Has Oliver Kapanen Done Enough to Make the NHL?

During his first game of the preseason, he centred a line between Ivan Demidov and Patrik Laine, simply to be a placeholder for Kirby Dach. However, he managed to be the best player of all his linemates that night, which was shocking considering the star power that he had on his wings. The line struggled to produce offense at even strength, despite Kapanen still looking decent on both sides of the puck. When your two linemates don’t click well at even strength, it’s hard to actually do a lot offensively. That game was remembered mainly for Kapanen’s winning goal in the shootout.

When he was out of the lineup last Thursday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, it was proven that Demidov and Laine don’t work well together when playing 5 on 5; Kapanen was not the problem. In fact, he may be the solution for some players.

During his 2nd preseason game, Kapanen played on the wing on a line with Alex Newhook and Zack Bolduc in Toronto on Saturday night. Previously, Newhook and Bolduc had a tough game where they were virtually invisible against the Philadelphia Flyers earlier in the preseason. That changed when they had Kapanen on their line. He helped create more offensive chances for his linemates and fit well with them defensively. Kapanen didn’t record a point in the Canadiens’ 4-2 victory, but he definitely stood out positively, playing a solid game all over the ice. 

The interesting thing was that heading into Training Camp, there was one regular spot in the lineup for battle, which was expected to be on the 3rd line next to Bolduc and Newhook. Kapanen has clearly surpassed all of his competition for that role, as Joshua Roy has now been sent down to Laval, while Owen Beck has yet to truly carve out a spot in the roster and will likely be sent back to the Rocket in the coming days.

Due to Laine and Demidov lacking chemistry, Tuesday night saw the Habs do a whole bunch of line changes to see if anything works. Turns out the Habs may have found an unexpected line that includes Kapanen. The Habs opted to try Kapanen and Newhook alongside a potential superstar in Demidov, which turned out to work out better than anyone outside the team would have thought. It seemed like Newhook and Demidov complement each other very well, while Kapanen completes that line perfectly with his good mix of two-way play. 

Kapanen even opened the scoring with his first point of the preseason on a feed from Newhook that all started with Demidov bringing the puck into the zone, and there was a great passing play that showed the line’s potential chemistry. None of the success could have been possible without Kapanen being able to serve as a smart finisher on the line. The line has the elite skills and hockey IQ with Demidov, and explosive speed with Newhook. Meanwhile, Kapanen brings some two-way hockey that allows the trio to not be hemmed in their own zone at even strength, much like the Bolduc-Newhook-Roy and Demidov-Dach-Laine lines were when they played together in the preseason.

Honestly, the more Kapanen plays, the more he resembles a similar style to former Habs forward Artturi Lehkonen. The Finnish forward was not the most skilled, but he worked hard and helped complete lines as a glue guy. Kapanen has the chance to be that same guy on a line with a star like Demidov or a speedster like Newhook. Not to mention, Kapanen is very versatile as he can play both wing and centre, making him somewhat more important as a glue guy than Lehkonen was when he was starting in the NHL.

It would be nice to see this line again in the final preseason game, but due to how things went with the rough stuff at the end of Tuesday’s game, they may sit out for their own safety (at least for Demidov’s sake). 

Could we see a new line combination for Kapanen to finalize his spot on the team Saturday night, or has he already done enough to prove that he should make the Canadiens’ opening night lineup?

How do you feel about Kapanen’s preseason performance this year?