Elliotte Friedman Reports Former Leafs 20-Goal Scorer Hits Waivers, Paving Way for Potential Return to Toronto

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Chris Gerics
November 18, 2024 (2:40 PM)

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Elliotte Friedman has reported that St. Louis has placed Kasperi Kapanen on waivers, and the Maple Leafs need to target the veteran for bottom-six help.

On Monday, it was announced per Elliotte Friedman on his X account that the St. Louis Blues have placed forward Kasperi Kapanen on waivers.

Kapanen has struggled this season with the Blues, only scoring one goal in 10 games and not making any sort of impact thus far.

St. Louis clearly doesn't have him in their current plans, so if no other team claims him then the Maple Leafs should.

Kasperi Kapanen Returns To Where He Started

Although he was originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2014 (1st round, 22nd overall), Kapanen was a piece of the blockbuster Phil Kessel trade that sent Kapanen to Toronto and Kessel to the Penguins.

He made a name for himself as a Maple Leaf after struggling initially, adding a 20-goal season in 2018-19. With Toronto, he had 41 goals and 49 assists while averaging 15:00 of ice time.

In an ironic bit of karma, Kapanen scored his first career goal against, you guessed it: The Penguins.

However, since leaving Toronto he wasn't the same and didn't reach the same level of offensive potential. Traded back to Pittsburgh, he had more assists but didn't have the same goal-scoring prowess.

He struggled still his second time around, and St. Louis claimed him off waivers from Pittsburgh in early 2023.

How Can Kapanen Help Toronto?

I mean, he can't be any worse right? He's got the same amount of goals as Nicholas Robertson, but at least has experience. He's also bigger at 6'1, and while he doesn't hit too often, he's smart with the puck and doesn't make too many mistakes.

Kapanen can slide into the third or fourth line depending on the situation, but if Toronto wanted to try and spark Max Domi, it would be an idea to place these two on a wing and see what can happen.

Kapanen has proven he can score and just because he's fallen off from his first few seasons doesn't mean he still can't contribute. Toronto doesn't need 40 goals from him.

What they need is consistency and reliability. Kapanen bringing a veteran poise to an excitable line may calm them down enough to succeed.

10-15 goals, 30-35 points, and solid two-way play is what Toronto needs in order to at least compete in the playoffs and gives Craig Berube another option to experiment with.

Also not the world's most expensive option at $1M, he can easily be acquired especially if Toronto puts Calle Jarnkrok on LTIR and saves some money there, or get rid of Matt Benning via trade or release him.

It would be a great story to have Kapanen come in after being the star piece of a blockbuster trade and be the poised veteran Toronto needs, and he can find himself lifting the Stanley Cup this season.