While teams are still battling to book their ticket to the Spring Dance in the NHL, playoffs are underway all over Europe. In the Swedish Hockey League, Montreal Canadiens' prospect, Oliver Kapanen, and his Timra IK find themselves on the verge of elimination.

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Frolunda HC now leads the series 3-2 after a decisive 6-2 victory on Friday. In the five games played so far, Kapanen has gathered three points, two goals, and an assist, spending an average of 22:34 on the ice. The sixth and what could be final game of the series will take place on Sunday night.

Unlike Roman Rotenberg’s handling of Ivan Demidov at SKA St. Petersburg, Timra coach former NHLer Jolli Jokinen has used Kapanen as much as he could this season. The Canadiens’ second-round pick at the 2021 draft had an average of just under 19 minutes of ice time per game during the regular season, putting up 35 points in 36 games.

Playing in the SHL was also great for his development since he played on both the power play and the penalty kill, which were opportunities he wouldn’t have gotten had he not been loaned back to Timra.

Should Kapanen’s season be over soon, GM Kent Hughes has already said he would be coming to this side of the pond to join the Laval Rocket in its quest for the Calder Cup—a good move from the organization so that he can get further acquainted with the North American game.

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