In the wake of the Toronto Maple Leafs early exit for the fourth year in a row, GM Kyle Dubas faces another offseason of uncertainty and a fan base eager for positive results. In spite of expressing confidence in the club’s core group, Dubas faces a number of decisions necessitated by contracts expiring and a need for improvement, including some of his group of forwards that includes the speedy winger Kasperi Kapanen.
The 24-year-old reached the 20-goal plateau for the first time in 2019 and scored a career-high 44 points and was signed last summer to a three-year, $9.6 Million bridge deal.
At the start of last season with the injury to Zach Hyman and the trade of Patrick Marleau, the Leafs hoped that Kapanen could move into the top six playing his off-wing, but he did not appear comfortable on the left side with John Tavares and Mitch Marner. Only when moved back to his natural position did Kapanen seem more effective, but with Marner and William Nylander on the right side of the top two lines, that relegated the speedster to third-line duty.
Kapanen was scratched in February for being late to practice and while nearly matching his assist total from last season in just 69 games, he had only 13 goals and at the time of the pause was again shifted to the left side when Andreas Johnsson was injured.
In the playoffs, Kapanen played a big role on the Leafs top penalty-killing unit that shut out the Columbus Blue Jackets power play on 14 opportunities but was less impactful at even strength on the third line with rookie Nick Robertson and Alex Kerfoot, with two assists in five games.
The fourth consecutive loss in the opening round is likely to necessitate Toronto making some changes to the roster and with the salary cap likely remaining at $81.5 Million, Dubas will need room to sign restricted free agents like Ilya Mikheyev and Travis Dermott and to upgrade on the blueline and the Leafs have depth on the wing with Robertson and KHLer Alexander Barabanov challenging for spots.
If Toronto decides to move one or more of their forwards, Kapanen’s great skating ability will attract significant interest from other clubs looking for speed, but other factors that could result in a good return is that he is under control as an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent after his current deal has expired and his three-year deal was front-loaded, which means that the money paid out in the final two years is less than the $3.2 Million cap hit.
Andreas Johnsson’s return late in the Columbus series is a good sign that he has fully recovered from the knee injury that occurred last March, but if the Leafs are looking to exchange a forward for defensive help, the players that will attract the most attention will be Nylander and Kapanen.
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