Blues claim forward Kasperi Kapanen off waivers from Pittsburgh Penguins

Kapanen was not in St. Louis for Saturday’s game and did not have the chance to immediately play against his former team. He will be available for Tuesday’s game against Seattle.

“It’s a good pickup,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “Brings speed, and he’s got good skill. Look forward to getting him here and coaching him and being part of the team.”

To make room on the active roster, the Blues assigned forward Nikita Alexandrov to AHL affiliate Springfield. Alexandrov and defensemen Tyler Tucker were the only waivers-exempt players on the NHL roster.

Kapanen, 26, is under contract for the remainder of this season and all of next season at a $3.2 million cap hit, making him the fourth-most expensive forward currently on the Blues roster. Kapanen had seven goals and 13 assists in 43 games this season with the Penguins and is four years removed from a 20-goal season with Toronto in 2019-20.

This season, Kapanen has been one of the Penguins’ worst possession forwards. Among the 11 forwards that have played at least 400 minutes at 5-on-5, Kapanen ranks in the bottom three in shot attempt share and shot share. The Penguins control expected goals, scoring chances and high-danger chances the least (among Pittsburgh forwards) with Kapanen on the ice.

“Here’s a guy that’s got a lot of talent,” Berube said. “Great speed. A lot of upside. You know, new lease, new team. I like the speed aspect of it. He’s produced in this league. I know he’s not having a great year this year offensively. But I’m excited.”

The Blues would have been in the market for a bottom-nine forward in the summer anyway to replenish a group that already lost Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan O’Reilly, Noel Acciari and possibly Ivan Barbashev. So it appears that general manager Doug Armstrong opted to do that a few months early, and at a higher price than perhaps expected.

With Kapanen’s $3.2 million on the books for next season, the Blues have an estimated $10.376 million of cap space for the 2023-24 season, accounting for an $83.5 million salary cap. That is with eight forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders under contract for next season.

If the Blues want to add a big-money player (cap hit $8 million and over), they’ll have to move a piece or two out to fill the other holes on their roster. But that would have been the case even before Saturday’s claim of Kapanen.

Kapanen was originally a first-round pick in 2014 by Pittsburgh, but he was traded to Toronto as part of the deal that landed Phil Kessel with the Penguins in 2015. The Maple Leafs traded him back to Pittsburgh in 2020.

When Kapanen’s contract expires in 2024, he will be an unrestricted free agent.

It was the Blues’ first waiver claim since 2017 when the team claimed Ty Rattie from Carolina after originally losing Rattie to the Hurricanes on waivers.

”He’s a guy that was a high pick, a lot of talent,” Berube said. “Hopefully we can get more out of him here.”

Torey Krug returns

Blues defenseman Torey Krug was back in the lineup Saturday afternoon as Berube opted to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Krug missed Thursday’s game against Vancouver with a lower-body injury but practiced with the team Friday.

Alexandrov was projected to be in the lineup before the Blues claimed Kapanen, and Berube chose to insert Tucker as the seventh defenseman instead of using Josh Leivo up front. Leivo and Calle Rosen were healthy scratches against the Penguins.

Berube said he wanted to use seven defensemen with Krug dealing with a nagging injury.

Krug was also back on the top power play unit, joining Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Pavel Buchnevich and Brayden Schenn.

“He’s feeling good to play, so it’ll be good to get him back for the power play, for sure,” Berube said before the game. “Just his puck movement and things like that that he provides for us.”