The Pittsburgh Penguins clearly seem excited about Kasperi Kapanen’s skill and potential, but they’ve decided to skip even a brief regular season audition, thus allowing him to get settled in Finland.
The team assigned him to KalPa of the Finnish league on Thursday. While the Penguins made some statements about the 18-year-old having a chance at making the opening-night roster, it became clear a couple days ago that the 22nd pick of the 2014 NHL Draft was headed home:
Kapanen remains on the roster. But he doesn't remain in the country, which is a pretty good indication of where he will be playing.
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) October 7, 2014
#Pens coach Johnston: Kunitz sick. Kapanen home to see his family until a decision is made on young guys.
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 7, 2014
Considering the Penguins’ revitalized forward depth, Kapanen will almost certainly have a better chance at getting meatier ice time overseas. Naturally, another big plus is that they won’t “burn” a year off of his entry-level contract.
In other Penguins roster-related news, the team also placed Beau Bennett (lower body) on IR while recalling the following players: forwards Zach Sill and Andrew Ebbett plus defenseman Taylor Chorney.