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Oliver Kapanen From Habs Writer Ryan Snow |
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Oliver Kapanen
By Ryan Snow
Hey everyone! For this article I wanted to talk about Oliver Kapanen. He played 18 games for the Habs this season and for the most part he did what was asked of him. He did not take a lot of penalties and played hard in limited minutes, but I do think he has a lot more to offer.
Although he was slotted at centre at times, I don’t see any issue with him playing at the wing. He has decent size and can throw his body around when needed in the offensive zone. Furthermore , he has some decent skills with the puck and can read what the opposing players are going to do, and positions himself accordingly. All in all, a good prospect but he needs ice time, much like Roy and Beck.
The reason he was able to get into the lineup more than the other two is he was able to fit more seamlessly into the Habs fast forechecking system I’ve mentioned often in earlier articles. I do think he has more to offer but that same problem of ice time comes up with so many forwards under contract and limited spots up for grabs.
Out of Beck, Kapanen and Roy, I would keep the first two. Not because I don’t think Roy is a bad player, but I don’t see him getting the required ice time to use his strengths, which is his shot. If Beck and Kapo can take the next step in their development, it would greatly energize the bottom six with some youth and skill.
Thanks again for reading! Before moving on to an article about coaching, I want to talk a little about the impact of Emil Heineman.
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