Cloutier Compares Kapanen to this 2-Time Stanley Cup Champion

In fact, Luostarinen may be one of the most underrated players around the league as because he only plays on the 3rd or 4th lines he doesn’t always get the recognition that he deserves for what he does for the Panthers. On the majority of other teams, Luostarinen would likely be a glue guy on a 2nd or 3rd line, because of his smarts and versatility. Given that Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov are both put long-term with the Panthers, he may get his shot to prove that theory that he could play in the top six as a temporary solution. 

If Kapanen can turn out to be a similar player, the Canadiens will be in good shape for the future with him in their bottom 6. It’s actually a fair comparison, as I have mentioned that I could see Kapanen being similar to Artturi Lehkonen, who was a glue guy that helps his linemates click better. The only difference in that comparable is that Lehkonen is a winger, whereas Kapanen can play both centre and the wing. This is why Luostarinen may be a better comparison due to their positions.

Cloutier also mentioned on the podcast that Kapanen’s coach back in Finland after the 2021-22 season told him that the Habs forward could become an even better offensive version of Eetu Luostarinen, and thus far, even 3.5 years later, he is still heading down that path.

Luostarinen had a career-high of 17 goals and 43 points during the 2022-23 season, but typically puts up around 25-30 points a year due to 4th line deployment. However, Luostarinen was one of the top players in the Panthers’ most recent Stanley Cup run, where he scored 5 goals and 19 points in 23 games. Kapanen will likely put up about 30-35 points a year on average as a depth piece once the Habs are really ready to compete in the next few years. It would also be awesome to see him have a playoff explosion one day, but that may just be a one-time thing with Luostarinen.

This year’s Training Camp was the first time we could just actually see it at the NHL level, but Kapanen has a lot to show for at both ends of the ice. We will see how he continues to play with Ivan Demidov and Alex Newhook to start the season. Honestly, that line may be listed as the 3rd line heading into the regular season in most people’s eyes, but in reality, the only line that would have a number going into the year is the top line. Otherwise, the other units are split up in a way that each of them is equal in terms of skill level.

Kapanen may not seem to be the right centre for a guy like Demidov, who is expected to play top 6 minutes, but it seems that so far, the Finnish forward is the only centre that has any chemistry whatsoever with the Russian phenom. The two players just click so well, and it allows Kapanen to play with players who have much more pure skill than him. However, with his “computer” as Head Coach Martin St. Louis refers to when talking about Kapanen’s hockey IQ, he can clearly see the game ahead of so many other players on the roster. 

The duo of Demidov and Kapanen also seems to fit well with a speedy player like Newhook, which is why the line will start the season together. However, with the lack of a true finisher, it may be better to switch out Newhook for Bolduc to see if the young duo can produce more offense when they have a guy who is a natural goal scorer.

At the end of the day, that’s what will allow Demidov to score more even-strength points. On the other hand, the Newhook-Kapanen-Demidov could continue to surprise us like they did in their preseason game on Tuesday. Either way, it has been clear from Day 1 of Rookie Camp that both Kapanen and Demidov have made each other better when they are on a line together. Therefore, for the time being, they should not be split up.

Who is your comparable for Oliver Kapanen?