In the first of what’s likely to be a series of moves leading up to the trade deadline next Friday, the Penguins have placed right wing Kasperi Kapanen on waivers.
Following a solid first season in the ‘Burgh, the flashy 26-year-old Finn has largely languished, tallying 18 goals and 52 points in 122 games since the start of the ’21-22 campaign.
Coach Mike Sullivan seemed almost apologetic when announcing the move.
“Kappy is a really talented player,” Sullivan said. “To a certain extent it’s on all of us because we didn’t find a way to maximize his potential. He brings a ton of speed. He has the ability to shoot the puck. He has good offensive instincts. Brings a lot of size. There’s so many attributes that Kappy brings that are really attractive. For whatever reason, we couldn’t find a way to get his potential out of him, and that falls on all of us.”
Given Kapanen’s onerous contract, which runs through the ’23-24 season at an AAV of $3.2 million, it’s unlikely he’ll be claimed by another club. However, the Pens would then have the option of sending him to the Baby Pens, which would save $1.125 million on his “cap” hit (no pun intended). Perhaps paving the way for a player (forward Valtteri Puustinen?) to be recalled.
With all due respect to our faithful readers, I decided to forgo a standard recap…
Down 2-games-to-0 and with our first-round series shifting to the City of Brotherly Shove for…
The Penguins did a lot of good things during last night’s 3-0 Game 2 loss…
When the Penguins are on their game, which they decidedly weren’t during last night’s Game…
I don’t claim to prescient. And I’m sure as heck not right all the time.…
Over the past couple of days, I’ve expressed my concerns about the Penguins’ upcoming first-round…