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Player Discussion Kaapo Kakko: Part III

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I’m not surprised he’s had points in the last 2 games. He’s been playing very well lately, so it was just a matter of time before the points came.
 
Kakko played most of the first half next Brett Howden and struggled? Shocker.

Kakko when on the top pp actually produced? Shocker

Kakko playing better next to a competent center? Shocker

Kakko getting comfortable coming up on his 50th North American pro game? Wow big shocker.

absolutely nothing to worry about. He’s a stud. O my going to get better and better
 
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Kakko is already outproducing 18 year old Joe Thornton, Clayton Keller, Filip Forsberg, Mark Scheifele, and Mika Zibanejad. He's on pace to outproduce David Pasternak. Guys like Jonathan Huberdeau, Artemi Panarin, Auston Matthews, Patty Kane, and Sebastian Aho weren't even in the league at 18. Take a deep breathe and step back from the ledge, we've got a long way to go here.
 
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Crease said:
Kakko is already outproducing 18 year old Joe Thornton, Clayton Keller, Filip Forsberg, Mark Scheifele, and Mika Zibanejad. He's on pace to outproduce David Pasternak. Guys like Jonathan Huberdeau, Artemi Panarin, Auston Matthews, Patty Kane, and Sebastian Aho weren't even in the league at 18. Take a deep breathe and step back from the ledge, we've got a long way to go here.
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No ones on the ledge.
 
KingDeathMetal said:
Kakko has played a crap ton of hockey over the past year. He obviously needs a rest, and I think having a full off-season and NHL campaign under his belt will do him wonders.
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He does look like he's absolutely exhausted. It looked like he could barely move after scoring that goal last night.
 
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The other thing that people kinda pass over when comparing him to Svechnikov is that Svech had been playing NA style hockey for 2 years before being drafted. IMO that's a huge thing that we're seeing with Kakko having to learn and still struggling with at times.
 
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Levitate said:
The other thing that people kinda pass over when comparing him to Svechnikov is that Svech had been playing NA style hockey for 2 years before being drafted. IMO that's a huge thing that we're seeing with Kakko having to learn and still struggling with at times.
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Good point. Believe Svech was much more physically mature at 18 as well
 
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Levitate said:
The other thing that people kinda pass over when comparing him to Svechnikov is that Svech had been playing NA style hockey for 2 years before being drafted. IMO that's a huge thing that we're seeing with Kakko having to learn and still struggling with at times.
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Kakko runs out of space quickly. I see it often. He has to adjust to the smaller ice surface. Once he does, he will get better and better.
 
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noupf said:
Kakko runs out of space quickly. I see it often. He has to adjust to the smaller ice surface. Once he does, he will get better and better.
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yeah and he can buy time still with his stick handling but he's gotta add something to it in order to gain separation and make a decision with the puck at that point

which as you say I think he'll do but it's still an adjustment
 
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Levitate said:
yeah and he can buy time still with his stick handling but he's gotta add something to it in order to gain separation and make a decision with the puck at that point

which as you say I think he'll do but it's still an adjustment
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agreed, he does in deed buy himself some time with his stick handling stabilizes and creativity...however, he takes a second or two too long to make the final decision of what to do with the puck.....and when he pulls the trigger to pass or shoot, the opposing player has gotten on him and has killed the play in one fashion or another
 
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Levitate said:
The other thing that people kinda pass over when comparing him to Svechnikov is that Svech had been playing NA style hockey for 2 years before being drafted. IMO that's a huge thing that we're seeing with Kakko having to learn and still struggling with at times.
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So you're saying we need to stop drafting from Europe and start drafting from the CHL? Big time agree.
 
I'm not worried about KK at all. That said, I think Svechnikov looked way better to me last year than KK at this point.

Svech was brought along slowly, too, but whenever I watched him play, he looked really good in his limited time. He definitely looked more ready physically. I think he put up over 120 hits. I have no idea how the advanced stats compare, but to my eyes, Svech looked better.

I look forward to KK continuing to develop over the rest of this season and then having an off-season to train for his second season.
 
mschmidt64 said:
He does look like he's absolutely exhausted. It looked like he could barely move after scoring that goal last night.
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The first full NHL season for European players is usually the toughest, because they're not used to playing those extra 30 games. European leagues usually just have 55 games + playoffs. The off-season is hence also longer to improve your stamina and bulking up.
 
Crease said:
Kakko is already outproducing 18 year old Joe Thornton, Clayton Keller, Filip Forsberg, Mark Scheifele, and Mika Zibanejad. He's on pace to outproduce David Pasternak. Guys like Jonathan Huberdeau, Artemi Panarin, Auston Matthews, Patty Kane, and Sebastian Aho weren't even in the league at 18. Take a deep breathe and step back from the ledge, we've got a long way to go here.
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No one is on a ledge, but I think that those saying that there is nothing at all to worry about (and that's a surprisingly large group of people) are on the opposite side of the clueless spectrum. Both extremes are pretty annoying.

I do see troubling signs in his game. He does need a lot of work this offseason. I think he can definitely get himself there, but no one should pretend that there is nothing to worry about (not saying you are doing that).
 
Chimp said:
The first full NHL season for European players is usually the toughest, because they're not used to playing those extra 30 games. European leagues usually just have 55 games + playoffs. The off-season is hence also longer to improve your stamina and bulking up.
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While this is accurate as a general statement, he looked gassed much earlier on in the season, so this doesn't hold water at all for me. His conditioning is number one with a bullet to improve this offseason. His endurance has been very sub-par.
 
Chimp said:
The first full NHL season for European players is usually the toughest, because they're not used to playing those extra 30 games. European leagues usually just have 55 games + playoffs. The off-season is hence also longer to improve your stamina and bulking up.
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Also need to remind how he also played WHC on top of that.
Hunter Gathers said:
While this is accurate as a general statement, he looked gassed much earlier on in the season, so this doesn't hold water at all for me. His conditioning is number one with a bullet to improve this offseason. His endurance has been very sub-par.
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It has been the same case for many other Finnish players also, Laine in particular. He has looked gassed earlier in the season and the started to pick it up come spring. Maybe it's the way they have been doing summer training, who knows. I'm worried about it going forward.
 
LOFIN said:
It has been the same case for many other Finnish players also, Laine in particular. He has looked gassed earlier in the season and the started to pick it up come spring. Maybe it's the way they have been doing summer training, who knows. I'm worried about it going forward.
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Some yes, some no. As a blanket excuse, I don't think it holds water. Kakko was gassed sometimes very early on in the season. We are talking about like the 10th game, too.

I'm sure the team knows this, so they will likely be on him to improve that this offseason.
 
Hunter Gathers said:
Some yes, some no. As a blanket excuse, I don't think it holds water. Kakko was gassed sometimes very early on in the season. We are talking about like the 10th game, too.

I'm sure the team knows this, so they will likely be on him to improve that this offseason.
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It was exactly my point that Laine also looked exhausted in the beginning of the season, and actually got progressively better as the season went on.
 
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