There is finally some movement in the Kasperi Kapanen situation. The 26-year-old, acquired by the Pittsburgh Penguins fromthe Toronto Maple Leafs back in August, has been stuck in his home country of Finland dealing with immigration issues. Addressing reporters Friday, Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said Kapanen will be arriving in North American over the weekend. However, Pens fans shouldn't hold their breath waiting for him to get in the lineup.
"Kappy's arriving tomorrow," said Sullivan. "And then he'll have to go through the COVID protocol, which is about an eight-day process."
"That's a tough one to answer," said Sullivan when asked when Kapanen will hit the ice. "Because until we get him here and we can have a conversation with Kasperi on his fitness level and his comfort level with how we're trying to play, it's hard for me to answer that question."
Kapanen will miss all of training camp and will not be available for Pittsburgh's season opener. Sullivan said all the team can do is try to get him up to speed for when he's ready to return.
"I'll have a lot of interaction with him via WebEx or phone calls while he's going through that quarantine period," said Sullivan. "We're gonna introduce our team concept to him through that process as well so that he has the ability to make sure he's learning the Penguins way here."
Kapanen was initially drafted by Pittsburgh back in 2014 but was traded to Toronto before he ever played a game with the team. When he was acquired over the summer, the Penguins immediately made it clear that he would start the season on the top line alongside Sidney Crosby. Given the shortened 56 game season, there is no time for teams to start the year on a low note and you can bet the Penguins are looking to get Kapanen back to playing as soon as possible.
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