In my eyes, Oliver Kapanen remains one of the players who has impressed the most since the start of the preparatory matches, he who makes no mistakes (or very few). He’s not as radiant as Lane Hutson, but he plays the game over 200 feet and is extremely reliable in all facets of the game.
Kapanen, Sami’s nephew, also got a chance to impose himself on the right flank since it is in this position that a space became available following the knee injury suffered by Patrik Wool. Yes, an adaptation will certainly be necessary, but in the circumstances, he did well on the right wing of Christian Dvorak. In his image, he offered a simple, effective game with beautiful touches.
But according to him, he didn’t play his best game… and besides, his way of thinking is so perfect!
So far, Martin St-Louis has had good words for his young player, as has Kent Hughes, who praised his merits at length during an interview with Marc-Antoine Godin.
“He is very meticulous, very complete. He is confident. We see that he has experience in professional leagues and at the World Championships. He came here to be part of the (Canadians) team!” – Hughes
How can we not believe that Kapanen will not become an official member of the blue-white-red with such a singular speech coming from Kent Hughes? He has this personality as a hockey player that the organization really likes because he is very cerebral in the way he plays. We all know the style of Martin St-Louis’ teachings, which is to learn to play the game within the game? Well, Kapanen has this trump card in his deck.
I persist and I sign: Kapanen will carve out a position with the Flannel for the 2023-24 campaign.
