Jim Rutherford has a pretty good relationship with Sami Kapanen.



After all, Rutherford, as general manager of the Hartford Whalers, selected Kapanen with a fourth-round pick during the 1995 draft. Kapanen wound up playing for Rutherford with the franchise which eventually transformed into the Carolina Hurricanes over parts of eight seasons.



Nearly two decades after that draft, Rutherford, in his first weeks as the Penguins general manager, selected his Kapanen’s son, Kasperi Kapanen, with a first-round pick in 2014.



One of Rutherford’s other draft picks with the Hurricanes led to the Penguins’ latest acquisition.



Tommy Westlund, a fourth-round selection by the Hurricanes in 1998, is currently a European scout for the Penguins and repeatedly conversed with Sami Kapanen, his former teammate in Carolina, about signing Juuso Riikola, a defenseman who played for KalPa in Finland’s Liiga.



“Tommy Westlund, he stopped...