Oliver Kapanen is Doing Well in the SHL

I did write about Oliver Kapanen before. I wanted to update his play since then now that he’s had a chance to settle in with Timra IK in the SHL. There’s one thing I always say about that league, players do develop there and the fact that this Canadiens’ prospect is just 21, there’s still plenty of time for him to reach his potential.

Related: Canadiens: Oliver Kapanen the First Candidate On Jeff Gorton's Mind

According to InStat, he’s winning 53% of his face-offs and that’s very good. I am happy to see that. He’s winning 48% of his puck battles, again, another good sign since he is going to need to do that when he comes back to the NHL.

Kapanen has never been afraid to shoot the puck and the fact that he’s averaging 3.1 shots per game is a plus. When he’s coming down the ice he knows how to read how the goalie. He is fully capable of hitting the top shelf on either side, the puck does leave his stick quickly, so I have seen him wait to see how the goalie is leaning.

Kapanen is producing. He has 16 points in 17 games. He’s averaging 1:30 TOI on the power play, that’s creating lots of opportunity for him. Getting 23 seconds on the penalty kill lately is a sign that they probably have him coming in at the end of shifts to try and give an offensive spark.

I’m sure the Canadiens are happy they loaned him and now they are seeing results. After a strong summer of training, they can see if he is ready to play in North America full-time.