NHL Draft War Room: Kasperi Kapanen

by

Kasperi Kapanen

THW’s NHL Draft War Room Rankings: #10 (Feb 2014)

THW’s NHL Draft Rankings – The Next Ones Edition (aka Chris’s List): #11 (March 2014)

Kasperi Kapanen, right (Raitis Purins/YIS Photo)
Kasperi Kapanen, right (Raitis Purins/YIS Photo)
  • Hashtag/Nickname: #TheFinnishSniper
  • Team: #42, KalPa, SM-liiga
  • Position: Left Wing
  • Shoots: Right
  • Height: 6’0
  • Weight: 180 lb.
  • Born: Kuopio, Finland, 23-Jul-96
  • Twitter: @kasperikapanen

Stats

Other Rankings

  • 6 – NHL Combined – Mid-term, Jan-14
  • 9 – Bob MacKenzie, Jan-14
  • 12 – ISS, Feb-14
  • 14 – Craig Button, Jan-14
  • 15 – Future Considerations, Feb-14

Worth Retweeting

https://twitter.com/DStrehleTFP/statuses/422770764375662592

Profiles

[For all the prospects profiled in the THW NHL Draft War Room series check out

the 2014 NHL Draft War Room: Prospect Profile Index]

Quotable

  • Goran Stubb, NHL Director of European Scouting, at NHL.com,

“Kasperi is at present the No. 1 European prospect.  He’s a regular with Kalpa in the Finnish league and is off to a good start. He’s a sniper who will play for Finland at the 2014 World Junior Championship. He possesses excellent vision and has great skills … he’s a star in the making.”

From the War Room

  • Eldon MacDonald, THW: A few words on Kasperi Kapanen:
    • Offense – High-end sniper with the speed, dangle and shot to really make things happen.
    • Compete – Top level, always in the mix.
    • Genes – Plays with his Dad, 13 year NHL veteran Sami Kapanan. And no, he doesn’t play with his grandfather, Hannu Kapanen, who also played in the SM-liiga in the seventies.
    • Improvements to Make – Like most players his age, his defensive game is still a work in progress. Also, he needs to sacrifice himself a little more to make plays succeed.  
    • Draft Placement – Most have him in and around the top 10. He could go higher to a team in love with his sniper abilities or he could slide a bit, like another relatively slight Finnish sniper,  Teuvo Teräväinen, the excellent Chicago Black Hawks prospect in 2012.

Video

About NHL Draft War Room Series

This series is compiled by Eldon MacDonald and edited by @ChrisRalphTHW)