Elliotte Friedman urges fans to "not go crazy" after Canadiens place youngest star on trade block
Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
Oliver Kapanen keeps surfacing in Montreal Canadiens trade chatter, and the reason may sit in a lineup card from May, not a goal total.
Elliotte Friedman floated the idea on 32 Thoughts, cautioning fans not to run with it while admitting Kapanen could headline a package.
Re Canadiens: "It wouldn't surprise me if in some of these attempts to get [a forward], if Oliver Kapanen could-please don't go crazy with this-could...potentially be part of the package."
- Elliotte Friedman
- Elliotte Friedman
The headline number is real. Kapanen scored 22 goals in 82 games as a 22-year-old, second among NHL rookies and enough to draw Calder votes.
But that production came almost entirely alongside Ivan Demidov and Juraj Slafkovsky, who for stretches formed Montreal's most dangerous line.
The demotion in May
By the time the Canadiens reached the Eastern Conference Final, Kapanen was no longer on that line. Montreal shifted him to a third unit with Zachary Bolduc and Kirby Dach.
He was held without a point across a seven-game stretch of the run and lost minutes when they mattered most. Demidov, meanwhile, stayed in the top six.
That deployment is the quiet part. A team convinced Kapanen drives offense on his own does not bury him in a conference final.
Why he is the name in the package
Kent Hughes has been aggressive hunting a top-six forward, and the market for young centers is thin and expensive.
So the logic writes itself. Kapanen carries a 22-goal headline that trades well and a playoff sample that suggests the ceiling may belong to his linemates.
Moving him lets Montreal sell the box score while keeping Demidov, the player who arguably created much of it.
That is not cashing a rising asset at its peak. It is turning a context-dependent season into a better piece before the league prices in what the Canadiens already signaled in May.
For Hughes, timing beats sentiment. The riskiest thing Montreal could do is wait for a second year to define which player Kapanen really is.
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