Kasperi Kapanen seems like an ideal linemate for Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel.
He skates well, has excellent goal-scoring instincts and good hands.
His game, it would appear, should be a perfect complement to those of the other members of the Penguins' No. 1 line.
Except for one thing.
Kapanen is on the wrong continent.
And when he finally does make it to the correct side of the Atlantic, he'll be serving seven days in a coronavirus quarantine.
Mike Sullivan said Monday that the Penguins still don't know precisely when Kapanen will be available to be added to their lineup -- he still has not had an Immigration hearing in his native Finland -- and Jim Rutherford confirmed that he won't be playing when the regular season begins Jan. 13 in Philadelphia.
Now, Kapanen hardly is the only European player who's having trouble getting into this country -- Dallas goalie Anton Khubdobin, Nashville forward Mikael Granlund and Chicago center Carl Soderberg are among those known to be having similar difficulties -- but few, if any, of the others are penciled in for such prominent roles on their NHL clubs.
The Penguins acquired Kapanen from Toronto after last season to fill the vacancy on the top line, but how well his skills mesh with those of Crosby and Guentzel won't be known until they're on the ice together.
Even then, it's not clear how long it will take to pass judgment on whether their partnership works the way the Penguins hope.
"Sometimes, it takes a little bit of time for lines and players to develop a certain level of chemistry," Sullivan said. "Sometimes, it's instant. In my experience, I've been around both. We're going to try to exercise some patience and see how it goes, but we're excited about the possibility of Kapanen being a real good fit with Sid and Jake. We'll try to provide that opportunity to see how it goes.
"It's a little bit of a struggle. Obviously, we're disappointed that we don't have him here for Day 1 of training camp. I think that would have been a great opportunity to try to build that chemistry. Every day, in his absence, it just makes it a little bit more challenging. But it's not anything that we're not prepared to overcome."
Monday, at least, the opportunity to develop chemistry with Crosby and Guentzel belonged to Evan Rodrigues, who was plugged into the spot that otherwise would have gone to Kapanen.
He was chosen because Rodrigues is versatile and the Penguins believe his speed and skills make him capable of taking on a top-six role, at least in the short term.
"The two things we like about him are his speed, and he has good offensive instincts," Sullivan said. "Those two elements, potentially, give him an opportunity to be successful with those guys."
Perhaps, but being compelled to bump Rodrigues up to Crosby's unit opened a spot on the third line, which was filled by Sam Lafferty Monday. That, in turn, created a void on the fourth line, into which rookie Drew O'Connor stepped.
Now, the Penguins like Rodrigues and Lafferty and believe O'Connor has the potential to become a significant contributor as his career progresses, but it's hardly a plus that the ripple effect caused by Kapanen's absence touched three of the Penguins' four lines.
The Penguins emphasize versatility in player procurement and development -- "We like the flexibility of the roster that we have," Sullivan said -- and that can be a real asset when dealing with injuries. Or even immigration issues.
Still, starting the season without a top-six forward is a problem, especially when teams will be playing just 56 games instead of the usual 82. While victories will still count for just two points in the standings, those two points will be even more valuable in 2020-21 than in a normal season.
"There's going to be a heightened level of importance on every game that's played," Sullivan said.
No matter who is missing from the lineup. Or how many players must be moved because of his absence.
• Crosby, on this one-of-a-kind training camp: "I'd say almost everything feels different. (The pandemic) is just something that's constantly there, just making sure you have masks, (are) socially distancing, testing, all the coaches with masks. Things like that."
• Tristan Jarry said he and his goaltending partner, Casey DeSmith, have not been told yet how the workload at their position will be divided this season. Jarry is entering his first season as the Penguins' undisputed No. 1 goalie.
• Sullivan said winger Colton Sceviour, acquired from Florida in the Patric Hornqvist-Mike Matheson trade, was excused from practice Monday because his wife gave birth.
• Crosby made it clear that he wasn't surprised there was significant roster turnover after the Penguins lost three of four games against Montreal during a qualifying-round series. "Regardless of whether you win or lose, a lot of times with the way things are set up (in a salary-cap system), it's hard to keep a team together," he said. "Especially when you lose, there's always going to be a shakeup."