While second-round pick at the 2021 draft Oliver Kapanen signed his entry-level contract with the Montreal Canadiens last June, he is not on the roster for the upcoming rookie camp which kicks off on September 11.
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There’s a simple reason for that. As reported by Marco D’Amico on rg.org yesterday, Kapanen has also signed a contract with Swedish outfit Timra IK and has a close in his ELC which allows him to head back to Europe if he doesn’t make the Canadiens’ roster out of training camp.
Since playing with the Laval Rocket in the AHL is out of the question, it makes sense for Kapanen to skip rookie camp and keep playing in preseason action with Timra IK. According to his coach, former NHLer Jolli Jokinen, he already looks too good for the Swedish Hockey League this preseason.
Related: Canadiens: Rookie Camp Details
Jokinen’s organization has taken for granted that he may not come back to Sweden at the end of the Canadiens’ training camp, but if he does, he will be getting first-line minutes and everything that comes with it including penalty killing and power play duties.
Considering how crowded the Canadiens’ lineup is at center right now with Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, Christian Dvorak, Jake Evans and Alex Newhook all being center and fellow prospect Owen Beck also gunning for a roster spot, there won’t be a lot of ice time to go around even if Kapanen does make it.
In other words, he would probably be better off going back to Europe from a developmental standpoint as he would get much more experience and reps that way. Still, it will be interesting to see how he measures up against NHL competition, but he did play very well at the last World Championships scoring six goals in just eight games.
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