Toronto Maple Leafs: Kapanen Relishing his Opportunity

Slowly but surely, Kasperi Kapanen has etched himself into a top-six role with the Toronto Maple Leafs amidst key absences from their potent lineup.

Before Auston Matthews made his long-anticipated return from injury this past Wednesday versus San Jose, it was unclear whether or not Kapanen would be reacquainted with the sharpshooting specialist. Mike Babcock was reluctant to unveil his lineup plans prior to the matchup and instead left speculation wide open as to who would form a unit with Toronto’s star centreman.

The odd man out happened to be Frederik Gauthier, allowing Par Lindholm to assume his regular role as the fourth line centre.

As a duo, Matthews and Kapanen had been on an offensive tear prior to the shoulder injury Matthews sustained on October 27th—combining for 22 points across a nine-game stretch.

Kasperi Kapanen saw a steep increase in ice-time as a result of his promotion and has since been acknowledged as a more than capable fixture in Toronto’s top-six forward group, even without the presence of a 40-goal scorer up the middle at all times. He’s averaged 16:33 minutes of ice-time since his perceived top-six promotion back on October 7th versus Chicago, the Leafs’ third game of the season.

With that being said, Kapanen had gone goalless in two straight games prior to Wednesday and even indicated he missed playing with his good pal Matthews.

"“With Matty, I always felt like I knew where he was going and if he wanted me to go too. With Nazy, he makes great plays but sometimes I get a little bit lost with Nazy, because he’s a bit all over the place.”"

Kasperi Kapanen temporarily remains a key component of Toronto’s offence and will continue to for the foreseeable future, at least until the Nylander saga comes to a close. His 18 points in 26 games rank fifth most on the team, including 7 in 14 games with Matthews out of the lineup, and recently notched the first multi-goal game of his young NHL career as well.

Partners in Crime

To the delight of many, Mike Babcock elected to reunite the formidable duo and even added a red-hot Andreas Johnsson to the mix. It didn’t take long for the unit to begin clicking, either, as Kasperi Kapanen sported a 60.00 and 59.09 CF% skating with Andreas Johnsson and Auston Matthews, respectively. All three players combined on Matthews‘ second goal of the night and helped seal a convincing 5-3 victory over the Sharks.

However, an obvious issue lies in Kapanen’s 40.00 CF% without Auston Matthews by his side. Although he currently holds a seemingly important role on Toronto’s top line, the impending return of William Nylander would make it easy to displace the now highly touted 22-year-old.

Nonetheless, Kapanen has made good use of his audition and will be given opportunities to succeed in his future with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a result. His complimentary playstyle has made it easy for Auston Matthews to utilize and continue producing at an astonishing rate. As a dynamic playmaker that is already a force to be reckoned with, there’s certainly room to be complemented as far as Kapanen’s talents go.

Shades of Sami

Considering that Kasperi’s father, Sami, has twice been crowned the NHL’s fastest skater in the 2000 and 2002 All-Star Skills Competition, it’s no surprise his son also runs on a high octane motor. Speed kills and the Kapanen’s truly know how to utilize it to their advantage.

The budding speedster recently recalled an intriguing debate with his father, unsure of who would reign supreme as the faster skater amongst themselves at the peak of their abilities;

"If we skated from goal-line to goal-line, he says I’d be faster there. But if we’re skating around the rink, he’s got smaller legs and quick legs so I think he’d be faster in the corners. It’d be interesting to see."

There’s no doubting that skating is Kasperi’s strong suit, however, he’s also transcending himself into a formidable well-rounded forward.

If scoring at a 0.69 points-per-game clip isn’t enough to fawn over, Kapanen is also averaging 1:38 on the penalty kill per-game and is becoming known as a potential shorthanded scoring threat against, with a single tally to show for it thus far.

He’s demonstrated the ability to perform under pressure and has done so as the glue of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ top-six forward group, and just might be the single most important outlying factor in Toronto’s sustained success this season.

Without the impact of Kapanen, there would otherwise lie a vacancy in a position of utmost importance.