I May Be In The Minority . . . But I Believe That Kaapo Kakko Could Be Selected 1st Overall in 2019

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I dont think they are very similar. Marner is a more intelligent player.

I agree.

I see a lot of differences in how they play. For one, there seems to be almost unanimous consensus that Hughes will stay at center, although a few of us believe he's a winger.

I think Marner is a more intelligent player, I think Marner is more of a playmaker than Hughes who I think will score more goals than Marner, and there's a big difference in the defensive component of the game. Marner plays a very good defensive game, while Hughes has a lot of junior hockey traits with how he plays between his back checking, lack of awareness, turnovers in bad areas of the ice, perimeter approach and double shifting himself at certain times.

 

[Cancuks]

What are people thinking in 2021? Hilarious reading some of the old comments.

 

[3 Minute Minor]

What are people thinking in 2021? Hilarious reading some of the old comments.

WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THIS TO THEM

 

[ijuka]

What are people thinking in 2021? Hilarious reading some of the old comments.

I think that you should probably wait around 3 more years.

 

[GAGLine]

Kakko will be just fine. He is significantly improved from last year. The offense will come.

 

[Peasy]

Good ol Blade Paradigm...

Dude spent the entire year spewing this shit and has since disappeared. Figures lol.

 

[TheMule93]

Big oof

 

[NJ DevLolz]

I still feel it's close enough that I'd want NJ to take Hughes because he's a center, but man, I would not shed a tear if we ended up with Kaako...

Yes I would have!

 

[mphmiles]

Good ol Blade Paradigm...

Dude spent the entire year spewing this shit and has since disappeared. Figures lol.

It was one of the weirdest phenomenons I’ve ever seen on hockey social media.

He basically ran around to every hockey message board on the internet trying to will “Kakko 1st overall” into existence while trying to pass himself off as a legitimate scout, and there’s basically no record or trace from him in the years before or after.

 

[Ed Ned and Leddy]

Blade Paradigm, eh?

Edit: For what it's worth though, even as a big NTDP fan and someone who liked Hughes well over Kakko, Kakko had a phenomenal draft year in Finland and was very understandably rated as the #2 prospect. Had any of our teams passed on Kakko for someone like Dach/Byram/Zegras, a lot of fans would have been disappointed. He's not had the smoothest adjustment to NHL hockey, but let's wait and see.

 

[InfinityIggy]

So... Rangers fans. What the deal with Kakko at this point? Obviously his production is whelming but I suspect that isn’t the whole story.

 

[BusQuets]

Would Hughes and Kakko even go in top5 anymore? lol.

 

[Reddawg]

So... Rangers fans. What the deal with Kakko at this point? Obviously his production is whelming but I suspect that isn’t the whole story.

I think you can only be whelmed in Europe.

 

[Hisch13r]

Would Hughes and Kakko even go in top5 anymore? lol.

ahahahahahah Very funny. Hughes still goes 1OA

 

[BusQuets]

ahahahahahah Very funny. Hughes still goes 1OA

His p/60 is atrocious and only has 4ppp even though playing ridiculous 2:47 minutes per game on pp. I'm not seeing it.

 

[mphmiles]

Kakko has been snakebit this year for sure, but I’m kind of starting to wonder if his skating and hands are going to limit his ceiling from an elite power forward to a solid second liner.

As solid, reliable, and surprisingly effective defensively as he’s looked this year, I do question how skilled of a player he may really be. I’ve watched a lot of him this year and keep waiting to see plays that jump off the screen at you even if they don’t result in goals, but thus far I just haven’t.

 

[EXTRAS]

Hughes probably goes 1st still unless Seider steps into the league as a top pairing dman...which is probably unlikely.

 

[BusQuets]

Hughes probably goes 1st still unless Seider steps into the league as a top pairing dman...which is probably unlikely.

Dach, Byram and Seider will be top-3 players from this draft in 5 years.

 

[Hisch13r]

His p/60 is atrocious and only has 4ppp even though playing ridiculous 2:47 minutes per game on pp. I'm not seeing it.

It's almost like just looking at pts isn't the be all end all. He's had 2 pts wiped away because of an offside challenge and a hand pass. Bratt is one of his most common linemates and is insanely snakebitten this season. He had a SH% of 12.7 over his first 3 years and is only shooting 2% on the season. If Bratt isn't getting so unlucky you probably add on a pt or 2 to Hughes. You look at it with added context and he's producing similarly to a sophomore MacKinnon but with better underlying numbers and progression is always linear like we saw with MacKinnon. Our PP on the whole is awful. He's already an elite puck mover. He's still a bad shooter. He's creates a ton of chances. You're probably not watching so it would explain why you aren't seeing it

 

[WetcoastOrca]

It's almost like just looking at pts isn't the be all end all. He's had 2 pts wiped away because of an offside challenge and a hand pass. Bratt is one of his most common linemates and is insanely snakebitten this season. He had a SH% of 12.7 over his first 3 years and is only shooting 2% on the season. If Bratt isn't getting so unlucky you probably add on a pt or 2 to Hughes. You look at it with added context and he's producing similarly to a sophomore MacKinnon but with better underlying numbers and progression is always linear like we saw with MacKinnon. Our PP on the whole is awful. He's already an elite puck mover. He's still a bad shooter. He's creates a ton of chances. You're probably not watching so it would explain why you aren't seeing it

Not to be that guy but those weren’t points in the first place if there was a hand pass and offside.
And every player has ‘lost’ points on offsides and hand passes and other infractions.

 

[Dominance]

I barely hear the name Kakko when I watch the Rangers, although Hughes also looks completely atrocious every time I watch him play, so I really don’t think anyone should be trying to dunk on anyone in here.

 

[voxel]

I think that you should probably wait around 3 more years.

By that time Dach will be top-10 in scoring and none of the other 2019 draftees will.

 

[Dominance]

By that time Dach will be top-10 in scoring and none of the other 2019 draftees will.

Impatiently waiting for Dach to come back and step between Debrincat and Kane.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

So... Rangers fans. What the deal with Kakko at this point? Obviously his production is whelming but I suspect that isn’t the whole story.

This post covers it pretty well.

Kakko will be just fine. He is significantly improved from last year. The offense will come.

Kakko has absolutely improved. His analytics and underlying stats are pretty good and suggest he should have more points than he has. His defensive improvements and speed of thought are much improved from last season.

He also had COVID, which might've impacted him. He has some things he needs to work on that are probably why he has good underlying numbers and not good counting numbers, like his propensity to play on the perimeter offensively, and to over-complicate scoring chances, but he's going to be a good player and I'm not sure any player has proven this thread to be some kind of joke. It's still very possible Kakko might end up the best player from this draft.

 

[Wierzbowski426]

I barely hear the name Kakko when I watch the Rangers, although Hughes also looks completely atrocious every time I watch him play, so I really don’t think anyone should be trying to dunk on anyone in here.

You have no idea what you are talking about.