Jim Rutherford’s biggest and most impactful trade in the Steel City has come full circle. Five years and change after JR boldly swapped promising first-round pick Kasperi Kapanen to Toronto as part of the Phil Kessel blockbuster, he reversed his course and reacquired Kapanen as part of a multi-player deal.
Also arriving are Swedish forward Pontus Aberg and promising 23-year-old defenseman Jesper Lindgren. The price? Our first-round pick in the upcoming Entry Draft, former second-round pick Filip Hallander, restricted free agent Evan Rodrigues and minor-league defenseman David Warsofsky.
Although many have panned the trade, at first blush I like it. We added to our organizational depth, especially on the right side, without giving up anything too egregious in return.
Yes, it would be nice to have a first-round pick…the rarest of commodities in these parts. But, as a general rule, when you’re picking 15th overall you get a player like…well…Kapanen.
Speaking of Kasperi, he can really fly. He’s not bashful about shooting the puck, either, as his 325 total shots attempted in ‘18-19 will attest. To put that in perspective, Pens gunner Jake Guentzel attempted 375 shots that same season. Kapanen’s a good two-way player and penalty killer to boot with solid possession numbers (a career Corsi for of 52.0).
Nor does he shy away from contact (92 hits in ’18-19 and 73 this season). In fact, during Toronto’s 4-0 stomping of the Pens on February 20, he challenged Patric Hornqvist to a go before dropping the mitts with Jared McCann in a brief but spirited scrap. At 6’1″ and 192 pounds, he’s practically a power forward by the Penguins’ Smurf-ish standards.
After filling mostly a third-line role in Toronto, he’ll likely be given a shot at top-six duty in the ‘burgh…perhaps in the problematic right wing slot beside Sidney Crosby. While not a hugely gifted scorer, he did net 20 goals two seasons ago. The Pens are undoubtedly banking on some potential upside to the 24-year-old’s game a la Bryan Rust.
Kapanen’s under contract for two more seasons at a cap hit of $3.2 million. So the Pens have some control.
Rutherford seemed pleased with his haul.
“Kasperi is a good, young player that brings speed to our lineup and plays the way we want to play,” he said.
Maybe I’m guilty of reading between the lines, but I found the last part of JR’s statement revealing. Eschewing a change in philosophy, it sounds like the Pens will once again employ an up-tempo, puck-possession style. A notion reinforced by the inclusion of Aberg, a speedy left wing who notched a dozen goals at the NHL level in 2018-19 and was rumored to be on our radar for a while.
In Lindgren, 23, JR added a second right-handed shooting defenseman within the past week. On Friday, he signed undrafted Josh Maniscalco from Arizona State. Apparently, the two have a similar skill set, including wheels and the ability to move the puck quickly to the forwards. A staple in Mike Sullivan’s scheme.
It’ll be interesting to see how the trade affects Rutherford’s decision-making concerning free-agent forwards Conor Sheary and Dominik Simon. It seems highly unlikely that the former will return…even at a rock-bottom rate. Simon, on the other hand, appears to have nine lives.
Nothing personal, but I’d like to see us move on from both.
Ten-Four Good Buddy
Not to beat a horse that’s long been dead and moldering in the grave, but I’m doing a slow burn over Jamie Oleksiak’s emergence as a postseason stud.
Just to refresh your memory, Rutherford acquired the “Big Rig” from Dallas (at Sergei Gonchar’s behest) in December of 2017 for a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2019 Entry Draft.
Considered a project, the hulking 6’7” blue-liner blossomed during his stint with the black and gold, tallying a highly respectable eight goals and 25 points along with a plus-18 in 83 regular-season games over two seasons before mysteriously falling into disfavor.
Shipped back to Dallas in January 2019, he received sheltered minutes under former coach Stars Jim Montgomery. But Jamie gained the trust of current coach Rick Bowness, and his team has been reaping the rewards…in spades.
In 11 postseason games, the Toronto native’s tallied three goals and five points to go with a sterling plus-11, while averaging nearly 22 minutes of ice time per game.
Yet another case of Sullivan’s penchant for playing favorites, not to mention an almost pathological bias against players who possess size and a physical bent, coming back to bite us in the Johnson (pun intended).
Please please please part way with sheary and Simon. Cannot for the life of me figure out kahun for sheary. Nobody I know can. Hope you’re well brother ! Your old pal Cepek
How nice to hear from you, my old friend! Funny, but I was thinking about you earlier in the day. I hope you and your loved ones (Jenn and the Doodlebugs…:) are well.
I can’t, for the life of me, figure out the Kahun trade, either. After taking a little time to get acclimated, I thought he did a really nice job and was a really solid second-tier player. Excellent skater, creative, responsible defensively, always seemed to be around the puck.
I recall one sequence in 3-on-3 OT…can’t remember the game. But he took the puck out of the attacking zone and skated into our end to allow us to make a needed change. Even though he’d been on the ice for an extended shift, he wheeled back up ice and started the play that led to the game-winning goal. Just heads-up all the way.
The only thing I can figure? Kahun didn’t mesh with Crosby, and they wanted someone who could. (I know, Sheary???). Plus, I heard they weren’t sure they could re-sign him at a cap friendly rate…and they had Guentzel and Zucker ahead of him at left wing. Plus, they have Poulin in the pipeline.
Even so, I lament that trade.
Also with you on Simon. Other blogs rave about this kid, and I’ll admit he’s clever and crafty. But his shot couldn’t break a pane of glass, to my eye he’s a perimeter player and, as little as he produces skating next to Sid, he’s even less productive in a bottom-six role.
To me he’s the poster child for how advanced metrics and actual performance on ice don’t always sync up.
Anyway…way more of a response than you probably were looking for … lol.
Again, I hope all is well. God bless …:)
Rick
Hey Rick,
I have heard that lame excuse – couldn’t sign Kahun to a Cap friendly deal so they traded him. That makes less sense than the trade itself.
They were supposed to be in win now mode. In win now mode you keep the player and let them go without tendering them an offer unless you can trade them for a better player and they clearly didn’t do that.
Sheary is horrible and UFA so horrible they could only get a 4th round pick for him and he was playing 4th line in Buffalo – 4th line in Buffalo. Yes, no other GM will offer him a contract, but JR is liable to offer him a raise and a long term contract with a full NMC.
Rodrigues is RFA too and they used him to trade for a a player making as much or more than Kahun would have ask for (they couldn’t have been thinking about trading for Kapanen back when they brought Kahun in either.
The Kahun trade is 100% evidence that JR doesn’t have a plan and/or competent enough to know what he is doing.
As for Simon, I can see JR offer him a long term $3 million deal as well.
Yep. Thought once kahun got healthy he was finally hitting his stride. Way more of an upside than sheary in my opinion. I could be mistaken but I’m pretty sure kahun played a top six role at least for a time in Chicago. Tough year for us. We were flying high right after the zucker deal. And then hit the skids hard. Heading into the lay-off. Had been hoping the return of Jake and lots of rest for sid Geno and company would’ve boded well. During the lay-off I watched some of those re-airs from the back to back cups a few years back. Seems we aged and slowed down pretty quickly. Even horny looked a lot faster just a few years back. I can always arm chair quarterback but surely wish they woulda sat Johnson and Shultz. McCann has gone ice cold too. Just some quick ramblings ! I’d say more but I’m on my phone. I sure hope all is well brother !
Hi Rick,
This trade left me with two thoughts:
1. That they should have fired Sullivan and set in motion a new on-ice direction; and
2. That next year will be same old, same old.
Say what everyone will about Rutherford, but this trade has Sullivan’s finger prints all over it.
It’s not that I don’t like Kapanen, it’s that he isn’t worth a first round pick. Not today, not ever, and regardless of whomever comes with him. I like that he’s a bit bigger, and that he’s fast but, sadly, he IS the Pens idea of a power forward, and therein lies the problem: Not too big, or too physical, on a team desperate for either or both. I won’t be surprised if he ends up another third liner JR got fleeced on. And I say that because I don’t trust Sullivan and this deal smells of what I said earlier, same old, same old. I said in an earlier post that I felt Sullivan was incapable of changing and this deal makes me think I’m right. Reminds me of the early 60s and “SOS, the Same Old Steelers.”
If this the best they could come up with, I’d rather have kept the first rounder and continued beating the bushes to see what materializes in the coming months. I just don’t think this deal makes us so much better that it was worth the cost.
And somewhere off in the distance I can hear Jan and Dean singing:
“Smurf City, here we come…”
— 55
Hey 55,
Always great to hear from you.
I agree that it’s another case of bringing in a guy who fits Sully’s mold. When I saw that JR said “…and plays the way we want to play.” Well, that just confirms that we’re going to play the same style as we did this season. Or SOP (Same Old Penguins). Which didn’t work very well in the dog days of February and in the playoffs.
It’s pretty evident that Sullivan only knows how to coach one way and one style of team. As you said, Smurf City.
I like Kapanen. But as you and I have bantered on occasions too numerous to count, we just have too many of the same guy. Heck, it’s a lot easier to list the Pens forwards who don’t fit the Sully mold than the ones that do. Namely, Malkin and Bjugstad. I’ll throw in Hornqvist, too, for the way he battles.
It’s going to be interesting to see what happens with kids like Anthony Angello, Drew O’Connor and Samuel Poulin, who most decidedly don’t fit the Sully mold. Will he stonewall these kids and stunt their development?
Rick
Hi Rick!
Very good article!
Your last paragraph is interesting. I saw Samuel Poulin play three times this year. I really appreciated his playing style. He is a very good two-way player, can score, can hit, can add some grit and off the ice, he has an excellent work ethic.
But my biggest fear, Rick, is how Sully is going to treat Poulin. I don’t trust Sully because as you said, Poulin doesn’t fit Sully’s mold. But the Pens desperately need a player like Poulin. They really need the physicality that would allow the Pens to challenge other teams.
A player that would be willing enough to tell Shea Weber to stop cross-checking our star players after the whistle. The Pens were seriously bashed against a team (Montreal) that is not very big.
And with JR, we never know what kind of rabbit he is going to pull out of the hat: trading Poulin for an AHL 20-somethin’ slacker + 10 boxes of maple syrup.
Sorry for the sarcasm…couldn’t help it!
Hey Jorenz,
I share your fear. I don’t trust Sully with anyone on this team
Thank you Jorenz. Good to hear from you! And I like your trade idea. Except I might hold out for a bag of used pucks instead of the maple syrup. Unless it’s Canadian Finest…lol
How Sullivan handles Poulin…also Drew O’Connor and Nathan Legare (and for that matter Anthony Angelo and Sam Lafferty) is a huge concern. It’s pretty (or painfully) obvious what type of player Sully prefers. And these guys ain’t it.
I agree…you’ve simply got to have some functional muscle in the lineup to win puck battles, dictate play in the dirty areas and…if need be…stand up for your mates. Preferably you have a few guys like that. But in Sully’s World…
Judging by his moves over the past few seasons, I think Rutherford definitely sees a need for that type of player. What I wish he’d do is tell Sullivan, “You’re going to play this guy…or else.”
Unfortunately, Sully turns his nose up at these guys and JR acquiesces. And Ryan Reaves, Jamie Oleksiak, Erik Gudbranson and Ian Cole go bye bye.
Look at the Islanders. They’ve got such a great blend of players. Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock…all horses who can play. No wonder they swept us last year.
I really hope I’m wrong. But I can see Sullivan jerking Poulin around and then finding excuses not to play him. If that happens, he needs to go…plain and simple.
Rick
Hi Rick,
As a Canadian, there is one thing I never kid about and it’s maple syrup. It’s ALWAYS Canadian finest!!! (LOL)
Hey 55 and Rick,
Amen, this deal reinforces the idea of NO CHANGE.
Like you two, I like Kapanen but not at this price! I do think he is going to surprise people IF he plays top 6 minutes and that may make some people try and justify the deal but the simple truth is Kapanen hasn’t shown that level of worth yet, so JR should have been able to get him for far, far less.
Several of the mock drafts I have looked at suggest both Anton Lundell (Center) and Yaroslav Askarov (Goalie) will still be available at the 15th pick, with no 3rd line Center and no Goalies in the Pipeline either player would be welcome to this prospect starved team!
As a man who loves song lyrics and movie quotes as well as sarcasm I am loving “Smurf City”
This Deal may smell of Sully, but JR is the one in charge. If this is indeed a Sully deal then JR is a very weak GM. He needs(ed) to put Sully on notice a long time ago. Gonchar was not the problem, nor do I think Martin was an issue. Sully, Recchi, and Buckley were the coaches that needed firing and JR needed fired as well since Sully is perched on his shoulder and he gave our ersatz coach that ridiculous extension.
“It’s not that I don’t like Kapanen, it’s that he isn’t worth a first round pick”
This makes no sense. He was first round pick! And he has turned out better than the vast majority of first round picks. How is not worth a first round pick?
That fact that the pick is 7 slots high means little that late in the round. Moreover, the experts are saying that this year the really good talent stops at 10-11. The 15 pick and the 22 pick are probably not much different.
The Canes and Hawks were also interested in Kapanen but the Canes refused to give Tor the 13th pick and the Hawks declined giving up the 17th pick.
Maybe you and JR are right and the Canes and the Hawks are wrong.
Maybe you and JR know more than everyone else, every other GM and Sports writer who are calling this trade a major win for Tor and grading it a “D” for JR. But JRs track record over the last 3 years is pretty bleak.
I let the trade set in for a day, because I don’t like it….I am not going to get into a long story but basically the Penguins are skating in mud, spinning their wheels, not going anywhere, look we lost to a team not even in the “playoff picture”.
I don’t care what anyone says….the Penguins Cup window has closed and
I have never liked Rutherford as our GM, this trade just cements it.
And now no 1st rounder until 2022!!
As we start to sink, it will be years before Pen’s are contenders.
I know the 15th pick wouldn’t bring back a franchise type player but there are a number of very good defensive prospects..yeah some might not have made it to 15..
Jake Sanderson
Kaiden Guhle
Braden Schneider
William Wallinder
That’s where Jim should have been looking, to rebuild the D.
I am just very frustrated with the ay the team seems to be run.
Hey Pens4ever,
I hear ya. JR has destroyed this team over the last 3 years.
I was hope for a Center or Goalie though – Anton Lundell or Yaroslaw Askarov.
Comments like this are simply absurd. The Pens roster right now is very good. They have two good scoring lines one of the best checking lines , two good defensive pairs and hopefully a decent goalie. Sure they aren’t perfect and there are some holes to fill, but saying that he has destroyed the team is ludicrous. It is simply a childish tantrum. Sorry, but that’s what it is.
Results Stratton, results! The comments aren’t absurd. The team lost to the 24th team in the league in the qualifying round and didn’t get a goal and only 22 shots in an elimination game against the 24th team in the league. Arguing against that cold hard fact is burying your head in the sand. Calling basic facts absurd has no credibility.
thanks for backing me up!!!
I do know what I am talking about
Hello Pen’s4ever,
You make some very good points. I, too, am fearful that once the bottom drops out, it’s liable to be a long (long) time before we’re good again. And there may not be a Sid or Geno waiting for us…especially with the draft lottery.
I guess I can’t blame the Pens for taking another shot with this core (if that’s, indeed, what we’re doing). But JR’s going to have to be letter perfect with his moves. We don’t have a lot of spare assets to peddle. And there are so many question marks.
My biggest concern? We’ve tailored this team to fit Sullivan’s scheme. The pendulum has swung back to teams that play a more balanced, disciplined style, as opposed to our kill ’em with speed approach.
Don’t get me wrong…speed’s a great thing. But you also need guys who can bang a little and win puck battles, and I just don’t think we have enough of that. And our structure leaves a lot to be desired at times.
Regarding Rutherford, I’m starting to view him as a bit of a riverboat gambler when it comes to trades. When it works, it works (three Stanley Cups, four trips to the Finals with the ‘Canes and Pens). And when it doesn’t, it doesn’t (missing the playoffs eight of his last nine years in Carolina).
Rick
Hi Pen’s 4ever.
I agree totally. The Cup Window is closed. Shut.
We are a drift and nobody wants to do anything about it.
This trade is just another nail in the coffin.
KK is not a top six forward on an elite CUP Team. On this team maybe, but not a true Championship contender.That is the problem.
We are not an elite team anymore.
We have No farm system, No Cap space, No young elite Talent.
No Cup appearances for the foreseeable future.
Pretty soon NO FANS IN THE SEATS.
Then watch out. Salaries cut. No more spending to the cap max .
No draft picks to build on until 2022. No cash flow to make profits.
Ownership will bail and yes we will look like Carolina did for a decade.
Sidney Crosby being the exception everyone else should be considered trade-able.
The sad part of this mess is it could have been prevented.
But Nobody wants to criticize the real culprit.
The Owners caused this mess because of their arrogant belief that they knew better and they made stupid, long term contracts and over paid for older talent. Now we are paying for it.
The Islanders of the 1980’s made the same mistake. How many Cups have they won since ??
Really frightening thought.
Jim
Amen Jim, this team is on the brink of turning into Carolina.
They have been pretenders not contenders for at least 2 seasons.
Maybe they could still have been considered a contender before the Cole/Reaves deal but not a second after that.
This team is exactly what the qualifier round showed them to be, a team in decline, slipping rapidly into history – Cup winner in 16-17, 2nd round loss in 17-18, swept in the 1st round in 18-19, beaten like the proverbial rented mule by the 24th ranked team in the qualifying round (not even the real playoffs) in 19-20.
What is sad is it didn’t have to be. Arrogance and the gamblers curse of “One more chance” blinded everyone who could have stopped the slide and retooled the team in time. I am not going to say the Window is completely closed, but I can’t think of a way out of the mess JR and Sull wrought upon this team. It may take divine intervention and shedding of the dullard duo of JR and Sully.
Coach,
There is no Next year. It is over.
We might make it to round two next year, maybe. IF !!!!!
IF Sidney does not get hurt, and plays 24 minutes and gets 125 points next year, IF Geno can stay healthy and focused and get 100 points next year, IF Letang can learn to play defense once again,stops given up the puck, and he too does not get hurt, IF the Goalie, who ever it is, can steal 80% of the playoff games, IF the Coach does not get OUT coached again as he has in the past 3 years, IF we can find 3 or 4 new NHL ready Defense men with size and speed, IF we get a new third line POWER center who can generate 90 points next season and play against the other teams top line and hold them off the score sheet, IF we can get 4-5 more wingers with size and speed who can score 30 + goals each next season, IF we can get a new GM who will not put his head in the sand…
Then we might make it to Round Two of the playoffs next year.
But that is a lot of IF’s Coach !!
Two other problems too .
First is We only have 9+ million in Cap space and we need to change 65% of the team. It can not we will be done..
Second Coach, is we have an ownership group who will NOT do what is necessary.They will not do a major rebuild and wait 5 or 6 years to Win another Cup.
Instead they will very quietly sell the team. Take what ever money is left and Run.
Remember the real Blame for our failures to advance in the play offs goes to Mario and Ron !
Nobody wants to hear that,
That’s why I said Divine intervention Jim. There are too many holes to fill and the only way to clear any CAP space is to dump Letang and that still won’t be enough to buy the right veterans.
The team really needs to get the right kids at a cheap price to add to Sid, Geno, Jake, Bryan, Brian, and John.
Also, Jim, you are right about the problem goes up to the top – for not moving on from JR and Sully when it could have done some good.
On Oleksiak…just a nonsense move to trade for him, resign him when he showed progress and potential, then move him right back to his original team for the exact same price after he got knocked out by D-Bag Tom when his confidence was as at his lowest and his trade value was the same. Another example of mismanagement of asset value.
Good Ole Olli Määttä tore it up for the Hawks in the playoffs this year as well. Looked like the Olli of years 1 and 2 and was a main player in defeating Edmonton during the play in.
Would be nice to have either of the two over JJ, no?
btw, love the site. Found it a couple seasons ago and for some reason forgot about it (even though I liked it then as well). Stumbled across it again around December and have been a regular reader since though finally posted for the first time today
Well welcome back then Stardog and glad you are adding your voice to our site.
Just throwing it out there, but Maatta looked good in Pgh before Sully got here and is looking good again away from Sully – I liked the kid but he was struggling with Sully as his coach.
I did like the Maatta trade though. I thought Kahun would have been a solid middle 6, but JR dealt him away to Buf for Rodrigues and Sheary. Sheary is a bum and Rodrigues is now in Tor.
Re Oleksiak and Maatta. It really gets tiresome to hear all the hand wringing that occurs every time a player that the Pens traded has a nice little run. These are just aberrations. Not to mention 20-20 hindsight. I’ll bet not one person in Pgh was very sorrry to see Oleksiak go. “Oh. no don’t trade the big O. He’s going to score tones of playoff goals!!!!!” Yeay, right.
Actually Stratton several people including me and Rick B were none to happy with the Oleksiak trade from the get go. Most of us here on Penguin poop are sick and tired of the constant dumping of big and gritty players from the roster.
Hey Stratton,
I’m basically going to repeat what Other Rick wrote. Yes, we were upset at the time Oleksiak was dealt.
I’ve long been a proponent of adding some sort of a physical element to the Pens. Obviously not a knuckle-dragging fourth-liner…the game’s evolved since the days of Eric Godard and Steve MacIntyre.
In fairness to Rutherford, he’s done his utmost to add some functional muscle over the past couple of years by acquiring Ryan Reaves (316 hits), Oleksiak and Erik Gudbranson. Useful players all. And as quickly as JR brings them in, Sullivan sours on them…forcing JR’s hand.
In the case of Oleksiak, one minute he’s skating a regular turn. Then he loses a fight to Tom Wilson (who, in fairness, jumped him). And the next thing he knows he’s in the press box and out the door.
Hence, we wind up with a lineup filled with 5’11” 190-pound cookie-cutter forwards and stick-on-puck defensemen. We saw how well that worked against Montreal. It seemed like nobody could win a puck battle or possess the puck when (and where) it really mattered.
Rick
1. You seem to be bemoaning the loss of muscle, not Oleksiak per se. I agree with the general point but Oleksiak didn’t seem to provide much of anything. Gudbransen was different story.
2. Second, most of the complaining about Oleksiak (and Maatta) is they scored some goals. It has nothing to do with losing muscle. You so are complaining for the wrong reason.
3. Hindsight the loss of enough players and some are bound to prove you right even if takes several years. A stopped clock is correct twice a day.
Sorry but Jesper Lindgren and the word promising don’t belong in the same sentence. Perhaps in 2015 when drafted he had the potential to someday be promising but that ship sailed several years ago.
All depending on your definition of promising of course which is why I am curious about your reasoning for thinking of him in such terms now?
Agree Stardog.
Jesper Lindgren was rated 24 th on the Leafs development chart according to Local Toronto sources. They gave up on him awhile back.
BTW the same local Media,who are some of the most critical in all of Hockey are saying Pittsburgh got fleeced. The rated the trade as D for the Pens.
If KK only scores 15 goals and 25 assists playing on the third line then indeed we were fleeced.
For me the true test will be in 2 years when KK enters RFA, and will we get a 15th overall pick back for a third liner who scores 15 to 18 goals.
Not likely.
Jim
Hey Jim,
Jesper Lindgren is the new Frank Corrado? That would be funny, funny as in ironic, not amusing.
Kapanen? I am not sure he will be a bust here in the ‘burg. The kid only played about 1/3 of his 5 on 5 time with top Center Matthews over the last couple of seasons and even less time with Tavares. Also, he is only 23.
However, I do agree, JR pulled another bone head trade. right now Kapanen’s value is way below what he paid. He should have been able to get away with only paying Murray (whose stock has dropped).
I am hopeful that Kapanen will score more than 15 on the 3rd line, but JR is no horse trader. He has read way too many of his own press clippings. He has been consistently out traded since Botrell left. The only good trade he may have made post-Botrell could be Marino – and the jury is still out on that one given the backsliding of McCann and Pettersson
Well said Coach.
Read. https://www.pensburgh.com/2020/8/27/21402371/the-hidden-financial-benefits-of-the-kasperi-kapanen-trade-for-the-pittsburgh-penguins
This explains a lot about why they made the trade.
Hello Stardog,
And welcome back to PenguinPoop.
I confess…my initial evaluation of Lindgren was based on a couple of promising scouting reports that rave about his skating and ability to move the puck. Probably a bit pie-in-the-sky, although I did read on another site that he projects to be a second- or third-pairing defenseman in the NHL.
We should be so lucky.
Still, a player who possesses Lindgren’s attributes probably has a greater chance to stick with the Pens than with most other teams due to Sullivan’s preference for stick-on-puck defense.
I’ll guess we’ll see how it comes out in the wash.
I did read after the fact that this year’s draft crop is a strong one. It’ll be interesting to see who we might’ve taken with the 15th pick.
Rick