Oliver Kapanen

June 2025 – The more opportunity you give Kapanen, the more he delivers. He is quickly becoming a candidate for first-round discussions in a re-draft of the 2021 NHL draft. Kapanen was one of only two point-per-game players for Timra of the SHL in 2024-25 as a 21-year-old, after having made the Canadiens’ opening night roster. He then returned after the SHL playoffs, played a few more NHL games, including three playoff games where he recorded his first NHL playoff assist, and subsequently headed to the AHL, where he maintained a half-point-per-game pace while competing for ice time on a deep Laval team. It would be a surprise if he isn’t on the opening night roster for the Canadians in a bottom-six role in 2024-25. You can also expect Kapanen to feature internationally for Finland in a similar capacity after putting up six goals in eight games at the 2023 IIHF World Championships. He has great hockey sense and an intense work ethic to make his hockey sense actionable. He was a solid pick-up at 64th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft. Ioan Gheordanescu

September 2024 – Oliver Kapanen had a great season in LIIGA in 2023-24, and is now on loan to Timra of the SHL for 2024-25. He will be attending the Canadiens’ training camp and has an outside chance of claiming an NHL roster spot. Kapanen is a strong 200-foot player and projects as an intelligent and effective bottom-six centre. Aaron Itovitch

May 2022 – Among the centermen the Canadiens drafted in 2021, Joshua Roy and Riley Kidney have gotten all the media and fan attention over the course of this season, as they put up big numbers playing close to home in the QMJHL, but Oliver Kapanen has flown under the radar as a potential bottom-6 center of the future for the Tricolore. His biggest weapon is his shot, which he gets off very quickly in tight spaces; this allows him to excel in a bumper role on the power play. While his defensive ability helps project him to a bottom of the lineup NHL role and plays a part in his relatively high floor, his average speed and slightly clunky skating mechanics will need to be further addressed to help smooth the transition to the professional North American game. Kapanen also lacks the dynamism required to make me hopeful of a top-6 ceiling, but he was one of the younger players in his draft class, as a late-July birthday, giving him more time to develop and grow. Fantasy managers could be interested in adding him if they seek a natural center with a lethal release, good defensive awareness, a high floor, and the ability to stitch plays together between his wingers. Sebastian High