Player Discussion Kaapo Kakko

[ElLeetch]

Kakko is playing well and he is pacing for 40 points which is great. Honestly, the way he is progressing as a 200-foot player with the point coming along slowly will help big time when we resign him after next season. We will likely be able to get a long term deal in the 5.5 to 6.5 range. That would be great.

If he becomes a Patrice Bergeron Lite, thats a giant win.

​

 

[GAGLine]

Kakko has the skillset to become Zibanejad. Big, strong, silky smooth hands, and responsible defensively. The coaching staff should be telling Kakko to watch Mika and to emulate him closely. And to shoot the damn puck.

He doesn't have the skating for that. Chytil has a much better chance if he improves defensively.

 

[dshea19]

Lost another

I am wondering too, as of this morning, the NHL site shows Kakko with 2 assists.

My app showed the second goal had Chytil with an assist this morning. It is showing Kakko again. Possibly an app glitch, but it was showing Chytil with 2 assists and Kakko with 1. Not showing that now.

 

[dshea19]

With a little more luck he would have double the amount of points he has?

Considering the number of times he has hit the post or has been absolutely robbed by amazing saves and the number of times people he has fed passes to people who have hit posts or have been robbed by amazing saves, and the number of times he has had assists taken away, it is very possible for him to be in that neighborhood. Hit posts is one of those things that is keeping the underlying problems with this team from being hidden. If they are scoring those goals, this team's record would make people think they are a powerhouse. It isn't an official NHL stat, but I believe it has been posted that the Rangers are one of the top teams with hit posts in the league. That number is somewhere around 50, I believe. Could be, and wouldn't shock me if it was true, much more considering the number of games they have played and the number of times they have had multiple posts per game. I wouldn't be surprised if that number is really 75, and it could be. I just don't know who is tracking those stats to confirm.

 

[ThirdEye]

Considering the number of times he has hit the post or has been absolutely robbed by amazing saves and the number of times people he has fed passes to people who have hit posts or have been robbed by amazing saves, and the number of times he has had assists taken away, it is very possible for him to be in that neighborhood. Hit posts is one of those things that is keeping the underlying problems with this team from being hidden. If they are scoring those goals, this team's record would make people think they are a powerhouse. It isn't an official NHL stat, but I believe it has been posted that the Rangers are one of the top teams with hit posts in the league. That number is somewhere around 50, I believe. Could be, and wouldn't shock me if it was true, much more considering the number of games they have played and the number of times they have had multiple posts per game. I wouldn't be surprised if that number is really 75, and it could be. I just don't know who is tracking those stats to confirm.

I'm not really buying that this team is cursed. This kind of stuff tends to even out over the course of the season. It hasn't really yet so my conclusion is that the team just stinks at finishing.

 

[McRanger92]

I'm not really buying that this team is cursed. This kind of stuff tends to even out over the course of the season. It hasn't really yet so my conclusion is that the team just stinks at finishing.

Yeah Kakko is so young he will eventually learn to finish his chances. Can't blame him but he couldve one us a game or 2 in the playoffs last year if he couldve hit an open net. Buch was like this early on and Kakko has many more games under his belt than he had at the same age.

 

[68Forever]

Kakko has the skillset to become Zibanejad. Big, strong, silky smooth hands, and responsible defensively. The coaching staff should be telling Kakko to watch Mika and to emulate him closely. And to shoot the damn puck.

kakko can't skate like zib and zib can't hold onto the puck down low like kakko. definitely shoot like zib though please!!!

 

[dshea19]

I'm not really buying that this team is cursed. This kind of stuff tends to even out over the course of the season. It hasn't really yet so my conclusion is that the team just stinks at finishing.

I definitely don't think they are cursed. I think some is definitely poor finishing and hitting goal posts can be counted in that for sure. The amazing saves against by some average to below average goalies is definitely not the norm. They are going to happen occasionally, but the frequency they happen this year seems abnormally high. These are the moments where the goalies are stealing goals, not the moments where the Rangers are apparently trying to wear a hole through the goalie's chest.

The team shooting percentage is definitely down. 9.6% this season so far.
The last three years going backwards are 10.5%, 11%, 10.7%. That is a fair amount of difference over the course of a season. That obviously doesn't tell the entire story. The story has to be looked at in context, but it does show that they are not finishing as well. None of the percentage stats take into account posts and missed shots. I am not counting missed shots in my wildly unscientific estimation, but hit posts are this strange middle realm where they don't count as shots, but they are often half an inch from being a goal.

Like I said, if they had scored on half of their hit posts, they probably have more wins and people might look at them differently. Wins can hide weaknesses that will often be exposed in the playoffs.

 

[Kodiak]

I'm not really buying that this team is cursed. This kind of stuff tends to even out over the course of the season. It hasn't really yet so my conclusion is that the team just stinks at finishing.

It looks like we had a bad stretch to start the season, it evened out, and now we are in a bad stretch again.

Here's the month over month 5v5 shooting percentage:
October: 7.14%, tied for 28th in the NHL
November: 8.09%, 15th
December: 9.93%, 6th
January: 6.4%, 29th

If we built up any sort of stored puck luck in October, it looks like we spent it in December.

 

[DJ Gismo]

If he becomes a Patrice Bergeron Lite, thats a giant win.

​

Bergeron had wayyyy more points and a better PPG in his 1st season, than Kakko has EVER had.

Kakko is not a "Bergeron lite", not even in the same universe. He is a checking-line-3rd liner

 

[DJ Gismo]

When are the excuses gonna end? He has shown zero improvement in 4 years. His last 7 games have been atrocious.

When are they gonna give the 1st line spot & the opportunities to some other, young player? Kakko has shown he does not deserve it, and that he is unable to improve.

Kakko has mostly been playing with excellent line/teammates, like:

-the reigning Vezina winner
-a recent Norris winner
-a Hart Trophy finalist
-a 50-goal-scorer (from last season)
-a franchise center who has 326 points in his last 322 games, and who is 1.00 ppg this season

And what does he have to show for it? Great improvements? No, instead he has:

-31-point-pace for the career
-35-point-pace for this season
-34-point-pace for the last 33 games
-23-point-pace for last 7 games
-18-point-pace in 22 games in the playoffs


(The pace is for 82 games, for example this season he is pacing for 35 points in 82 games)

 

[huerter]

When are the excuses gonna end? He has shown zero improvement in 4 years. His last 7 games have been atrocious.

When are they gonna give the 1st line spot & the opportunities to some other, young player? Kakko has shown he does not deserve it, and that he is unable to improve.

Kakko has mostly been playing with excellent line/teammates, like:

-the reigning Vezina winner
-a recent Norris winner
-a Hart Trophy finalist
-a 50-goal-scorer (from last season)
-a franchise center who has 326 points in his last 322 games, and who is 1.00 ppg this season

And what does he have to show for it? Great improvements? No, instead he has:

-31-point-pace for the career
-35-point-pace for this season
-34-point-pace for the last 33 games
-23-point-pace for last 7 games
-18-point-pace in 22 games in the playoffs


(The pace is for 82 games, for example this season he is pacing for 35 points in 82 games)

Points schmoints (no sarcasm)

 

[ThirdEye]

When are the excuses gonna end? He has shown zero improvement in 4 years. His last 7 games have been atrocious.

When are they gonna give the 1st line spot & the opportunities to some other, young player? Kakko has shown he does not deserve it, and that he is unable to improve.

Kakko has mostly been playing with excellent line/teammates, like:

-the reigning Vezina winner
-a recent Norris winner
-a Hart Trophy finalist
-a 50-goal-scorer (from last season)
-a franchise center who has 326 points in his last 322 games, and who is 1.00 ppg this season

And what does he have to show for it? Great improvements? No, instead he has:

-31-point-pace for the career
-35-point-pace for this season
-34-point-pace for the last 33 games
-23-point-pace for last 7 games
-18-point-pace in 22 games in the playoffs


(The pace is for 82 games, for example this season he is pacing for 35 points in 82 games)

That first statement is just straight up hyperbole. You didn't watch much of him his rookie year, did you?

Also, what does him playing on the same team as Shesterkin have to do with anything? Has absolutely zero relevance

Kakko is an incomplete player with still quite a bit of upside. He's had consistency issues but all in all he's not doing terribly given the circumstances (averaging around 15 min with little to no PP time). I understand the patience is wearing thin with him, but he's not the reason for our woes this season. Not even close

 

[The Crypto Guy]

When are the excuses gonna end? He has shown zero improvement in 4 years. His last 7 games have been atrocious.

When are they gonna give the 1st line spot & the opportunities to some other, young player? Kakko has shown he does not deserve it, and that he is unable to improve.

Kakko has mostly been playing with excellent line/teammates, like:

-the reigning Vezina winner
-a recent Norris winner
-a Hart Trophy finalist
-a 50-goal-scorer (from last season)
-a franchise center who has 326 points in his last 322 games, and who is 1.00 ppg this season

And what does he have to show for it? Great improvements? No, instead he has:

-31-point-pace for the career
-35-point-pace for this season
-34-point-pace for the last 33 games
-23-point-pace for last 7 games
-18-point-pace in 22 games in the playoffs


(The pace is for 82 games, for example this season he is pacing for 35 points in 82 games)

"I don't watch Kakko play, I just look at stats"

 

[mike14]

How much do we really expect the reigning Vezina winner to affect KK's point totals?

 

[TopShelfSnipes]

How much do we really expect the reigning Vezina winner to affect KK's point totals?

If Igor snipes an empty net someday, KK might get both assists on the goal?

 

[OthmannOut]

How much do we really expect the reigning Vezina winner to affect KK's point totals?

To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand the reigning Vezina winner's impact on Kakko's point totals.

 

[LORDE]

When are the excuses gonna end? He has shown zero improvement in 4 years. His last 7 games have been atrocious.

When are they gonna give the 1st line spot & the opportunities to some other, young player? Kakko has shown he does not deserve it, and that he is unable to improve.

Kakko has mostly been playing with excellent line/teammates, like:

-the reigning Vezina winner
-a recent Norris winner
-a Hart Trophy finalist
-a 50-goal-scorer (from last season)
-a franchise center who has 326 points in his last 322 games, and who is 1.00 ppg this season

And what does he have to show for it? Great improvements? No, instead he has:

-31-point-pace for the career
-35-point-pace for this season
-34-point-pace for the last 33 games
-23-point-pace for last 7 games
-18-point-pace in 22 games in the playoffs


(The pace is for 82 games, for example this season he is pacing for 35 points in 82 games)

Wut is this? Zero improvement is where I stopped

 

[Chaels Arms]

You guys have to remember @DJ Gismo is the same poster who started a thread on the main boards explaining that all of Kakko's troubles are due to him using a short stick. I'm not knocking it either because the post is oddly fascinating but just mentioning this for context.

 

[markymarc1215]

No issues with Kakko at all aside from not shooting enough. If he keeps this up and ends the year with 40 plus points, it is a win in my book. He is putting it together, slowly.

 

[Profet]

If Igor snipes an empty net someday, KK might get both assists on the goal?

The NHL would take away both assists... but a bug would make it so that Kakko came out of that game with -1 assists.

 

[lilphildub]

Has he been a bit disappointing this season? Yes. But anyone who has eyes can see he’s improved this year. Still has work to do to be a solid top 6 player but he’s growing. I think he’ll get there in the next few years. He’s given me a lot more hope he can grow into a solid player than Laf

 

[Rongomania]

Has he been a bit disappointing this season? Yes. But anyone who has eyes can see he’s improved this year. Still has work to do to be a solid top 6 player but he’s growing. I think he’ll get there in the next few years. He’s given me a lot more hope he can grow into a solid player than Laf

With PP1 time and a lil more luck, this kid is at 40pts right now. I think everyone knows that.

 

[haohmaru]

Has he been a bit disappointing this season? Yes. But anyone who has eyes can see he’s improved this year. Still has work to do to be a solid top 6 player but he’s growing. I think he’ll get there in the next few years. He’s given me a lot more hope he can grow into a solid player than Laf

I think he's a pretty solid top 6 right now. Just needs a four leaf clover or some shit to change the luck a bit.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Has he been a bit disappointing this season? Yes. But anyone who has eyes can see he’s improved this year. Still has work to do to be a solid top 6 player but he’s growing. I think he’ll get there in the next few years. He’s given me a lot more hope he can grow into a solid player than Laf

No.