The Edmonton Oilers welcomed back Kasperi Kapanen on Tuesday night. The big winger has impressed with his size, speed and skill since arriving in the fall of 2024 on waivers. Kapanen returns from injury at an opportune time. The Oilers need what he brings to the game.
Kapanen rejoined the lineup for Tuesday night’s game against the Nashville Predators on the second line, suggesting a small window of opportunity to pass Jack Roslovic on the depth chart.
It’s possible Kapanen has turned a corner as an NHL player. He showed an extra gear in last spring’s playoffs. He was especially effective when playing five-on-five with Leon Draisaitl as his centre. Kapanen-Draisaitl owned a 4-2 edge in goals over 79 minutes, with Kapanen scoring 1.52 points per 60. The current team would love to see a repeat of those numbers and the type of consistency his play suggested possible during the playoffs.
Background
When he’s at his best, Kapanen can be the most noticeable player on the ice. His skating is in the 97th percentile, via NHL Edge. He plays a rambunctious style and is aggressive on the forecheck. He can pass and owns a quick release. The downbeat for Kapanen is consistency. In 2014 (his draft year), Red Line Report suggested he had “speed and skills, but the compete level of an aardvark.” Red Line is a notoriously hard marker, and had him in the first round, even with that scouting report. He has abundant natural talent.
Kapanen hasn’t played much versus elite competition over his NHL career. He has exceeded 30 percent versus elites at five-on-five just three seasons, and was under 50 percent in Dangerous Fenwick (similar to expected goals) all three times. If Kapanen is to make the Oilers as a top-six winger, he’ll need to push ahead of Roslovic as an offensive option. That includes increased minutes against elite competition and helping deliver quality results.
Based on his own past, the third-line role might be a better fit. Facing lesser opposition should allow outscoring, but checking down from Draisaitl on the second line to third-line work is a massive drop in opportunities. Kapanen is a complementary offensive winger, so he would need a driver at centre to deliver significant offence.
Can he score and outscore?
Scoring goals at five-on-five for the Oilers is a problem. The team entered the game versus the Predators on Tuesday night ranked No. 20 (2.36 goals per 60) in the NHL. Even more distressing? The GA per 60 (2.85) ranked No. 29. Any help Kapanen can offer in either category would be welcome, and his play in 2025 (playoffs and in a small sample during the 2025-26 regular season) suggests he’s making a step forward as a two-way player. Here are the top wingers on the Oilers this season in expected goals against.
All numbers five-on-five, via Natural Stat Trick
The team’s top right wingers this season are some combination of Zach Hyman, Roslovic and Matt Savoie. All three have struggled in the 2025-26 season, and Knoblauch is seeking answers. In using expected goals, we can effectively drill down on what’s happening when each individual is on the ice. For Edmonton’s top right wingers, it’s been mostly bad this season at five-on-five.
Kapanen’s number is in a small sample, so it’s important not to overstate what he could bring to the team over the final half of the season. We do know that he posted 2.38 expected GA per 60 with the Oilers last season, and his numbers in this area have improved four years running.
Two-way wingers
The Oilers don’t have any pure two-way wingers in the traditional sense. There’s no Fernando Pisani or Mike Grier on the current roster, meaning the third and fourth lines lack a defensive conscience at times.
Hyman is a ferocious forechecker and can alter breakouts consistently, but is best suited to an offensive role. He has been money on the Connor McDavid line for several years. Roslovic is more of a pure scorer and can do the most damage on one of the top two lines. Mattias Janmark is a fine defensive winger, but his offensive ability fades each season. Trent Frederic would be a solid option for the role if completely healthy, but he has worked his way down the depth chart and landed as a healthy scratch recently.
That brings us to Kapanen.
Nugent-Hopkins and Kapanen
If the Oilers decided to run a designated third line in the traditional sense, a responsible centre would be the primary building block. That’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Kapanen has performed well with Nugent-Hopkins, scoring 1.02 goals per 60 and 2.54 points per 60 over 118 minutes, including both of his Oilers seasons.
A team shouldn’t be wanting for two-way wingers, but the Oilers could use one now. Quinn Hutson fits the description, but was just sent back to the Bakersfield Condors. The team would appear to be committed to the idea that Kapanen can perform on the second or third line this season. If the Oilers’ depth chart at right wing is Hyman, Roslovic and Kapanen, is that enough? Can Kapanen squeeze out Savoie? And what about Hutson?
Bottom line
The Oilers at five-on-five aren’t scoring enough and are surrendering more goals than they can compensate for in the game state. This is an unusual problem. The last time the Oilers suffered through this kind of prolonged five-on-five slump was 2018-19, a season the club missed the playoffs and finished seventh in the Pacific Division.
Tuesday night’s game featured four five-on-five goals. The fourth line scored one goal (Curtis Lazar from Savoie and Janmark), and the second line scored two (Kapanen and Draisaitl).
Knoblauch took some criticism for elevating Kapanen, and maybe it was a hunch. The bottom line is that Kapanen probably gets some run on the second line, and the third line can now include (for now) Roslovic as an option at centre or on the wing. We’ll know by the deadline how this turns out, but a team desperate for five-on-five goals is going to give Kapanen more looks after his goal and assist on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, Knoblauch placed Roslovic between Savoie and Ike Howard later in the game Tuesday night, and the trio was absolute fire. Look for that line to see more opportunities. It looks like the second half of the season may deliver more production from the bottom six in Edmonton.
In other news, Hutson is back down with the Condors, but scored twice against Abbotsford on Tuesday. His 200-foot game and speed may be in play should the Oilers ever decide to run a third line with checking as a central theme.
For now, Kapanen holds the second-line right-wing job next to Draisaitl. That’s a cherry spot in the lineup, but he’ll have to produce. Tuesday night was a fine start.
