Player Discussion Kaapo Kakko

[NickyFotiu]

Can we agree that there is a good chance Kakko wouldn't have put up those numbers in GG's spot but also a pretty good chance that Kakko would have made better lineup decisions against TB?

That is possible. I can't conclude it because I don't know all the information that went in to the decision. Was it because we lost the previous 3 games with Kakko? Was it about wanting fresh legs? Was it about something off ice and the team is keeping that information in house?
There were rumors about KK early in the afternoon and as late as warmups it looked like Strome might sit so I found that odd. If it was a gametime decision on Strome why did the KK rumors start around 2pm?

 

[chosen]

Ummm, what? Never said I knew what Gallant told the players. Is that what you got from my comment? lol
What anger? I saw a quick dismissal of a reaction when asked by the press about the roster moves which is not a good look for him or the team. You can debate that if you wish.
No, I don't think you're reading correctly.
Angry Reaves was scratched... a little. Kind of, yeah angry and disappointed (which comes with the gig as a Ranger fan) that both Kakko and Reaves were scratched for a borderline AHL player and a vet that had no business being on the ice and who coincidentally barely played in a game that was do or die situation.
Was that roster move really the best shot of icing the best roster? Think really hard whether or not its a good look for the coach or team to make that kind of move then not answer the press as to why it was made. Think but don't think too hard because it's not a good look at all.
This is the part where you sell me on Kakko and Reaves not being the difference in a win or loss. Can't answer that but you'd be in the minority to think if Hunt and Strome over Kakko and Reaves gives you a better chance.

You wrote "Trying to figure it because Gallant had no explanation to the press or the players"

I wrote in response -"Wondering how you know what Gallant told his players".

This leaves two possibilities. Either you need to write a tad better or at least understand what you write.

If you thought the responses by Gallant about Kakko questions resembled in any way Gallant responses to any other questions he's been asked in his entire tenure, you missed the whole point of Gallant's tone.

Reaves IS a borderline AHL player, at present. Thought most Rangers fans had already come to that conclusion.

It is not Gallant's job to air the team's dirty laundry to the press. In fact, doing so would likely lead to a very quick firing from Dolan.

Your last point obviously no longer applies to the discussion.

 

[Rongomania]

Lol Coach praises Kakko by saying he should definitely be in the top 6 next season.

Some of our fans: "He's soft, he's a 21 year old bum."

I didn't agree with gallants decision but he's a better hockey mind than every single fan on these boards.

Get the kid signed and let's go and destroy shit next season.

 

[TheDirtyH]

I think as long as Kakko continues to grow year over year there's nothing to worry about. Not many players 'pop' without high leverage usage, certainly some do but they're more the exception than the rule. As the top players on our team start to decline and he and laf and Chytil continue to trend up, they'll get those minutes and then I'm sure they'll make good use of them.

As @Ola has pointed out many times, kids--even the most highly touted--need to learn as much about offense in the NHL as they do defense. Kakkos hasn't produced except in spurts, but then, due to usage and injuries, he's never had much consistent time to learn in an offensive role.

I doubt the confidence is a huge issue, or the trust in the team and the org. There used to be some talk that Kakko was disliked by teammates but I saw a lot during this run to contradict that. He and laf will continue to progress, and eventually they'll be great. I think anyway

 

[jerseyjinx94]

I’m sorry we can argue all day about the decision to scratch Kakko but it is inexcusable leadership to scratch the kid without even speaking to him or providing a reason.

Is he owed one? No.

Is it best to give him one? Yes.

Insane to me.

 

[NickyFotiu]

I’m sorry we can argue all day about the decision to scratch Kakko but it is inexcusable leadership to scratch the kid without even speaking to him or providing a reason.

Is he owed one? No.

Is it best to give him one? Yes.

Insane to me.

How could he have not heard about the possibility till he got in the lockerroom when the rumors were all over Twitter by 2pm? Seems strange.

 

[jerseyjinx94]

How could he have not heard about the possibility till he got in the lockerroom when the rumors were all over Twitter by 2pm? Seems strange.

He may not use Twitter- but even if he saw the rumors on Twitter, the kid explicitly said no one spoke to him about it. Do you think he’s lying about that?

 

[NickyFotiu]

He may not use Twitter- but even if he saw the rumors on Twitter, the kid explicitly said no one spoke to him about it. Do you think he’s lying about that?

Im not saying he is lying but not only was it on Twitter but I think a media person mentioned the possibility in an article. I figure if I knew about it a family member, girlfriend, agent, teammate, etc might have mentioned it if he doesn't read the Internet. Its even mentioned in this thread at 2pm on game day.

 

[Clark Kellogg]

Based on Messier calling out Kakko’s forechecking after game 5 for not taking the body twice on Hedman behind Tampa’s net, I will assume this could have been an ongoing issue with Kaapo’s game throughout the playoffs.
If the coaching staff is telling him to “take the body” and he refuses then I don’t believe Gallant or any of his staff need to explain to the player why he is not in the lineup.
Message sent; was message received?

 

[jerseyjinx94]

This is exactly the type of old school corporate attitude that alienates people and fails to address the point - he was scratched, and no one even told him. He seems to be taking it well. But assuredly, that’s an unnecessary risk and a bad way to manage your employees. Particularly ones born after the year 2000.

 

[bbny]

Based on Messier calling out Kakko’s forechecking after game 5 for not taking the body twice on Hedman behind Tampa’s net, I will assume this could have been an ongoing issue with Kaapo’s game throughout the playoffs.
If the coaching staff is telling him to “take the body” and he refuses then I don’t believe Gallant or any of his staff need to explain to the player why he is not in the lineup.
Message sent; was message received?

Kakko shied away from contact all postseason. I don't mean jostling along the boards for a puck. I mean when he has an opportunity to make a hit to potentially make a play, he peels off, which is unacceptable given his size, strength, and lack of production. Guys who produce at high clips get away with this kind of thing. Guys who don't need to do whatever they can to be visible.

Unless he starts racking up the production, he needs a little more nasty in him, but see if I complain if he decides to just do both next year. Lafreniere has that edge in his game. I'm not sure if this is something that can be learned (at this stage of a career) or if it is an innate ability tied to personality. Some are lovers, some are fighters. Kakko's a quiet, humble kid. Look at his response to the benching. Super likable and mature. It makes me like him as a person and want to root for him harder to succeed. It also makes me wonder if he is incapable of "getting mean" on ice when required.

 

[jerseyjinx94]

Based on Messier calling out Kakko’s forechecking after game 5 for not taking the body twice on Hedman behind Tampa’s net, I will assume this could have been an ongoing issue with Kaapo’s game throughout the playoffs.
If the coaching staff is telling him to “take the body” and he refuses then I don’t believe Gallant or any of his staff need to explain to the player why he is not in the lineup.
Message sent; was message received?

This is pure speculation so I don’t know how to respond to it

 

[Clark Kellogg]

Kakko shied away from contact all postseason. I don't mean jostling along the boards for a puck. I mean when he has an opportunity to make a hit to potentially make a play, he peels off, which is unacceptable given his size, strength, and lack of production. Guys who produce at high clips get away with this kind of thing. Guys who don't need to do whatever they can to be visible.

Unless he starts racking up the production, he needs a little more nasty in him, but see if I complain if he decides to just do both next year. Lafreniere has that edge in his game. I'm not sure if this is something that can be learned (at this stage of a career) or if it is an innate ability tied to personality. Some are lovers, some are fighters. Kakko's a quiet, humble kid. Look at his response to the benching. Super likable and mature. It makes me like him as a person and want to root for him harder to succeed. It also makes me wonder if he is incapable of "getting mean" on ice when required.

Agree on your first point not sure on the learned part.
K’Andrea Miller is slightly older than Kaapo and looked at the leaps he took from the beginning of the season till the end of the playoffs when it came to the physical part of his game. Miller went from shying away from taking out opponents to full on beast mode.
I agree though if Kaapo Kakko is not excelling in point production and refuses to take advantage of his large frame then he is lost and would need to be traded as a reclamation project to another team. The good news is he is only 20 so hopefully his will and the coaching staff can turn him into a complete NHL player.

 

[n8]

I'm hoping Kakko can learn to be strong on the puck like Jagr was.

 

[Clark Kellogg]

This is pure speculation so I don’t know how to respond to it

Not pure speculation based on game clips that were shown on ESPN by analyst Mark Messier, one of the greatest hockey player ever to lace up skates.
Don’t respond. It’s not mandatory.

 

[jerseyjinx94]

Not pure speculation based on game clips that were shown on ESPN by analyst Mark Messier, one of the greatest hockey player ever to lace up skates.
Don’t respond. It’s not mandatory.

It’s speculation. Based on clips on ESPN analyzing Kakko, you’re assuming that Gallant has been telling Kakko to do something all playoffs and that Kakko didn’t get the message, thus shifting the blame from the coaching staff not talking to Kakko about his scratch to Kakko himself. It’s an old school mindset based on nothing but speculation. I’m not trying to be insulting, just saying, you’re not basing that on anything that we know happened. The only fact we have is that Kakko wasn’t told he was scratched or why until he saw the lineup

 

[Hisch13r]

Not pure speculation based on game clips that were shown on ESPN by analyst Mark Messier, one of the greatest hockey player ever to lace up skates.
Don’t respond. It’s not mandatory.

It is pure speculation to say something like “message sent”. It’s pure speculation to think that’s what he was being told.

 

[WojtekWolski86]

Kakko shied away from contact all postseason. I don't mean jostling along the boards for a puck. I mean when he has an opportunity to make a hit to potentially make a play, he peels off, which is unacceptable given his size, strength, and lack of production. Guys who produce at high clips get away with this kind of thing. Guys who don't need to do whatever they can to be visible.

Unless he starts racking up the production, he needs a little more nasty in him, but see if I complain if he decides to just do both next year. Lafreniere has that edge in his game. I'm not sure if this is something that can be learned (at this stage of a career) or if it is an innate ability tied to personality. Some are lovers, some are fighters. Kakko's a quiet, humble kid. Look at his response to the benching. Super likable and mature. It makes me like him as a person and want to root for him harder to succeed. It also makes me wonder if he is incapable of "getting mean" on ice when required.

He also got hurt earlier in the year throwing a payback hit and it went south for him. Can't say that's in the back of his mind that multiple times this year after playing well and finding his game he gets injured.

 

[CLW]

He also got hurt earlier in the year throwing a payback hit and it went south for him. Can't say that's in the back of his mind that multiple times this year after playing well and finding his game he gets injured.

This is true. He got hurt hitting Romanov. I don't doubt GG wants more physicality, it just seems strange if GG wanted 3 more hits in an ECF elimination game instead of the actual offensive edge. You fix such issues in the regular season through coaching, no?

 

[huerter]

I'm hoping Kakko can learn to be strong on the puck like Jagr was.

And create from behind the net. Not sure if anyone has before, but if so, like that guy.

 

[Clark Kellogg]

Since Gerard Gallant has been Head Coach of the New York Rangers he has protected his individual players in press conference’s.
In this year’s playoffs he once said he felt his team looked tired and once said that his team played soft.
During the regular season he had called out the team for playing soft and also had said the “NHL is a Man’s game” and “They need to play like Men because this is a Man’s game”
Kaapo Kakko is a young developing player who doesn’t shoot enough, who over-passes and doesn’t take the body on any consistent basis. Kaapo Kakko does hold on to the puck well and when defending is good at stick-checking an opponent who has possession of the puck.
At this early point in his career, Kakko is playing soft. He is not playing like a Man in a Man’s Game.
If you are unable to connect the dots with all this information along with Kaapo being called out on ESPN. Then we will disagree on the term “pure speculation” which to me equates to making up something out of thin air. My speculation is based on the factual information I’ve provided in this and my previous posts.
Edit:
Multi Quote didn’t work; I did try to respond to both of you.

 

[CLW]

Since Gerard Gallant has been Head Coach of the New York Rangers he has protected his individual players in press conference’s.
In this year’s playoffs he once said he felt his team looked tired and once said that his team played soft.
During the regular season he had called out the team for playing soft and also had said the “NHL is a Man’s game” and “They need to play like Men because this is a Man’s game”
Kaapo Kakko is a young developing player who doesn’t shoot enough, who over-passes and doesn’t take the body on any consistent basis. Kaapo Kakko does hold on to the puck well and when defending is good at stick-checking an opponent who has possession of the puck.
At this early point in his career, Kakko is playing soft. He is not playing like a Man in a Man’s Game.
If you are unable to connect the dots with all this information along with Kaapo being called out on ESPN. Then we will disagree on the term “pure speculation” which to me equates to making up something out of thin air. My speculation is based on the factual information I’ve provided in this and my previous posts.
Edit:
Multi Quote didn’t work; I did try to respond to both of you.

I don't necessarily disagree with you. It's just the timing is odd, as I said now and at the time he was demoted to the 4th line. (post #1,137)

A few games on the fourth line to work on some basics does not hurt (in principle). It did wonders for Laffy and Chytil to get their physical involvement and game flow up. The problem is more the timing is awkward with the games being in the playoffs. Kakko's also has had some great looks this series but he's not confident in front of goal (#justroofitkaapo) and maybe the coaches got irritated. It is the playoffs after all.
KAKKO BANG. KAKKO CRUSH. KAKKO SMESH! Kaapo needs to use that big body of his.

 

[Oan]

Kakko will be fine as the NHL and ice hockey in general will become less and less about body contact.

 

[jonlin]

He wasn't told he was getting scratched and there was no conversation about it.

This is the problem right here. If you scratch a player, wouldnt it be better to tell him upfront and explain why he is scratched? It blows my mind Gallant is stupid enough to do this? Kakko comes ready for the game and finds out his jersey isnt in place - "I`m not playing?". Then no explanation why and 2 days later he still wonders... That is unreal shitty management.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

To be fair Barkov didn't break out till 20, Rantanen till 21.

Maybe it's still coming for Kakko.

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.