Player Discussion Kaapo Kakko

[Psycho for Perreault]

Nice turnover to set up the Chytil goal.

I didn't even notice that was him live. He had a nice play to start the initial breakout too. He looked pretty fast today at times. Hopefully that continues.

 

[RagFinMet]

He was skating tonight
Great to see
He was gliding a lot the past couple games
But he was very good as was the whole line

 

[bl02]

Little better tonight for sure. Still hasn't joined the party. Hopefully he will next round.

 

[Rongomania]

Little better tonight for sure. Still hasn't joined the party. Hopefully he will next round.

Had the same amount of points as Laf tonight in the most crucial game of his life. Oh yeah, Laf was on the PP for two minutes.

Kakko - 0:00 minutes PP.

Hope this round he shuts everyone the f*ck up already.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

He was fine again tonight. That line relies on everyone to be playing well for them to work and they have been.

 

[SeanAveryTheGreatOne]

Yes he was fine, and I do like him too, but G-d I can't imagine how amazing this team would be if Kakko played like the #2 Overall and (to a slightly lesser extent) if Laf played like the #1 Overall they are (and yes Laf has been downright good this playoffs, I know). Something in our organization is just rotten when it comes to developing goal-scoring forwards.

Again I love the kid, think he's been fine through the playoffs, and would LOVE to see him get rewarded on the score sheet but I can't help but feel a talent like him would at least be a 25-goal scorer by now if developed by, for example, Colorado.

Perhaps it's a tradeoff for our goalie luck.

 

[broadwayblue]

Yes he was fine, and I do like him too, but G-d I can't imagine how amazing this team would be if Kakko played like the #2 Overall and (to a slightly lesser extent) if Laf played like the #1 Overall they are (and yes Laf has been downright good this playoffs, I know). Something in our organization is just rotten when it comes to developing goal-scoring forwards.

Again I love the kid, think he's been fine through the playoffs, and would LOVE to see him get rewarded on the score sheet but I can't help but feel a talent like him would at least be a 25-goal scorer by now if developed by, for example, Colorado.

Perhaps it's a tradeoff for our goalie luck.

I hear you. But where was Carolina's #2 Overall pick in this series?

Hopefully his luck starts to turn soon. Would be a big boost.

 

[bhamill]

Total 5v5 points/60

1. Svechnikov - 1.69
2. Patrick: - 0.64
3. Laine - 1.35
4. Eichel - 2.04
5. Reinhart - 1.44
6. Barkov - 2.31
7. Landeskog - 2.36
8. Seguin - 1.97
9. JVR - 1.94
10. J. Staal - 1.94
11. Ryan - 1.92

Kakko - 1.58

I would rather Kakko be a bust and just be a better Jesper Fast on our 3rd line than trade him to a team that knows how to develop prospects and watch him become Mark Stone. I don't want to be the Senators looking at Zibanejad

Especially since if he is regarded as lowly by talent evaluators around the league as by the professionals on this board we won’t get jack shit in a trade anyway. It’s much better to just roll the dice on these young players.
I still think he breaks out. Not based on hope, based on unanimous evaluation of him pre-draft, his flashes of monster puck possession, including in his first real playoffs, and the circumstances that have affected his development and the fact that he’s still only 21.
At least the same naysayers have laid off the Laf and Chytil bust talk, until one has a slump at least, team Im sure we’ll hear how we should trade them for 2nds again.

 

[Draft Guru]

Would like to see him shoot more, other than that been pretty happy with his game this run. If he can get a little more confidence, that line will be that much better.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Yes he was fine, and I do like him too, but G-d I can't imagine how amazing this team would be if Kakko played like the #2 Overall and (to a slightly lesser extent) if Laf played like the #1 Overall they are (and yes Laf has been downright good this playoffs, I know). Something in our organization is just rotten when it comes to developing goal-scoring forwards.

Again I love the kid, think he's been fine through the playoffs, and would LOVE to see him get rewarded on the score sheet but I can't help but feel a talent like him would at least be a 25-goal scorer by now if developed by, for example, Colorado.

Perhaps it's a tradeoff for our goalie luck.

Andrew Ladd, Henrik and Daniel Sedin didn't hit 50 points until they were 25. Van Riemsdyk was 24. Reinhart and J. Staal 23. Niederreiter was 25. Huberdeau was 22. So were Horton and Vanek. All were top-5 draft picks.

As frustrating as it is sometimes to not see the production, it's not as if there's no time left for him to develop. I think what Kakko shows aside from his production is encouraging at least.

 

[Crease]

Would like to see him shoot more, other than that been pretty happy with his game this run. If he can get a little more confidence, that line will be that much better.

Kakko had a prime chance in the slot last night and opted to pass wide (the pass was broken up). I don't understand his hang up on shooting, especially against backup goalies. He needs to fire the puck more. Great board work. Great defense. Needs to shoot more.

 

[LokiDog]

Andrew Ladd, Henrik and Daniel Sedin didn't hit 50 points until they were 25. Van Riemsdyk was 24. Reinhart and J. Staal 23. Niederreiter was 25. Huberdeau was 22. So were Horton and Vanek. All were top-5 draft picks.

As frustrating as it is sometimes to not see the production, it's not as if there's no time left for him to develop. I think what Kakko shows aside from his production is encouraging at least.

I think most have always agreed. I’ve been called a hater so many times, but that’s ridiculous. The only thing I have argued has, essentially been, that he’s more likely to be a rich man’s Jesper Fast - maybe an Andrew Copp on the wing - than what we envisioned when we drafted him. That doesn’t mean I would hate him or not want him on my team. It just means, it feels unlikely he reaches the ceiling we had hoped for him. The kid line had been fine/good the whole playoffs. They definitely stepped up the last two games and if they never look back, that will be amazing for this club. As this is the Kakko thread and not the kid line thread, for Kakko specifically, I’ll say that was probably the best/most engaged skating I’ve seen from him. I don’t know why we haven’t seen that before if he has it in him, but if he can SKATE like that every night and not go dormant whenever he has a slump, he will be much more of a difference maker, points or no. Seeing him with more tenacity and jump was like watching a different version of the player entirely.

 

[Draft Guru]

Kakko had a prime chance in the slot last night and opted to pass wide (the pass was broken up). I don't understand his hang up on shooting, especially against backup goalies. He needs to fire the puck more. Great board work. Great defense. Needs to shoot more.

Yep, I believe he deferred to Chytil on that play. Had me screaming at the TV. Game 7, everything has to go towards the net especially from there.

He got robbed late in the game, I don’t think they showed a replay. Real good chance in close and Kotchekov got it with the glove.

Easily should’ve had 2-3 goals this series at the least.

 

[Chytilmania]

Probably had a better series than Svech had. I think we all would have signed up for that before the series.

 

[LokiDog]

Probably had a better series than Svech had. I think we all would have signed up for that before the series.

I think most would agree.

Kakko had 1 assist, +3, 3 hits, 10 shots.
Svech had 1 goal, +0, 20 hits, 17 shots.

Obviously Svech gets more offensive opportunity and he didn’t put up. Though Igor is a factor there. The biggest thing I think is just that Svech can scare you when he’s on the ice. He looks dangerous many times. He didn’t produce when it counted, and I’m not complaining. I would agree Kakko had the better series.

But these two are 10 months apart in age. Svechnikov already has 209 NHL points and 542 hits. I think we’d love to see the engaged, SKATING Kakko that showed up these past two games start using his size to have more of a danger factor consistently the way Svech does. Svech will always be more physical, and likely always be the bigger point producer, but that’s not the only measure of having a positive impact. I think given his physical maturity and proximity in age, we’re just hoping Kakko can look at the way Svechnikov mixes it up against grown men, gets in hard on the forecheck (sure he’s a little dirty too - I wouldn’t at all mind Kakko developing a mild mean streak) and makes his presence felt and says “this guy is my age, my size… I can do this too”. I don’t want to compare them as players. I think we just want to see that confidence and “bring it-ness” in Kakko’s game consistently.

 

[bhamill]

Andrew Ladd, Henrik and Daniel Sedin didn't hit 50 points until they were 25. Van Riemsdyk was 24. Reinhart and J. Staal 23. Niederreiter was 25. Huberdeau was 22. So were Horton and Vanek. All were top-5 draft picks.

As frustrating as it is sometimes to not see the production, it's not as if there's no time left for him to develop. I think what Kakko shows aside from his production is encouraging at least.

Mika was also 22, maybe 23 depending when he scored that 50th point. In any case D+5 season.
Kakko is D+3 and has dealt with two COVID seasons and injuries. I'm not that worried.

 

[bhamill]

I think most would agree.

Kakko had 1 assist, +3, 3 hits, 10 shots.
Svech had 1 goal, +0, 20 hits, 17 shots.

Obviously Svech gets more offensive opportunity and he didn’t put up. Though Igor is a factor there. The biggest thing I think is just that Svech can scare you when he’s on the ice. He looks dangerous many times. He didn’t produce when it counted, and I’m not complaining. I would agree Kakko had the better series.

But these two are 10 months apart in age. Svechnikov already has 209 NHL points and 542 hits. I think we’d love to see the engaged, SKATING Kakko that showed up these past two games start using his size to have more of a danger factor consistently the way Svech does. Svech will always be more physical, and likely always be the bigger point producer, but that’s not the only measure of having a positive impact. I think given his physical maturity and proximity in age, we’re just hoping Kakko can look at the way Svechnikov mixes it up against grown men, gets in hard on the forecheck (sure he’s a little dirty too - I wouldn’t at all mind Kakko developing a mild mean streak) and makes his presence felt and says “this guy is my age, my size… I can do this too”. I don’t want to compare them as players. I think we just want to see that confidence and “bring it-ness” in Kakko’s game consistently.

Pretty reasonable. Though I think too much is made of age as opposed to season, age counts toward physical maturation which is widely variable from individual to individual, season counts more to development as a player. If two players are the same exact age but one started a year later, he's still a year behind in development no matter how physically mature either or the other is.

 

[Psycho for Perreault]

"He's got the perfect game for playoffs" -Messier

They've all looked like they found an extra ten gears.

 

[haohmaru]

People tend to forget how young Kakko and Lafreniere, hell even Chytil, are. They'll figure it out.

 

[bbny]

Kakko was great tonight. That pass to Chytil was delicious.

 

[Row I Goon]

Kakko may not be pulling the trigger but he is loading the gun for others - solid effort tonite

 

[bl02]

He does a lot of good things behind the net. If he has some time he is gonna find Laf or Chytil open in a danger area. Like he did with Lafreniere vs Pitt game 5.

 

[bouds]

There's been a lot of times where Kakko is behind the net and he can just turn around and do what he did tonight on that pass. Maybe the game is slowing down for these guys. Still feel like part of the issue is their straight line speed, but if they keep cycling like they've been doing it won't matter. It's not like they were together for most of the season either, so they're finally clicking. Happy for them.

 

[Chaels Arms]

On the shift right after the second Chytil goal Chytil committed a pretty bad turnover behind the Tampa net. This was the play McDonough said "Tampa's got an opportunity if they hurry.... they didn't hurry quite enough." That was because both Lafreniere and Kakko were holding our own blueline by the time Tampa got the puck up ice. These are the types of things Kakko and Lafreniere do that they are not getting credit for. Even if they never become offensive monsters they are both showing they can play with an edge and they don't mind playing in all three zones. To see that in players as young as they are is huge. That is the type of play guys like Gabriel Landeskog and Brad Marchand showed in their 2nd/3rd years in the NHL before they ever put up big stats.

 

[Rsswmu]

On the shift right after the second Chytil goal Chytil committed a pretty bad turnover behind the Tampa net. This was the play McDonough said "Tampa's got an opportunity if they hurry.... they didn't hurry quite enough." That was because both Lafreniere and Kakko were holding our own blueline by the time Tampa got the puck up ice. These are the types of things Kakko and Lafreniere do that they are not getting credit for. Even if they never become offensive monsters they are both showing they can play with an edge and they don't mind playing in all three zones. To see that in players as young as they are is huge. That is the type of play guys like Gabriel Landeskog and Brad Marchand showed in their 2nd/3rd years in the NHL before they ever put up big stats.

Great post 100% agree.