Kasperi Kapanen has spent training camp making the kind of case coaches love to see: simple, direct, and hard to ignore. For the Edmonton Oilers, that matters because the questions around the forward group were always going to be about more than Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Somebody else has to help carry the load, and Kapanen just gave himself a real shot to be part of that answer.
He closed the preseason with a goal and an assist in Edmonton’s 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Saturday night, finishing exhibition play with two points in the two games he dressed. That was enough to leave a strong impression, especially for a veteran winger trying to earn a more meaningful spot in the lineup. The Oilers went 4-0-0 in the preseason, but Kapanen’s performance stood out because it looked like the work of a player ready to do more than just fill space.
Against Calgary, he was active all night. He made himself noticeable, helped on the offensive side and showed the sort of depth scoring Edmonton is going to need once the games start counting.
That’s the bigger reason his showing matters. The Oilers can count on McDavid and Draisaitl to drive the offense, but they can’t expect those two to do everything every night.
If Kapanen can chip in consistently, that gives Edmonton another layer.
There was also a notable opportunity baked into the game itself. Kapanen skated alongside Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman, a look that gave him a chance to prove he could hold his own with established NHL forwards. He took advantage of it.
The numbers from last season make the case even stronger. In 2025-26, Kapanen was limited to 41 regular season games, but he still managed eight goals and 17 points.
Then he stepped up in the playoffs, scoring four goals and six points in six games. Put that together with what he showed in his limited preseason action, and it’s easy to see why he’s putting himself in position for a prominent role under new head coach Mike Babcock to open the 2026-27 season.
The Oilers’ camp ended with more than just Kapanen trending in the right direction. Edmonton gave up only one goal on Saturday and allowed just five goals across four preseason games. That doesn’t erase anything, and preseason results are never the full story, but it still counts as a clean finish to camp.
Kapanen fits into that picture because he wasn’t just producing offensively. He looked like part of a team that grew more comfortable as the preseason moved along, and he gave the coaching staff another reason to think about him in a bigger role.
He can move up and down the lineup, and over the course of an 82-game season that kind of flexibility matters. Injuries happen.
Slumps happen. Teams that expect to contend need players who can slide into larger jobs without forcing everything else to change.
The real test starts now, of course. Kapanen will have to turn preseason momentum into production that matters when the games count.
But after camp, he has done just about everything he could have asked for. The only question left is how much responsibility Babcock is willing to hand him when the regular season begins.
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