For Kasperi Kapanen this season, it was all about the mantra it’s not how you start, but how you finish.
And hopefully it won’t end so abruptly for the Edmonton Oilers forward next time around.
The speedy 29-year-old from Kuopio, Finland, only just hit his top gear by the playoffs, just in time for his team to suffer a first-round upset.
Of course, it could have simply been a case of Kapanen making up for lost time considering how much time he spent in the shop undergoing repairs.
A left knee injury suffered in a game against the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 19 — just six games into the regular-season schedule — led to a detour in his ninth year in the NHL almost as soon as it began.
He returned at the midpoint of the season, only to reaggravate the injury while sliding into the boards in a game against the St. Louis Blues on Jan. 18, which would see him miss five more games.
He ended up with a pedestrian 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) in 41 games. But the blessing in disguise was the half a season he spent away from the ice rehabbing and, just as importantly, resting, which became readily apparent in the playoffs.
In the six games that made up the opening series against the Anaheim Ducks, Kapanen led the Oilers with four goals and finished tied for third on the team with six points, alongside Connor McDavid and Vasily Podkolzin.
Despite the small sample size, being able to rise to the occasion and produce on the big stage is the kind of thing that can springboard a player into bigger roles on offence.
And a team can never have too many of those options. It’s whether that team next year is still the Oilers or not, that is in question.
“This year, I felt like I played some pretty good hockey,” said Kapanen, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent July 1. “One thing I tried to put emphasis on is just being consistent, and I felt like I was doing that for pretty much the whole season.
“So, it’s a shame it ended the way it did this year but hopefully it wasn’t my last game as an Oiler.”
Despite this playoff run lasting significantly less than last year’s, his first in Edmonton, Kapanen still sees the city as an attractive destination to play in.
And not just because he ended up on the second line next to someone the caliber of Leon Draisaitl, either.
“I do consider this home. And my son was born here, so it’s a special place,” Kapanen said. “If it was up to me, I’d love to come back but there are a lot of things that kind of go into it.
“And then hopefully the talks work out and I come back.”
Edmonton Oilers forward Kasperi Kapanen celebrates his game winning goal against the Anaheim Ducks with teammates Mattias Ekholm and Vasily Podkolzin during the third period of Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinal series in Edmonton on Monday April 20, 2026.
Originally landing with the Oilers while being picked up off waivers from the St. Louis Blues in November 2024, Kapanen played a role in last year’s run to the Stanley Cup Final. He scored the overtime winner that eliminated the Vegas Golden Knights in Round 2, before signing a $1.3-million contract extension to be back this season.
This time around, the Oilers won’t be reigning two-time Western Conference champions, of course.
“I think there is a ton of room to improve,” Kapanen said. “I wasn’t here for that one Stanley Cup run, but in watching how good this team has been for the past two years and how the team played this year — and I know I only played half a season — but it just felt like we weren’t playing to the best of our ability.
“I think we were underperforming, and players were underperforming. And we just, at any point, couldn’t get going and expect we can flip the switch as soon as we get in the playoffs. That’s not how it really works.”
Whether the problem was motivation after coming oh, so close to their ultimate goal in each of the last two playoffs, fatigue from only having two-month-long off-seasons each of the past two years, or a lack of roster depth compared to years past, the end result remains the same, and the Oilers continue to search for their first championship since 1990.
“There are a lot of things that were a factor this year,” Kapanen said. “And I think what (McDavid) said of us just being an average team with high expectations, that’s pretty well put.
“It’s a shame, the way it ended. But hopefully this wasn’t my last game and I could play here in the future and then have some more runs at it.”
E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com
On X: @StarkRavinMod
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