Oilers Claim Former Penguins First Round Pick

The Edmonton Oilers added a former Pittsburgh Penguins first-round draft pick.

Nov 4, 2023; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Blues right wing Kasperi Kapanen (42) skates against the Montreal Canadiens during the first period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-Imagn Images / Jeff Le-Imagn Images

The Edmonton Oilers are searching for answers at the forward position. With the team struggling in the Pacific Division and the first quarter of the season passing the team by, there is fading belief in the defending Western Conference Champions.

The Oilers have been clear that the goal is to win a Stanley Cup this season, and a recent transaction is another effort towards that. The team claimed lightning-quick winger Kasperi Kapanen after the St. Louis Blues placed the struggling forward on waivers.

Edmonton claims Kapanen

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) November 19, 2024

This will be Kapanen's third opportunity to play with generational talent in the NHL, and it is likely to be his last. Originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins, Kapanen has had stops playing alongside Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins as well as Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now, Kapanen could find his next centerman to be Connor McDavid or possibly Leon Draisaitl.

Kapanen has 470 NHL games of experience under his belt. While he only had one assist in 10 games with the Blues this season, he has a history of scoring slightly more in the right situation.

His best offensive season came with the Maple Leafs during the 2018-2019 season. He recorded 20 goals and 24 assists while playing in 78 games.

With the Penguins, he also showed flashes of being a solid middle-six winger. During his first 40 games with the team, he netted 11 goals and 30 total points before falling off production-wise the following year.

The same pattern emerged again with the Blues. He scored eight goals and 14 points in his first 23 games in St. Louis, but has 23 points over the next 83 games with the organization.

Hopefully the Oilers can either take advantage of his pattern of scoring early before fading or find a way to squeeze consistency out of Kapanen. Either way, Edmonton is trying whatever options it can find in order to claw their way up the Pacific Division and Western Conference standings.

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