Oliver Kapanen Offered to Other Teams: Elliotte Friedman Wouldn’t Be Surprised

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Oliver Kapanen Offered to Other Teams: Elliotte Friedman Wouldn’t Be Surprised
Credit: David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Oliver Kapanen had a pretty remarkable rookie season. The young center scored 22 goals playing alongside Ivan Demidov at center… but he completely ran out of steam toward the end of the season.

And in the playoffs, he was benched more often than not.

That makes it hard to fully assess his season. While some see him as a player who could hold down the fort at center on the second line, others view him as a player whose production was almost entirely dependent on Ivan Demidov's talent.

And it's interesting to note that today, on his “32 Thoughts” podcast, Elliotte Friedman mentioned the young Finn… saying he wouldn't be surprised to see him offered to other teams as part of a trade package.

With the goal of acquiring a better player, of course.

Friedman insists we shouldn't get carried away with that statement, but we also know he generally doesn't speak without reason. Without assuming anything is imminent, it's still worth noting.

And in reality, it's not impossible that a team might see Kapanen as an interesting prospect. We're talking about a center who scored 22 goals at age 22 in a league where everyone is looking for centers.

Whether that production was due to Ivan Demidov or not, there are teams that must be telling themselves they could do worse.

Keep in mind that Kapanen will play out the final year of his entry-level contract in 2026–27, after which he'll need a new deal. It remains to be seen whether the Habs will be the ones to sign him to that contract now.


In a nutshell

– Hehe.

– The question arises.

– It all starts tonight.

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