Kapanen never saw it coming

LONDON, Ontario -- A lot of people were surprised when the Penguins traded Kasperi Kapanen a year after claiming him in the first round of the 2014 NHL draft.

Kapanen is one of them.

“I think it was a shock for everybody,” he said today. “I didn’t expect it.“

He was dealt to Toronto in the trade that brought Phil Kessel to the Penguins this summer, and will face his old organization when Penguins and Maple Leafs prospects meet tonight at 7:30 in the finale of a tournament at Budweiser Gardens.

Kapanen said after Toronto’s game-day skate that he was just hanging out with some friends in Finland when he got the first indication that something might be up.

”I was just with my buddies, and I saw that my Twitter was exploding,“ he said. ”I read some of the tweets and didn’t really think too much about it, but then my agent called me, so I thought something was going on.“

Although Kapanen insisted there are ”no hard feelings“ and that ”It’s hockey. It’s business. It’s fine,“ he allowed that he might have a little extra motivation this evening.

”It’s going to be emotional on some level, of course,“ he said. ”I’m just going to go out there and enjoy it. Say hi to all my buddies and try to score a couple of goals.“

Kapanen said he has settled in nicely with the Maple Leafs, and suggested he is focused on the future, not the past.

”I don’t hate them, or anything like that,“ he said. ”Hopefully, I’ll just be a better player now. Their loss.“