Craig Button joined Tony Marinaro on his Sick Podcast last night to discuss the loani of Oliver Kapanen to Timra in the SHL.
Marinaro noted that Kapanen didn’t have a specific role on this Canadiens team, and that may have been the main reason behind his “demotion”.
“It’s funny because I saw the game sheet last night and the time on ice, and Oliver Kapanen was centering the fourth line,” noted Marinaro. “He was on for less than eight minutes. The Canadiens need to have a fourth line that has an identity, that they’re either amazing in the forecheck, they deliver a hit that can change the momentum in a hockey game. They’re either nasty, they’re physical. They’re tough, they’re rough.
“Kapanen’s not that guy. He’s a poor man’s talented player right now in the NHL. He can’t really help you win a lot of games. And so…I talked about that, and then this morning it happened. I think the Canadiens are recognizing that they’re trying to put some guys in some chairs but some of the guys aren’t ready for certain chairs.”
Button agreed that Kapanen was not ready to make a major contribution to the Canadiens, and was better suited to be playing big minutes in Sweden for the sake of his development.
“I love the fact that you said, ‘Not ready.’ It doesn’t mean that they won’t be; it just means at this point in time, they’re not ready,” said Button. “Again, taking a step back and saying, ‘Okay. Now, what is best for Oliver, and what situation would he benefit from? Which ultimately thinking ahead will benefit our team.'”
Button likes that Kapanen will be coached by longtime NHLer Olli Jokinen, a fellow Finn.
“So Oliver going to play for Olli Jokinen. Playing in Timra,” said Button. “He’s going to play a lot of minutes, he was a good player in Finland last year. He was a good player for Finland’s national team at the World Championships and now he can continue to work on those areas of his game and progress, which, for Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens…that’s what you want to do.”
Button `doesn’t think that Kapanen being sent back to Sweden means that he won’t play a regular role in the NHL some day.
“Just because a player isn’t ready doesn’t mean he won’t be ready at some point in the future and you’ve got to keep that in mind,” said Button. But once you stop working to be better so that you can be productive in the future, then you’re going to run into problems because you’re going to be moving players out that go someplace else and another team takes advantage of that patience and that timeline.”
