Mark Madden: If Penguins' window is still open, Kasperi Kapanen trade makes sense - TribLIVE

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The Penguins’ reacquisition of winger Kasperi Kapanen is easy to evaluate.

Just not right now.

If GM Jim Rutherford is correct about the Penguins’ window to win still being open, and the Penguins make next season’s playoffs and win a round or two, it’s a good trade. Even if Kapanen doesn’t contribute mightily, the instincts behind the trade will be validated.

If the Penguins miss the postseason, or make it but immediately flame out for a third season running, then it’s a bad trade.

Critiquing any trade logically requires waiting, but it’s more fun to beat the rush and be mad right now. Being mad is America’s No. 1 sport, just ahead of televised cornhole.

The only part of the trade that matters is the Penguins’ giving up this year’s first-round pick for Kapanen, 24. Everything else involved is spare parts. Though the minute he got dealt, Filip Hallander became Anders Lee in the minds of Rutherford’s critics. Just like Daniel Sprong became Mike Bossy when he went to Anaheim for Marcus Pettersson. (That turned out OK.)

If Rutherford wanted his Penguins to get younger and faster, Kapanen is both. Kapanen only netted 13 times for Toronto this past season but got blocked out of top-six and power-play opportunity by big talent making big money. Kapanen’s cap hit is $3.2 million through 2022.

He won’t take a knee during any national anthems. He’s Kapanen, not Kaepernick.

Kapanen was the Penguins’ first-round pick (22nd overall) in 2014, going to Toronto in 2015 via the Phil Kessel swap. He’s fast, skilled and talented. He’s also a good penalty killer, and shooting right-handed might get him power-play duty. Or not.

Getting Kapanen confirms that the Penguins intend to continuing playing fast, as they prefer. The top six can motor: Kapanen, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust and Jason Zucker. But can they navigate their way through a trap come playoff time?

The pick sent to Toronto is 15th overall. It’s likely that whoever Toronto gets with it will be the next Kasperi Kapanen, not the next Crosby. When that pick reaches his NHL prime, if he ever does, Crosby will be 36 or 37 and Malkin will be back in the USSR.

The Penguins’ first-round pick in 2021 belongs to Minnesota. It’s tough to rebuild while keeping Crosby, Malkin and Kris Letang. In three to four years, the Penguins almost certainly can’t avoid going splat. But finishing last has occasionally done the franchise some good.

This won’t be the only trade Rutherford makes. I wasn’t even sure he was allowed to start trading yet. (Only the eight teams still in the playoffs can’t.) If the start of next season gets pushed back into 2021 like I suspect it will, Rutherford might make 20 to 30 more deals.

My instinct is, the window for being a legit Stanley Cup contender is closed, and the last two playoff results certainly confirm. That eventually makes this a bad trade.

But if the core of Crosby, Malkin and Letang is to be kept intact, rebuilding can’t be done. You trust your instincts concerning those three and hope you’re right.

You’ve also got to sell tickets. Rebuilding doesn’t draw money.

But if you want to keep getting younger and faster, getting Kapanen blocks winger Samuel Poulin’s path into the lineup. Poulin, 19, was the Penguins’ first-round pick last year. It seems Rutherford intends to keep Jack Johnson. His continued presence will block defenseman Pierre Olivier-Joseph from regular duty. Olivier-Joseph, 21, was the key component acquired in the transaction that sent Kessel to Arizona last offseason.

Just getting Kapanen doesn’t make the Penguins young enough, or fast enough.

Trading goaltender Matt Murray is the next probable move. But a glut of goalies is available, including unrestricted free agents Braden Holtby of Washington, Robin Lehner of Vegas and Jacob Markstrom of Vancouver.

Murray’s two Cup rings provide pedigree, but his play has dipped over his last three seasons. He’s a restricted free agent, which means the likeliest path of acquisition is surrendering assets via trade, then signing him to a deal.

Murray reportedly wants too much for too long, which depreciates the return the Penguins get. Rutherford will be lucky to get a second-round pick. A third-rounder seems more likely.

Rutherford deserves benefit of the doubt and a chance to make good.

Toronto hasn’t won a Cup since 1967 and got no better upon signing John Tavares for way too much and way too long in 2018 when the Maple Leafs needed defensemen, not a hometown hero. So don’t assume the Leafs fleeced Rutherford.

Categories: Mark Madden Columns | Penguins/NHL | Sports