Probably the most interesting Finnish newcomer in the NHL Oliver Kapanen. Last season, Kapanen, who excelled in the playoffs of the SM League and in the shirt of the Lions, was named to the starting line-up of the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.
Kapanen, 21, the situation has spoken, because he had to be Olli Jokinen gold nugget in Timrå IK in Sweden in the coming season. However, KalPa’s scoring cannon of last season earned a place in the NHL, at least at the beginning, with his strong performances in training camp and games.
Swedish premier league club Timrå IK announced in May that Kapanen would be joining the team. In June, however, it was reported that the veteran of the famous puck family signed a three-year rookie contract with Montreal.
Urheilu caught up with Oliver Kapanen’s father and at the same time the sports director of Timrå IK Kimmo Kapanen to comment on the situation by phone.
According to Kimmo Kapanen, the boy’s place in the NHL arouses feelings of pride. Even as the boss of Timrå IK, there are positive feelings that one of their players has made it to the NHL.
The hot potato has been whether Kapanen can still return to play in the SHL this season after his NHL debut.
The sports boss’s unequivocal answer is that yes, you can. The default starting point is that Oliver Kapanen should still improve this season. According to Kimmo Kapanen, a lot is in Montreal’s hands, how they see the situation of their Finnish diamond and what they are currently able to offer.
– Of course, it’s also about what Oliver leaves on the field and what he can give the coach when he gets to play there at some point. That’s probably the biggest thing about it, Kimmo Kapanen describes.
The sports boss had talked with his son on Monday and Oliver Kapanen had said that he would move forward one week at a time.
– He doesn’t think about anything other than the possibility of succeeding there. We live according to the situation here in our head, says Kimmo Kapanen.
Knockout for the speculated tailgate
So how do the possible back doors to return work? According to Kimmo Kapanen, Montreal cannot put a player of Oliver Kapanen’s age in a farm club on the AHL side without Timrå’s approval. If this is the case, according to Kapanen, Timrå can claim its Finnish gold nugget back to Sweden. That’s what it says in the agreement between the IIHF and the NHL.
Kimmo Kapanen closes another much-speculated back gate. The NHL rookie contracts of players of a certain age have a clause where the rookie contract comes into force only after ten NHL games have been played.
Therefore, it has been thought that Oliver Kapanen could play 9 games in Montreal from the beginning of the season and return to Sweden without any sanctions for Montreal. However, this is not the case with 21-year-old Oliver Kapanen.
– Whether he plays in Sweden or in the NHL, the first year of the NHL contract normally expires, says Kimmo Kapanen.
Oliver Kapanen’s basically going directly from the SM league to the NHL has also spoken because he is now jumping over one planned step in his career. Kimmo Kapanen reminds that, basically, a player is not accepted into the NHL if he is not ready for it.
– He has shown at the camp that he is currently more ready than many others in the organization. Montreal wants to see that card, says Kimmo Kapanen.
He also reminds that Oliver Kapanen has built his career moderately and without haste. If he feels that minutes and development will not come, then the father believes that Montreal will listen to the player.
According to Kimmo Kapanen, Oliver Kapanen will probably still be sitting in the stands in the season-opening game against Toronto early Thursday Finnish time, but will probably be able to play later this week.
After the Toronto game, Montreal will face Boston the next day and Ottawa on the weekend.
– Then we’ll see where we go. I still believe that this thing will work if we build in peace. Time will tell how it goes, Kapanen describes.
There is no panic in Timrå, Olli Jokinen’s handprint is visible
Oliver Kapanen’s breaking into the NHL team’s lineup immediately made big headlines in Sweden on Monday evening. The Swedish afternoon newspapers described the news as a “setback” and “a message that Timrå did not want”.
Kimmo Kapanen admits that it would be difficult to replace his son in Timrå if he ends up playing the whole season in Montreal.
– There are no players of that level on the market. If such a player is found on the market, the price tag will probably be completely different from Oliver’s contract, says Kimmo Kapanen.
On the other hand, Timrå, playing without Kapa, has also been described as the hottest team in Sweden at the moment. Timrå has struggled to third under the leadership of Olli Jokinen. The last four matches have been crushing for Timrå with a goal difference of 16–1.
Because of all this, Timrå is not panicking now, and they don’t want to rush if the Finnish gold nugget wants to return to Sweden in November, for example.
Kimmo Kapanen praises Olli Jokinen’s handprint in Timrå’s team. According to Kapanen, words and actions have met in the case of Jokinen.
– When there was a recruitment interview, Olli’s words about the everyday life he wanted, the development of the players and the whole system were also actions, Kapanen describes.
In the club that has won the Swedish championship only once in its history (1974), the goals have been set high. According to sports director Kapanen, the club cannot only talk about getting a place in the playoffs, because there can be no other goal in the playoffs than to win the championship.
Kapanen feels that you have to learn to deal with the pressure coming from the inside and that’s why you have to dare to talk about winning. In addition, the club boss sees that Timrå has quality player material.
– Olli has probably never been able to coach such good players. Now we’re just trying to find ways to develop even more experienced players, but we have a good bunch. We have a good thing going and try to move forward one game at a time. Let’s develop things so that something big could be truly achieved in the spring, Kapanen formulates.