After a regular intrasquad game in mid-September, nobody wins a position. Let’s just say the Finn did everything he could to score points from the start.

In any case, he has gained a lot in the Habs locker room after the duel between the Reds and the Whites on Thursday.

“The guys talked about him after the game, he looked good, he’s lively and he makes plays,” noted Nick Suzuki, his teammate on the Reds. The guys on the other team thought he looked good. We watched him from the bench. He made plays and that helps. He showed what he’s capable of today. »

Suzuki brings up an important point. Since he played games for Timra IK in the SHL (Swedish First Division), Kapanen had an advantage over the others in terms of his physical condition at the beginning.

In this way, he scored two goals, including one by shooting towards the net before getting there with a beautiful maneuver.

Kapanen was a man of few words in the press scrum and said only about his first day in camp: “It’s fun to play hockey. Very pleasant.” Who are we to contradict him?

Sweden or the NHL

He is a rather slim forward, 1.80 m tall and 75 kg, who comes to Brossard looking for a position. The one who describes himself as “a reliable, complete center who can play both in attack and defense” had an interesting season with Kuopio in the SM-liiga (Finnish first division) last season. With 34 points in 51 games, he finished third in his club before leading his team to the playoffs with 14 points in 13 games.

The most attentive readers will have noticed that he changed leagues in the off-season. In fact, he left his home in Finland to follow fellow countryman Olli Jokinen, who was appointed head coach of Timra.

“It’s a better league with better players, if I’m completely honest. It’s also the chance to live in a new country, a new city, so I’m going to learn,” he revealed.

When it was pointed out to him that it was strange for a Finn to praise rival Sweden’s professional league so much, he gave his only smile in the interview. “It’s the truth! Swedish hockey is very good at the moment. It’s fast, it’s skill-based,” argued the nephew of former player Sami Kapanen.

It remains to be seen whether he will actually play for Timra. His chances are good, however, as there will be no more opportunities for him. It will either be the Canadian or the Swede. According to his contract, he will not be able to play in the American League.

This camp begins with 13 forwards on one-way contracts in the NHL, including the injured Rafaël Harvey-Pinard and Juraj Slafkovsky and Joshua Roy still playing under their rookie contracts. Kapanen essentially needs to overtake Roy in the pecking order and ideally another forward should get injured. Unless his level of play convinces Kent Hughes to trade an established player, but a lot of water has to flow under the bridge before that happens.

In addition to his challenge, he must also try to adapt to the North American rinks as quickly as possible. Slafkovsky is well positioned to talk about this, he who also moved from Finland to the NHL two years ago.

“He is excellent, I followed him in the Liiga last year,” said the Slovakian. For some people, like me, it takes time to find comfort. For others, it is faster. These matches allow us to learn a little more about it [le niveau de jeu]But it is only in the preparation games that you can see where you stand and what you need to improve. »

Kapanen is another piece of a 2021 draft for the Canadian – the last of the Bergevin-Timmins duo – that could be a relative success. The club’s top pick, Logan Mailloux, will be knocking on the door this fall, while Joshua Roy exceeded expectations in his 23-game preview last year.