The Toronto Maple Leafs have a problem.
Too much depth on the wing. Josh Leivo never plays. There is no room for Andreas Johnson. Nikita Soshnikov is notshikov playing either. The Toronto Maple Leafs have too many NHL quality wingers for too few spots.
The number-one loser of this problem other team’s would kill for has been Kasperi Kapanen. The guy could have been in the NHL two years ago. He was great in the playoffs last year when he played in a way that should have guaranteed him an NHL job. Then he went back to the AHL anyways.
So far this season Kapanen has been recalled and sent down 453 times. He’s responded to the adversity by being nearly a point-per-game player in the AHL, and scoring frequently in the NHL despite a fourth line role.
It’s that fourth line role I’m here to talk to you about today: It’s very wasteful. Why should an NHL team play it’s fastest player on the fourth line? It’s preposterous. There is one player in the NHL who is for-sure faster than Kapanen, and it’s Connor McDavid. He should be on every penalty kill and he should play the 16-18 minutes normally reserved for one of your best players, because he’s one of the Leafs best players.
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Kapanen!
As I already said, the main reason the Toronto Maple Leafs need to use Kapanen more is his speed. He makes things happen. Secondly, his stats are quite impressive. The two things that jump out: he’s got a positive possession rating relative to his team, and – more importantly – he allows almost seven less shots per 60 minutes of ice-time relative to his team.
A player who can limit shots-against should be the Leafs top priority, as they are the fourth worst team in the NHL for shots-against. In case you think Kapanen’s defensive stats are because he has played on the fourth line, note that Matt Martin and Dominc Moore, the Leafs two fourth line mainstays, have negative shots-against/60 stats.
I addition to his defense, Kapanen is third on the Leafs in goals per 60, fifth in points/60 and has a shots-for rate that is positive relative to his team.
To sum up:
- One of the fastest skaters in the NHL
- Positive shots-for rate
- Good possession player
- reduced shots against
- scoring at a pace that makes him one of the teams best players, even if he wasn’t good at defense, which he is.
Next: Babcock Right to Limit Matthews PP Time
It’s pretty obvious that the Toronto Maple Leafs need to play Kasperi Kapanen higher than the fourth line. Here is a list of wingers the Leafs should play more than Kapanen: Nylander, Marner.
That’s it.