Leafs trade Kapanen to Penguins for 1st-rounder in 6-player deal
The Toronto Maple Leafs traded forward Kasperi Kapanen to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a package including a 2020 first-round pick, the team announced Tuesday.
| TOR receives | PIT receives |
|---|---|
| 2020 1st-rounder (15th overall) | F Kasperi Kapanen |
| F Evan Rodrigues | D Jesper Lindgren |
| F Filip Hallander | F Pontus Aberg |
| D David Warsofsky |
The 24-year-old Kapanen tallied 13 goals and 36 points in 69 games with the Maple Leafs this season. He's signed for two more years at an AAV of $3.2 million and will be an RFA when his deal expires.
Pittsburgh drafted Kapanen with its first-round pick in 2014 but traded him to Toronto a year later in the deal that sent Phil Kessel to the Penguins.
Kapanen was Jim Rutherford's first draft pick as general manager of the Penguins. His father, Sami Kapanen, played under Rutherford with the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Maple Leafs traded their own 2020 first-round pick (which ended up being 13th overall) last offseason to the Hurricanes to shed Patrick Marleau's contract.
Pittsburgh doesn't own a first-round pick until 2022, as it sent its 2021 first-rounder to the Minnesota Wild as part of the Jason Zucker trade. The Penguins have used just one first-round pick (Samuel Poulin in 2019) since selecting Kapanen in 2014.
The Penguins drafted Hallander in the second round in 2018. The Athletic's Corey Pronman listed him as the Penguins' fourth-best prospect and tabbed him as a legitimate future NHL player.
Rodrigues, 27, has 72 points in 199 career NHL games. He's a pending restricted free agent.
The Maple Leafs drafted Lindgren in the fourth round in 2014. He tallied nine points in 31 games with the AHL's Toronto Marlies last season.
Warsofsky, 30, and Aberg, 26, have spent the majority of their professional careers in the AHL.