It’s awfully hard not to notice how well former Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen is doing in his new digs in St. Louis. Indeed, since being claimed on waivers by the Blues on February 25, the speedy 26-year-old forward’s been reborn.
On Thursday night, he scored the overtime winner against the Rangers on what was described as a “brilliant shot” by the Blues’ color commentator. Yes, you read that right…overtime winner.
In 20 games with the Blues, Kapanen’s tallied eight goals and 13 points. Roughly a 32-goal pace over the course of a full season.
While it would be folly to expect Kappy to keep that up…his shooting percentage is an unsustainable 19.5 percent and he’s tailed off a bit (one goal in his past six games following a red-hot start)…it does point to the fact that maybe he’s got more of an upside than he showed in the ‘Burgh. Especially over the past two seasons.
Then again, nobody ever accused Kapanen of being a talentless bum. Not Pens GM Ron Hextall, who signed him to a two-year $6.4 million extension this past summer. And certainly not his former black-and-gold coach.
“I’ve told him (Kapanen) I think he has the potential to be an elite player in this league,” Mike Sullivan shared in an interview early in the 2021-22 season. “I really believe that. I’ve told him that on a number of occasions, and I’m going to do everything within my power to try to help him get there. And sometimes that means tough love for Kappy…But it’s not because we don’t think highly of him. It’s just the opposite.”
Indeed, the raw skills were and are certainly there. The eye-popping speed, a rapier-like shot and decent enough puckhandling skills, wrapped in a solid 6’1”, 194-pound frame.
However, following a promising first season with the black and gold when he tallied 11 goals and 30 points in 40 games while flashing top-six potential, the former first-round pick curdled.
So what went wrong?
It could be argued that Kapanen was never a good fit for Sullivan’s system. Sully likes his forwards, especially his bottom-sixers, to get in on the forecheck and cycle and grind. Jason Zucker’s a classic example.
While Kappy possesses the speed to be a nuisance to opposing defensemen, he isn’t especially good in traffic. Indeed, his signature move was to pull up short, often curling away from the net. Whether this was due to an inability to read the play or an attempt to create time and space for himself (or a combination of both) is hard to say.
Nor is it a closely guarded secret that Kapanen’s at his best in open ice, where he can use his world-class wheels. Yet Sullivan and his staff rarely seemed to use the Finnish flash in situations where he had the potential to operate in open space, such as the penalty kill, in 3-on-3 overtime or in late-game empty-net situations.
As a rule, Sullivan doesn’t coddle players or dole out opportunities like candy, especially with the kids. They need to earn his trust. It isn’t a stretch to say Kapanen didn’t do enough with the opportunities afforded him to merit an expanded role.
The way Kapanen was deployed, especially this season, didn’t help matters. At his best when skating next to stars like Auston Matthews and Evgeni Malkin, he frequently played on a poorly constructed third line with a badly diminished Jeff Carter and Brock McGinn, a defense-first mucker. It proved to be a disastrous combination.
All things considered, Kappy’s numbers with the Pens…seven goals and 20 points in 43 games…weren’t all that atrocious. However, consistent with his performance last season, there were large swaths of time when he appeared to be all but invisible (Kasperi the Friendly Ghost), leading to an occasional healthy scratch.
In the end Kapanen’s failure to develop with the Pens was a shared responsibility. Something Sullivan readily admitted following the speedy winger’s release.
“Kappy is a really talented player,” Sully 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.”
As for other younger players who departed the black-and-gold fold in the past year or so? Zach Aston-Reese and Sam Lafferty (10 and 12 goals respectively) are anchoring the fourth line in Toronto. The latter, in particular, was given a rough ride by Sullivan.
Defensemen Mike Matheson (eight goals and 33 points in 45 games) and John Marino (plus-19) are thriving in their new locales. McGinn and Teddy Blueger are performing about as well as they did here. Radim Zohorna continues to be an AHL-plus player. Anthony Angello’s star was on the wane until he recently heated up with Milwaukee, Nashville’s top farm club.
Stretching the window a bit, Jared McCann blossomed into a 38-goal scorer for the Kraken and heretofore washout Daniel Sprong’s netted 20. Conor Sheary’s established himself as a solid and valued citizen in Washington.
Have the Pens failed to properly develop their young talent?
You be the judge.
Rick
Yes!! I believe the problem is simple “Sullivan’s system”
Hey Rick,
Not going to get an argument from me over the Penguins player development failing this team. It has! and it has failed miserably and there is enough blame to go around, all through the organization.
In Kappy’s case, the player himself may have a share in that. From some of what I have heard, he would have fit in back on those Johnny Wilson teams that Jean Pronovost complained about being a “Country Club Atmosphere”.
However, Sullivan himself is the main culprit in Kappanen’s fall. First let’s reset the scene of that quote of yours. Crosby and Malkin had off-season surgeries. Rodrigues and Carter were subbing for them through the first month of the season. Crosby came back first after about 12 games or so were played but his recovery to game shape was slow. In his 1st 11 games back he was averaging 15:08 of TOI 5-on-5. In those 5-on-5 situations he was scoring 0.36 G/60 and picking up 0.36 Primary Assists per 60 minutes (A’/60). Kappanen was 3rd on the team in G/60 at 0.98 only Guentzle and a red hot O’Connor were higher. Kappy also had a better A’/60 than our Captain at the time with a 0.39 A’/60 in 23 GP. His 5-on-5 TOI was 13:18.
Now that we get the historical context of Kappy having a super strong start to the season, let’s get to the quote you cite. That ridiculously backhanded compliment came after our clown prince coach also stated that the 3rd best 5-on-5 G scorer on the team had to pick up his scoring. That is right, Smellivan, in the media called out the player who was 3rd on the team in terms of G/60 5-on-5, saying he had to pick up his scoring.
I can get that Kappy’s Country Club attitude could tick off a Coach, but for that Coach to call him out while Kappy is playing the best he ever has 5-on-5 points to serious personality flaws in the Coach and calls into that Coach’s competency as a Coach.
For 5 years, Sullivan has been a One and Done bust in the playoffs. He is lousy at making in game decisions and series adjustments. A stubborn and unforgiving block head when it comes young player mistakes and limiting play time while allowing some veteran players to be absolutely inept. Carter on the the second team powerplay is moronic. How many PP goals does Carts and the crew have after adding the midget Granny from Nashville to the mix???
He is also poor at developing or finding talent as (look at the present team) and previous draft picks (and I realize they are few). He would have been fired in Boston at a minimum 2 years ago for his performance in the playoffs for the aformentioned failures. SO when are they going to fire Sullivan and his coaching staff, Hextall, and Burke!!! This team has gone from Stanley Cup Contenders to Stanley Cup busts. Sid, Geno, and Tanger only have a few years left. Too many times, Elvis has left the building a tormented loser along with the fans. It is time to give this underperforming Front Office and coaching staff the hook. Give this crew an Exit stage left with no return!
Wow Bleed Black N Gold,
You have summed up pretty much everything I have written about Sullivan in one succinct, 100% accurate comment!!!!
I don’t think I have seen your Name here before, if this is your first time commenting, welcome!
Thank You. It is my first time posting. I have been an ardent Pens fan from 69 to present. In the span of the last two years I have seen this team fragment from a Stanley Cup contender into to what they are today, a team struggling to make the playoffs. Hextall and Burke are directly responsible for this calamity. They have made the team much older and slower in in their tenure. The physically was never obtained in their trades. Rakell was the best addition in a bungling series of transactions. Quite frankly , the present defense and that underperforming, inconsistent mess they call a 3rd and 4th lines are the end product of these great H&B hockey minds. There are some possible bright spots with Nylander, Smith, and Poehling. But all are just a work in process. More inconsistent additions.
Instead, the top two lines with 30 somethings are the principal core that simply can’t carry the team throughout the season and a successful playoff run. Not to mention, they get the hell beat out of them on most nights. Is that why they brought in Nashville Granny at the trade deadline??? I can’t believe, “just play hockey” Sully had no input in these decisions. Not to mention, him and his crackerjack crew are dictating line design and responsibility to bench or scratch non performing players. In the end, all we have is a hope and a prayer the Pens make it to the Playoffs. Any wins after that is a bonus.
Time to get rid of SUllivan does not know how to use young players