the Toronto Marlies over the past two years, Kapanen has produced 27 goals and 68 points and again, shined in the playoffs.

During the 2015-16 Marlies playoff run, Kapanen scored three goals and eight points in 14 games played, followed up by two goals and eight points in nine games played during the 2016-17 playoffs.

He’s basically a playoff machine.

I think Kapanen has all the tools to be a really good NHL player someday, but where does he fit into the lineup?

Logjam

I’m going to use the same template from my last article.

Patrick Marleau – Auston Matthews – William Nylander

James van Riemsdyk – Tyler Bozak – Mitchell Marner

Zach Hyman – Nazem Kadri – Connor Brown

Leo Komarov – Dominic Moore – Matt Martin

There are all the forwards that I think will most likely play the entire duration for the upcoming 2017-18 season.

Again, I have two players in mind that I’d like for them to have regular ice time next season, but I’m just going to focus in on Kapanen for this.

Maybe I’ll do an entire Leivo article another day.

Nobody’s going anywhere from the Matthews line, so let’s just leave that one alone.

Jumping down to the fourth line, Martin wasn’t protected to not play, so I expect him to be in the lineup all season.

On the left side, Komarov is the interesting case because of his expiring contract which is up at the end of the season.

You know what, we’re just going to group van Riemsdyk and Bozak in with him too.

All three are nearing the end of their contracts and there’s just no way the Leafs can afford to resign all of them.

Plus, I don’t think that’s the smart play anyways.

I have this ongoing feeling that one of the three will be traded before the deadline, so let’s play around with that a little.

Dominos

If Bozak gets traded, someone needs to fill his shoes and I don’t think a healthy Frederik Gauthier will do the trick.

He’s more poised to replace Moore on the fourth line after his contract is up.

The first player that comes to mind is Nylander because that’s his natural position and ideally where he’ll give the Leafs the most success.

So Bozak gets traded (forget about the return), Nylander moves into that center role and a new winger is needed.

Boom, Kapanen’s right ready to go and he slots in on the Matthews line.

That’s just one scenario.

Another is that one of Komarov or van Riemsdyk gets traded (again, forget about the return) and there’s an immediate need for a winger.

Kapanen’s a righty, but he’ll prevail on either side of the ice, so slide him into the left side if needed.

Those two scenarios are completely dependant on one of those three being traded by the end of the season.

I believe that Kapanen will find substantial ice time at some point this season or the next.

When the dominos fall, they create a chain reaction.

Hypotheticals

Now, we can sit here and think of other hypotheticals all day long, but we don’t really know what’s going to happen.

There’s nobody else that Kapanen could replace full-time other than van Riemsdyk or Komarov.

He may very well start the season in the press box or with the Marlies, but I think he’ll find some ice time this season one way or another.

I’m not expecting that to happen right away, though.

Do I think he can be a star in this league?

Yes, but going slow and steady with Kapanen is alright for now, the group that’s in play is in play to handle business.

Next: Bottom Pairing Problem

Kapanen will get his shot when the dominos fall into place, don’t you worry.

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