Huge surprise on the market: Hughes could announce the acquisition of a forward as early as today

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MarcO
February 25, 2023 (8:33)

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We saw a big surprise in the National Hockey League forward market yesterday.

After trading the equivalent of a first + second round pick to acquire him from the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2020, the Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward Kasperi Kapanen on waivers.

This took many by surprise!

Kapanen is now completely available for free and we have reason to believe that he will make it to the Habs.

Will Kent Hughes acquire him when the team is short on players due to injuries? It's quite possible!

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Kapanen is a winger, so there would certainly be a way to insert him into the lineup and he could make a real difference. (he's only 26)

Plus, we don't mean this in a bad way, but Kapanen has a lot more potential than Chris Tierney (and he really is better), not to mention that his cousin, Oliver Kapanen, is a Montreal Canadiens prospect.

This is a great opportunity for Kent Hughes to get his hands on a good player, with solid potential, and still relatively young.

Kapanen, 26, drafted 22nd overall in 2014 (first round) has interesting production:

- 20 points in 43 games this season

- 32 points in 79 games in 2021-22

- 30 points in 40 games in 2020-21

- 36 points in 69 games in 2019-20

- 44 points in 78 games in 2018-19

He has 70 goals in 364 career NHL games, and his greatest strength is definitely his skating stroke. He's really fast.

Kapanen is possibly the best player to get waived in a long time.

In August 2020, let's actually remember that the Penguins paid a lot to acquire him. They gave:

- David Warsofsky
- Evan Rodrigues
- A former 2nd round pick (Hallander)
- A first round pick in 2020.

In exchange for Kapanen.