The 2025 Stanley Cup Final matchup between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers has the Panthers up 2-1 heading into Game 4 on Thursday night. Interestingly, some former St. Louis Blues players are participating in this matchup on both sides, with some playing in their first Stanley Cup Final. Here’s a look at three former Blues vying for a championship.
Kasperi Kapanen
Kasperi Kapanen has played for four NHL teams and made the playoffs seven times in his career with every team except the Blues. He played two full seasons with the Blues, plus 10 games this season, before he was waived and claimed by the Oilers. He was also given a one-year contract renewal with an average annual value (AAV) of $1 million in the offseason by the Blues, which sounded like they were impressed with him and were expecting big things this season, but in the end, they didn’t seem to get the best out of him.
Related: Grading the St. Louis Blues’ 2024-25 Season
Kapanen recorded a disappointing 37 points in 106 career games with the Blues. He played 57 games with the Oilers this season and recorded 13 points. But, he’s played well in the playoffs with five points in 10 playoff games, including a series-winning overtime goal in the Oilers’ second-round matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Kapanen hasn’t had a lot of big moments in his career, outside of his golden-goal for Finland in the 2016 World Junior Championship (WJC). This is his first Stanley Cup Final.
Jake Walman
Defenseman Jake Walman played three seasons with the Blues and recorded eight points in 57 career games, and he only played one playoff game in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He was traded along with Oskar Sundqvist and a 2023 second-round draft pick (became Andrew Gibson) to the Detroit Red Wings for Nick Leddy and defenseman Luke Witkowski.
In 145 career games with the Red Wings, Walman recorded 43 points while solidifying himself as a shutdown defenseman, known for his incredible shot-blocking. He ranked fourth on the team in blocked shots (121) during the 2022-23 season. Then, in 2023-24, he recorded 151 blocked shots and ranked in the top 40 in the league. That was just the beginning of his improvement, but it was not enough for the Red Wings to keep him.
Jake Walman, Edmonton Oilers (Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images)
In June 2024, the Red Wings traded Walman and a 2024 second-round pick to the San Jose Sharks for future considerations. Walman struggled to make the playoffs with an NHL team, as the Sharks were nowhere near playoff contention. In 50 games with the Sharks this season, Walman recorded 32 points before he was traded again, this time to the Oilers for forward Carl Berglund and a 2026 first-round pick.
Walman has finally found himself on a Cup contender. In 15 games with the Oilers this season, he recorded eight points and finished with 145 blocked shots. He has not made the playoffs in seven seasons and is now playing a much bigger role than the one postseason game he played for the Blues. He has eight points in 19 playoff games so far.
Niko Mikkola
Defenseman Niko Mikkola is in his second straight Stanley Cup Final with the Panthers. Before he joined the Panthers, he was a 2015 fifth-round (127th overall) Blues draft pick who played three and a half seasons in St. Louis. In 139 games with the team, he recorded 20 points and two playoff points through 16 postseason games.
Mikkola was part of one of the most notable Blues trades. He was dealt to the New York Rangers along with star forward Vladimir Tarasenko (50 percent of his contract retained by Blues) for defenseman Hunter Skinner, forward Sammy Blais, a 2024 third-round pick (Blues selected Adam Jecho), and a 2023 first-round pick (Blues selected Theo Lindstein), which the Rangers had previously acquired from the Dallas Stars in 2022.
In 31 games in the 2022-23 season with the Rangers, he only recorded three points and had a flat playoff performance, notching two points through seven games. He signed a three-year deal with the Panthers as a free agent with an AAV of $2.5 million on July 1, 2023. He and Tarasenko were reunited on the Panthers at the 2024 Trade Deadline and won the Cup together last season.
This season, Mikkola improved significantly, recording 24 points in 76 games, a career high, and six points through 19 playoff games. This has to be one of the more underrated trades for the Blues, as Mikkola has become one of the best defensemen in the league regarding puck movement. At least the Blues got the pick that landed them Theo Lindstein.
Does This Affect the Blues’ Legacy?
All these players provided some value to the Blues, including two key prospects in Lindstein and Jecho from the Mikkola trade. After trading Walman, the Blues opened up a roster spot, and they placed Kapanen on waivers to make room for their young forwards to gain some NHL experience. Overall, the focus of those trades and the one waiver placement was to rebuild the Blues roster into a contending team and add some more prospects to their franchise, and they did just that.
