Oliver Kapanen hits his head (without a helmet) on the ice rink.

Oliver Kapanen stirred quite a bit of talk early in the season. At the Montreal Canadiens training camp, he opened many eyes due to his strong performances.

But as he was not dominating during the season with the Canadiens, Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton decided to send him back to Europe to finish the season so he could get good playing time.

And since he is performing well there (he is close to a point per game), the decision has clearly proven to be the right one.

There is one player under the age of 24 among the top 12 in SHL points per game – Habs prospect Oliver Kapanen. He doesn’t turn 22 until the summer.

— Grant McCagg (@grantmccagg) January 11, 2025

However, in the last few hours, Oliver Kapanen injured his head. While things were getting heated in front of his net, he fell, and his helmet came off.

Result? The impact was intense. At least, in my eyes, it was.

Scary Situation For Oliver Kapanen, he hit his head hard on the ice without a helmet. He left the game and didn’t return. There was a technical issue from flohockey so the stream didn’t work until the end of the 1st. https://t.co/nk6naq8PtC

— Serenity Hockey (@HockeySerenity) January 11, 2025

The good news is that he was able to leave the ice on his own. He may not have finished the game, but he did not remain sprawled on the ice for long minutes either.

According to Patrik Bexell, the Habs prospect should “probably” be able to play in his team’s next game next Thursday.

After #GoHabsGo Kapanen delivers a cross check it becomes a scrum. You can see the helmet fall off before Kapanen’s head hits the ice.
He left the ice on his own accord, but did not return for the third period. Was taken off for precautionary reasons. Will probably play Thursday. pic.twitter.com/Eap0ZgJcxW

— Patrik Bexell (@Zeb_Habs) January 11, 2025

I don’t know if he is basing this on his information or if he’s just speculating by seeing the hit on the ice and how Kapanen reacted, but I would wait a bit before making a statement. A concussion (which is a possibility here) can be very serious.

The situation is thus worth monitoring.

extension

At the next Habs training camp, I expect to see Kapanen and Owen Beck battling for a spot. I don’t know who the Habs will bring in this summer as a center, but we can at least expect to see Christian Dvorak leave.

We will see in due time.