Tony Marinaro is asking whether Oliver Kapanen still has a future with the Canadiens, and the early numbers give him plenty to work with.
Kapanen has one goal and one assist in 11 games this season. Marinaro has called it a sophomore slump, and he has been wondering out loud since Wednesday whether the next chapter of the 23-year-old's career happens somewhere else.
The timing is awkward for the player. Montreal is 11-3-4 and 7-0-3 over its last 10, so nobody inside that room is panicking about the standings. A quiet third-line center can hide for a while on a team that wins.
But the comparison inside the lineup is hard to miss. Nick Suzuki has 16 points in 12 games, while Kapanen has two in 11. Ivan Demidov, listed on injured reserve with an ankle injury and expected to be out until at least November 14, has played only two games.
The club is also short a playmaker, which leaves a center who isn't producing with nobody to lean on.
Kapanen was a second-round pick, 64th overall in 2021, and he is in the final season of his entry-level deal, which pays under $1 million. He becomes a restricted free agent at the end of it.
Can the Canadiens still get real value for Kapanen?
Probably not the return they could have had a few weeks ago. He doesn't look like a top-six forward, and he isn't a fit for the bottom six either. At best he is a third-line center, and few general managers pay a premium for that.
That's the uncomfortable part for Kent Hughes. If Kapanen was ever going to be the piece that tipped a trade, the window was when he was producing. A two-point start doesn't move a deal, and giving him away for next to nothing doesn't help Montreal or the player.
Trade chatter around this club has been loud all month, and Kent Hughes and the Nikita Kucherov puzzle has only added to it. Any big swing would need pieces going the other way, and a slumping Kapanen is a weaker one than he was.
For now there's no urgency. The record buys Hughes and Martin St-Louis patience, and Kapanen's role isn't going to be solved in one game.
He gets another chance tonight when the Canadiens visit a Bruins team that sits first in the Atlantic Division. Demidov's earliest possible return is November 14.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
Should the Canadiens trade Oliver Kapanen now, even at a discount?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Toronto's four-game skid sparks blockbuster William Nylander trade pitch that could be massive
