Kapanen, Leipsic eager to salvage injury-hit seasons Maple Leafs prospects are back with the Marlies for postseason chase after January injuries derailed the momentum both had built during strong starts to the year

Kristen Shilton TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter Follow|Archive

Back in October, Toronto Maple Leafs prospects Kasperi Kapanen and Brendan Leipsic were among the team’s final cuts from training camp, assigned to the AHL’s Marlies to continue to work on their games.

Both players arrived in the organization within months of each other via trade — Leipsic in February 2015 from Nashville when Cody Franson was dealt, Kapanen in July 2015 from Pittsburgh in the Phil Kessel deal — and each had strong offensive starts to the season.

But that early dominance — 33 points in 33 games for Kapanen, 38 points in 34 games for Leipsic and AHL All-Star spots for each — gave way to injuries in mid-January that derailed their momentum.

For Kapanen, the blow came on Jan. 13, when Syracuse Crunch defenceman Jake Dotchin flattened him into the boards and Kapanen’s left leg crumpled beneath him.

“I felt like my foot was going to fall off. It was the worst pain of my life,” Kapanen recalled after practice on Thursday. “I got back to the bench and I didn’t know what was going on.”

It would be seven long weeks before the 20-year-old would be able to play another game, a recovery time he “obviously wasn’t excited about.”

“I was in the [walking] boot for three weeks, doing a lot of stuff in the gym and weightlifting,” Kapanen said. “It was a slow, slow process, but I’d rather it be slow and get me back to 100 per cent than go fast and have it not feel that great.”

Other than missing a few weeks with a torn AC joint three years ago, Kapanen has escaped lengthy injury absences over his young career. When a bad skate cut in December forced him to sit out three games, it was manageable. Kapanen, who played in nine games with the Leafs last season, avoided hockey all together during this hiatus. Instead he focused on following the Toronto Raptors and spending time with friends who visited from his native Finland.

Feeling closer to normal each game since returning on March 2, Kapanen has resumed his point-per-game pace, tallying one goal and four assists in his last five games. But while his strength and skating have come along nicely, Kapanen is still trying to get his feel for the game back.

“Seeing plays, making plays and being in the right place at the right time, I still have to work on that,” he said. “Sometimes I’ll see a play develop and it’s too late whereas before I feel like I would have seen it. It’s been weird.”

Leipsic was on an even more torrid scoring pace than Kapanen when he was felled by a concussion on Jan. 22 against the Springfield Thunderbirds. It was also something of a fluke play that did him in — Leipsic took a pass that ended up in his skates and he didn’t see the hit from Springfield forward Kyle Rau coming.

Cleared to return to action before he finally suited up on March 12, Leipsic wanted his transition back to be as smooth as possible.

“February was just a crazy month with [a lot of] games and there wasn’t a whole lot of practice time, so I didn’t want to just jump in when I hadn’t really been bumped or hit or anything,” he said. “It was a matter of getting my legs under me again, coming to practice and feeling confident.”

Throughout his three years as a pro, Leipsic has rarely missed time with injury. After getting a taste of the NHL in six games last season, and coming out of the gate with some of his best offensive numbers this year, it was an especially frustrating time for injuries to pile up. Before the concussion, Leipsic had already missed six games with a skate cut.

“You could call it [snake bit]. But hopefully that’s behind me now,” he said. “Now I need to keep establishing myself as a player who can play at both ends of the ice. Over my years, I’ve proven I can be an offensive player but I want to show I can play both ways.”

Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe sees improvement on the defensive side as the ticket for both players to take the next step. The other challenge they face is returning to a different team than the one they left. The Marlies were 7-14 in the six weeks leading up to those injuries; the additions of Cal O’Reilly, Sergey Kalinin and Mike Sislo have helped them go 15-7 since.

“It brings a ton of confidence [having them back], but it’s important to not just go ‘Oh well, now Kappy’s back and everything is going to be great,’” cautioned Keefe. “[Before getting hurt] some of their defensive habits slipped a little bit, but that needs to be the foundation in their game. They want to be great offensive players, but they really have to work at the defensive stuff if they’re going to progress as players.”

The Marlies have 14 regular-season contests left, and sit eighth in the Eastern Conference, teetering in playoff position. For Kapanen and Leipsic, the focus now is on salvaging every opportunity available to get better.

“I just want to take over,” Kapanen said. “I thought I was playing really well before the injury and I want to come back and be that guy the team expects to make plays and do big things for them. I’m ready for that and I want to help however I can.” ​