Player Discussion Kaapo Kakko

[McRanger92]

We are talking about a coach who had Dryden Hunt in the top-6 for the majority of the season.

What were his other options though? Kakko was a top 6 player the entire year when healthy, and Lafreniere spent a lot of time on the top line until we made the depth additions we needed.

 

[pld459666]

If Kakko has a Jere Lehtinen career, we need to count ourselves lucky.

20-30+ goals / 40-50+points while being a Selke Level defensive player?

I'm not hating on that

 

[Savant]

If Kakko has a Jere Lehtinen career, we need to count ourselves lucky.

20-30+ goals / 40-50+points while being a Selke Level defensive player?

I'm not hating on that

Nothing wrong with that at all. In fact if I’m the Rangers I’m trying to build a shutdown line 3 around Kakko. That’s his best use right now. I think they tried to do this when they went after Danault last summer. Should try to do something similar this off-season.

 

[pld459666]

Nothing wrong with that at all. In fact if I’m the Rangers I’m trying to build a shutdown line 3 around Kakko. That’s his best use right now. I think they tried to do this when they went after Danault last summer. Should try to do something similar this off-season.

Keep Copp and let him play Center for that 3rd line.

LW - Copp - Kakko

That said, Lehtinen played quite a bit on Dallas top 2 lines.

 

[Savant]

Keep Copp and let him play Center for that 3rd line.

LW - Copp - Kakko

That said, Lehtinen played quite a bit on Dallas top 2 lines.

I’m not re-signing Copp, but I don’t think this is too far off. Kakko I don’t think is a great fit on either their the top line or with Panarin, so it’s probably line 3 for now. May as well build it around his skill set.

 

[MysticLeviathan]

he moght not be getting a lot of points, but he’s doing some really good dirty work. really good board play abd possession and a super sweet pass to laf for a goal.

 

[Irishguy42]

idc if the goal didn't count, but his pass to Chytil on the disallowed goal earlier in the series was BDE

 

[bouds]

God that shift around the 3-4 minute mark where he used his body, shades of Jagr.

 

[IDvsEGO]

God that shift around the 3-4 minute mark where he used his body, shades of Jagr.

I think he's just gonna get stronger as he gets older too.

 

[RagFinMet]

Kk's floor is best 3rd line RW
40 pt selke winner
His ceiling tho is 1st line 200ft rw 65 pts
Excited to watch him grow
And still the greatest name in hockey

 

[bbny]

Kakko has been excellent. Playing good hockey along with the rest of the kid line. That line is collectively showing up the vets…that’s exciting and embarrassing at the same time.

 

[GENESISPuck94]

Wow, that's a nice hockey player.

 

[tomobson]

Kakko just needs a center that can cycle and support his wingers. This is something the top two centers don't do. They need to build a 2nd line matchup line around Kakko. With Goodrow on the third line you can keep Mika and Panarin permantly away from other teams top line so they can do offense.

 

[mas0764]

Kk's floor is best 3rd line RW
40 pt selke winner
His ceiling tho is 1st line 200ft rw 65 pts
Excited to watch him grow
And still the greatest name in hockey

His ceiling is still 85 points IMO.

 

[Fitzy]

The kid line has been one of the few highlights in this series so far.

Kakko and Laf performing well has been a tonic. Chytil sort of unexpectedly stepped up last night too after his big talk to the press.

Cool to see.

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

He's been solid, but I still feel there is a lot more to his game - which is to be expected considering he has only been back for a handful of games.

If this line can hit their stride at the right time, it may save the season for this team.

 

[ThirdEye]

He's been solid, but I still feel there is a lot more to his game - which is to be expected considering he has only been back for a handful of games.

If this line can hit their stride at the right time, it may save the season for this team.

I'm still expecting similar type domination that we saw in Finland and in international competitions from him. The strength and confidence is just not there yet but I feel like it's on the horizon. If he never gets there he's still going to be a hella useful player for us

 

[McRanger92]

Proving me wrong and I’m thrilled about it. Laf-Chytil-Kakko should be the 2nd line next year

 

[QJL]

Proving me wrong and I’m thrilled about it. Laf-Chytil-Kakko should be the 2nd line next year

3rd line LW Artemi Panarin there in case it fails.

 

[rangersfansince08]

3rd line LW Artemi Panarin there in case it fails.

Proving me wrong and I’m thrilled about it. Laf-Chytil-Kakko should be the 2nd line next year

Panarin-Zib-Kreider
Laf-Chytil-Kakko

if we don't resign Copp

 

[Callafan24]

He's been strong since returning from injury. Great hands, and he's really strong on the boards protecting the puck.

Having said that, why on Earth can't he finish 2-3 checks per game? He doesn't need to be Ryan Reaves out there, but he never engages physically and if he manned up once in a while he'd win a lot more puck battles and keep play alive for his line. Defenders would back off much more when they see #24 flying into the zone as well.

I like his game, but hate seeing him pull up on hits and wag his stick around like he's made of glass. Laf has taken that step to play physically more consistently, Kakko needs to follow suit IMO.

 

[Levitate]

honestly he creates more turnovers by stick checking than he would trying to throw big hits
Laf throws hits but he doesn't generate turnovers the same way kakko does

 

[McRanger92]

Panarin-Zib-Kreider
Laf-Chytil-Kakko

if we don't resign Copp

Panarin-Mika-Kreider
Laf-Chytil-Kakko
Blais-Goodrow-Copp

 

[BHawk21]

What do you think Kakkos next contract will look like?

 

[GAGLine]

What do you think Kakkos next contract will look like?

2 x 2.5