June 6, 2025 by Ryan Lotsberg

The top four players from the 2014 NHL draft are playing in this Stanley Cup Final. Kasperi Kapanen was drafted 22nd overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in that very same draft, making him the fifth member of that first round in this series.

Kapanen was a part of the trade that sent Phil Kessel to the Penguins on July 1, 2015, so he missed out on those back-to-back Stanley Cups by the Penguins in 2016 and 2017. It appeared that he might be a part of the future for the Maple Leafs after a couple of decent seasons in 2018-19 and 2019-20, but he became a cap casualty for the 2020-2021 season. He was shipped back to the Penguins in a trade that involved current Florida Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues prior to the start of the 2020-21 season (which would’ve been a good tidbit for my piece on connections between the Oilers and the Panthers).

Related: 2025 Stanley Cup Final Connections: Oilers and Panthers

He had a strong first season with the Penguins, recording 30 points in 40 games in 2020-21. He followed that up with 32 points in 79 games in 2021-22. Kapanen was placed on waivers by the Penguins on February 24, 2023 after putting up 20 points in 43 games for the Penguins in 2022-23. The St. Louis Blues claimed Kapanen off waivers the next day, and he finished the season strong with fourteen points in 23 games down the stretch.

Kapanen struggled with the Blues in last season, and he found himself on the outside looking in at the start of this season. He played ten games for the Blues before being claimed off waivers by the Edmonton Oilers on November 19, 2024.

His thirteen points in 57 games for the Oilers during the regular season don’t exactly leap off the page, but Kapanen provided versatility by playing up and down the lineup and even playing centre at times, which is something he had not done in his professional career prior to this season. Once again, Kapanen found himself on the sidelines once the Oilers got healthy for the playoffs.

Kapanen has the tools to be an effective NHL player. He doesn’t provide the offence that he did as a younger player, but he’s got blazing speed. The knocks on him have always been about defensive play and physicality.

Whatever the Oilers coaching staff said to him has clearly worked because Kapanen has been bringing it ever since he got inserted into the Oilers lineup in Game 4 of the second round. He was shot out of a cannon in his playoff debut in Game 4 of the second round against the Vegas Golden Knights. He had a shift in that game where he laid out two Golden Knights in rapid succession, and he’s been hitting everything in sight ever since. Kapanen scored the overtime winner in Game 5 to send the Oilers to the Western Conference Final. He scored in an atypical fashion for him, which was digging away at a puck in the crease from his knees until he scored.

After being traded twice and being claimed on waivers twice, Kapanen is finally getting a chance to play in the Stanley Cup Final, and he’s on a line with Leon Draisaitl. He was named the third star in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. He recorded two assists, two shots, five hits (which was second on the team), and he was +2 on the night. He also had a highlight reel scoring chance in overtime where he split two defenders and just grazed the outside of the post with his shot.

“He has given us A+ performances almost every single night” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch ahead of Game 2 on Friday. “Throughout the playoffs, we were getting a bunch of guys that came in the lineup and kind of pushed him out, but we knew that at some point, we were going to need him and since we’ve needed him, he’s really delivered. The physical play, he’s had numerous hits. Any time as a coach, especially at this time of the year, two elements that are very, very important is speed and physicality, and [Kapanen] delivers those two as good or better than anybody. Now, the offensive ability, you know the other night with two assists, he’s scored some important goals obviously the overtime winners, some empty netters at the end, so he’s been bringing pretty much everything that we’ve asked of him and more.”

“I knew that potentially this might be my last chance and I’m grateful they gave me the opportunity” said Kapanen after Game 1. Kapanen isn’t taking the opportunity for granted. He has bought in to wherever the coaching staff has asked him to do, and he is shutting his former detractors up with his playoff performance.

His father, Sami Kapanen, played in the Stanley Cup Final with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2002 when they lost to the Detroit Red Wings. The younger Kapanen is hoping for a different result in the 2025 Stanley Cup Final.