BLOG: Kapanen overcomes the challenges of a "frustrating" recovery

EDMONTON, AB – ‘Kappy Hour’ is getting closer, but it wasn't always easy for Kasperi Kapanen.

Following three months out of the lineup with a lower-body injury that “felt like three years”, Kapanen appears to be on the precipice of making his long-awaited return in early January after spending the last two practices for the Oilers on the wing of the second line with Leon Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin.

“It looks like it,” Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said of his availability for Tuesday’s meeting with the Nashville Predators at Rogers Place. “We'll see how he feels after the practice. He'll get evaluated, and then he'll get full clearance, but right now it looks pretty good.”

Kapanen has looked back to his former self over the past two full practices, and despite understandably needing some runway to get back to 100 percent after missing 36 games this season, Coach Knoblauch is looking forward to adding his skill set back to the group, which they’ve been sorely missing.

“I think one is speed, some physicality, but also a guy that can score,” he added. “You look at the type of player he is, there's no reason over a full season that he's not scoring 15 or maybe 20 goals. That's the type of player we expect from him. He can play with skill, he can be tenacious, especially on the forecheck, and there are a lot of good attributes that he brings.

“He hasn't played for a couple of months now. To say that he's going to come in and he's going to be an All-Star, I think that's being a little optimistic. But I definitely think that he will help us right away, and he should be building this game.”

After sustaining a knee injury on Oct. 19 in a loss to the Detroit Red Wings, hours turned into days, and then weeks into months for forward Kasperi Kapanen during his long road to recovery – only for him to reaggravate it during practice in late November and fall all the way back to square one.

The Finnish forward was moments from getting back to where he wanted to be, which was on the ice playing meaningful minutes for the Oilers instead of being on the sidelines, before he got his skate caught in the ice and twisted his leg in the final practice before his potential return on Nov. 29 against Seattle.

Kapanen showed frustration in the moment as he left the ice, knowing that he was likely to spend another lengthy spell out of the lineup and miss out on everything that comes with it – including the road trips, the team dinners, and just the time spent together with your teammates in the locker room.

The physical toll is almost always at the forefront when it comes to injuries in professional sports, but the mental impact is often understated, and Kapanen felt grateful to have a worthy distraction to occupy his free time throughout his recovery as an expecting father.

That was one of the few silver linings for him during the ordeal.

“It's never fun to be out of the lineup, and obviously, hurting it in practice is very frustrating,” Kapanen said following Sunday’s practice. “But I think mentally, probably the hardest part is just not being on the ice and then not going on the road with the team. Just the life that you're used to throughout the year.

“But if there's ever a time to be hurt, my wife's pregnant right now, so I've been trying to help her out as much as I can. So I guess it's kind of a blessing in disguise to pick up additional responsibilities away.”

“I don't know which is harder for me to do – practice that or practice on the ice,” he joked.

Kapanen recalled some tough days going to the rink to continue his rehab, knowing there was still plenty of time left in his recovery, but said he’s learned a lot about himself as a player and person while coming out of the entire ordeal with more resiliency and strength.

“It's just trying to stay patient and trying to be somewhat okay with the situation,” he said. “The body does take time to heal, so just trying to be patient and trying to be positive. I feel like I've got to some pretty dark places. Some days during the injury, you just come to the rink and go through the motions, knowing that you're not even close to coming back, and it was hard. But I think going through adversity like this has just made me stronger.

“Hopefully, the leg will be good for Tuesday, and I’ll just come back stronger.”

Kapanen had two assists in six games this season before his injury, scoring three goals for the Oilers during their 2025 run to the Stanley Cup Final, including the series-clinching goal against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 of the Second Round.

In addition to hopefully being able to bring some scoring back to the lineup, this might be the most excited Kapanen's been since ending Vegas' season last year, when his decisive tally sent his new team to the Western Conference Final after being picked up off waivers from St. Louis earlier in the campaign.

"It's up there for sure," he said. "I think I talked about this earlier, but I never made it past the first round ever, so being in that second round and then obviously going into the third round for the conference final, scoring that goal is something that I'll never forget, and it's a nice little memory.

"Hopefully, I'll keep scoring goals like that in the future."