Stefen Rosner on Morning Cuppa Hockey Talking Islanders On Monday, the St. Louis Blues placed forward Kasperi Kapanen on waivers. The 28-year-old speedster only had one goal in 10 games this season while averaging 11:19 minutes per game. Kapanen, who played for Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello in Toronto, signed a one-year, $1 million deal this past summer in St. Louis after having 14 goals and 22 assists through 96 games with the Blues since being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins off waivers during the 2022-23 season. With the Islanders still missing two-thirds of their top line, that's provided more opportunities for depth players. But unfortunately for the Islanders, the fourth line of Matt Martin, Kyle MacLean, and Oliver Wahlstrom have struggled to contribute. When this trio has been on the ice (25:49), the Islanders were outshot 16-5, outchanced 17-1 and outscored 2-1. Wahlstrom has just one goal and one assist in 14 games, with only four hits, averaging 9:33 TOI. While Martin only has one assist in seven games, he has 13 hits in 7:13 ATOI. MacLean has surely struggled with his rotation of linemates, with just two assists and 24 hits, averaging 9:55 in 18 games. Hudson Fasching, the current 13th forward, has no points with one hit in five games, averaging 6:50 TOI. Kapanen has averaged more minutes than all four of these players and has penalty-kill experience, playing over 90 minutes on the Blues' shorthanded unit last season. Could Kapanen provide some much-needed speed for MacLean at one of the wing positions? Teams have until 2 PM ET on Tuesday to make the claim. Kapanen would just have to shave and get a haircut. According to Puckpedia, the Islanders have $8.081 million in available cap space. Two players—Mathew Barzal and his $9.15M and Anthony Duclair and his $3.5M —are on long-term injured reserve. However, they currently have a 23-man roster, so someone will need to be waived or sent down to Bridgeport to make this claim work. Fortunately for the Islanders, it seems that defenseman Alexander Romanov will be back in the lineup against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday, which means defenseman Travis Mitchell, who was filling in as the seventh defenseman the last two games, can go back to the AHL. Problem solved. Realistically, when everyone is healthy, it's more than likely that MacLean would be the only one on the current fourth line to stay in the lineup. Unless Kapanen makes himself immovable from the lineup, he, too, could find himself on the outside looking in. Given their struggles right now, Kapanen could bring additional speed, something that head coach Patrick Roy's system loves and longs for.
