Edmonton Oilers Kasperi Kapanen scores series winner Vegas Golden Knights Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Kasperi Kapanen finds a home: 2024-25 Edmonton Oilers player review

Originally posted on Oilersnation | By Zach Laing | Last updated Jul 16, 2025 8:00 AM ET

Welcome to my annual player review series, where I dive into the Edmonton Oilers season player-by-player. We’ll look back at the season that was, what kind of impact each player had, and what we could see from them next season. You can read about the analytics behind my analysis here.

Via The Nation Network

From waiver claim to playoff hero, the 2024-25 season was quite a campaign for Kasperi Kapanen.

He joined the Edmonton Oilers in November after the St. Louis Blues waived the winger, and while it took a little while for him to get situated, he had some solid moments for the Oilers. He scored five goals and 13 points at five-on-five in the regular season, bringing a physical element while on the strong side of the penalty ledger.

His individual impacts were particularly strong, driving offence at a 10 percent rate below league average and defence at a one percent rate below league average, according to Hockey Viz, who pegged his overall contributions at that of a high-end fourth-liner.

That’s about exactly what he was for the Oilers, but he showed an ability to jump up the lineup with some solid contributions and in the playoffs, his most common linemate at five-on-five was Leon Draisaitl. Two of Kapanen’s three playoff goals were assisted by Draisaitl, while Kapanen assisted on one of his in the Final.

His biggest moment undoubtedly came in Game 5 of the Oilers’ second-round series with the Vegas Golden Knights, scoring the lone goal in overtime to clinch the series.

Kapanen’s underlying numbers in the playoffs were highlighted by some of the same things as they were in the regular season, with an excellent hits per hour rate and an ability to generate some high-quality looks. His goals against per hour rate were much stronger than his other defensive metrics in the playoffs.

He re-signed with the Oilers ahead of free agency, inking a one-year, $1.3-million extension that some overreacted to at the time. But after looking back at some of the other contracts handed out for bottom-six players, it looked like a steal.

With Edmonton’s additions of Andrew Mangiapane, Ike Howard and with Matthew Savoie expected to take the jump this season into the Oilers’ top-six, Kapanen will head into next season competing for a spot in the bottom-six — right where he belongs.