Penguins GM: Kapanen 'should be a good fit' with Crosby, Guentzel

Jim Rutherford believes he's found an ideal right-winger for his star-studded top line.

The Pittsburgh Penguins general manager thinks Kasperi Kapanen could gel with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel.

"We really hope that we've got the right chemistry for a line for Sid," Rutherford said on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio on Saturday. "(Crosby) has had really good chemistry with Guentzel here for a while, which will continue. But getting that right-winger that works (is important) and we're hoping that Kapanen is the guy who can do that."

Rutherford hopes their styles of play will mesh well together.

"I think with Kapanen's speed and the fact he can track down pucks and Sid can find him in the open, it should be a good fit, but we'll see," Rutherford said.

The Penguins reacquired Kapanen in a six-player trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs in August. Pittsburgh also threw in the 15th overall pick in this year's draft, which the Leafs used to take Russian forward Rodion Amirov.

Pittsburgh drafted Kapanen with the No. 22 selection in 2014 but dealt him to Toronto in the swap that sent Phil Kessel to the Penguins one year later.

Kapanen collected a career-high 20 goals and 44 points across 78 games in 2018-19, but the 24-year-old produced only 13 markers and 36 points over 69 contests this past season.

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