Player Discussion Kaapo Kakko

[chosen]

don't think this is a reflection on kakko, certainly not primarily about him. he hasn't been great, but he hasn't been bad either........

How much worse could he have been?

 

[Foxy]

Just Kakko's luck. In all honesty they have scored 2 goals while only giving up 1, so not like they are detrimental to the team. That said you know Wheeler is gonna have a 2 goal night next game. Just have to hope Kakko can kick off one of his 9 in 10 streaks with Cuylle on the 3rd line.

 

[2014nyr]

How much worse could he have been?

well look at the overall lines performance in terms of more than holding their own nightly matching up against other teams top lines. sure they didn't produce much 5 on 5, but they played a lot of important minutes and were leaned on to close out games. there were also 2 other guys on his line not producing much 5 on 5, and they weren't great at generating chances in the oz when they had possession for themselves or kakko. but again, they were playing heavy minutes against other team's top lines and not giving them anything either...that does matter. other teams have talent and they want to win, and yes winning is ultimately about scoring more than the other team, but you need to keep the number you need reasonable. so yea, he wasn't bad. he had moments in the oz where he was really strong on the puck and in puck battles, was very reliable defensively, was responsible with the puck. yea we wanted to see more offense, who doesn't? at the end of the day that's been an important line for a team that's started 8-2-1. how much worse could he have been? a lot.

besides, the reality is mika and kreider dictate the way that line plays. they've been together for years, they basically refuse to be separated, and so the onus is on them to be the drivers there. kakko is trying to complement the way they want to play offensively. he's trying to fit in with them, that's not always an easy spot to jump into, especially when they aren't doing much to play off of. i wouldn't be surprised if this move does a ton of good for him, cuylle's style of play might mesh extremely well with kakko, and he'll probably free him up to feel like he's the guy driving the bus rather than trying to play off of the big names.

 

[Machinehead]

It's fair to look at Kakko and say his start to the season has been very poor. It's also fair to say we should be far more concerned about Zibanejad and Kreider, this team needs those two to perform. Once they start to come around we can shift our focus to Kakko.

Kreider is on pace for 60 goals.

My focus is sufficiently shifted away from him.

 

[duhmetreE]

It's fair to look at Kakko and say his start to the season has been very poor. It's also fair to say we should be far more concerned about Zibanejad and Kreider, this team needs those two to perform. Once they start to come around we can shift our focus to Kakko.

imo the issue is Zibs.

Don't get me wrong, Kakko has not been strong on the puck and he's been attached to the boards like a person just learning to skate.... but Zibs really does nothing in the offensive zone.

Zibs does little to compliment anyone in the O-Zone... he's just there, in odd positions, waiting and watching, never a threat or support. Doesn't attack and far too often gives up the puck when he does get it. The drive by stick taps is another issue.

IMO Kreider would produce with Chytil or Trocheck. Zibs will need a miracle worker, Panarin and Laffy may be his best look.. they are both buzzing right now... maybe it helps.

 

[chosen]

well look at the overall lines performance in terms of more than holding their own nightly matching up against other teams top lines. sure they didn't produce much 5 on 5, but they played a lot of important minutes and were leaned on to close out games. there were also 2 other guys on his line not producing much 5 on 5, and they weren't great at generating chances in the oz when they had possession for themselves or kakko. but again, they were playing heavy minutes against other team's top lines and not giving them anything either...that does matter. other teams have talent and they want to win, and yes winning is ultimately about scoring more than the other team, but you need to keep the number you need reasonable. so yea, he wasn't bad. he had moments in the oz where he was really strong on the puck and in puck battles, was very reliable defensively, was responsible with the puck. yea we wanted to see more offense, who doesn't? at the end of the day that's been an important line for a team that's started 8-2-1. how much worse could he have been? a lot.

besides, the reality is mika and kreider dictate the way that line plays. they've been together for years, they basically refuse to be separated, and so the onus is on them to be the drivers there. kakko is trying to complement the way they want to play offensively. he's trying to fit in with them, that's not always an easy spot to jump into, especially when they aren't doing much to play off of. i wouldn't be surprised if this move does a ton of good for him, cuylle's style of play might mesh extremely well with kakko, and he'll probably free him up to feel like he's the guy driving the bus rather than trying to play off of the big names.

Kakko is on the 1st line.

Projected over a full season, he will get 14 points.

You wrote an awful lot of words in the hopes of convincing someone that that isn't horrific.

 

[TGWL]

Zibanejad skates around 4 miles a game. Don't let that fool you into thinking he's a selke player, and not that jus all over the place, and not in a good way.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

Kakko as I've said before needs to grab some nash, hossa, jagr tapes and see how they scored their goals. Not saying he's any of those guys but he should be able to use the same space they did and stop staying below the goal line.

 

[NickyFotiu]

View attachment 763955

Just Kakko's luck. In all honesty they have scored 2 goals while only giving up 1, so not like they are detrimental to the team. That said you know Wheeler is gonna have a 2 goal night next game. Just have to hope Kakko can kick off one of his 9 in 10 streaks with Cuylle on the 3rd line.

The good thing for KK is if he even hits a small scoring streak a lot of attitudes will change.

Kakko as I've said before needs to grab some nash, hossa, jagr tapes and see how they scored their goals. Not saying he's any of those guys but he should be able to use the same space they did and stop staying below the goal line.

Maybe watch some Forsberg tapes as well.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Kakko is on the 1st line.

Projected over a full season, he will get 14 points.

You wrote an awful lot of words in the hopes of convincing someone that that isn't horrific.

projected 5v5 production over a full season for our 1st line:

Kreider: 14
Kakko: 14
Zibanejad: 7

 

[CasusBelli]

Kakko as I've said before needs to grab some nash, hossa, jagr tapes and see how they scored their goals. Not saying he's any of those guys but he should be able to use the same space they did and stop staying below the goal line.

He doesn’t read the game as well as Nash or Hossa did. He doesn’t have Jagr’s puck control.

The big mistake was rushing him into the NHL and not having him working on his skating extensively. We — management and fans — were just too excited to unveil our new toy. Chalk it up to lessons learned.

 

[romba]

Kakko needs more PP time!

Also PP points don't count

 

[Daves a mess]

A week ago many people were praising no line changes by Lavi. I laughed to myself knowing almost all teams/coaches shuffle lines when things go bad or stale.

Not " almost".
ALL

 

[Fitzy]

Kakko as I've said before needs to grab some nash, hossa, jagr tapes and see how they scored their goals. Not saying he's any of those guys but he should be able to use the same space they did and stop staying below the goal line.

In short, he needs to be more aggressive and cut to the center of the ice more. Take more risks in his possession.

Right now he's playing it too safe, keeping possession around the perimeter at all costs. It means he's never in a good position to score unless his line mates set him up, which hasn't happened much.

 

[SA16]

projected 5v5 production over a full season for our 1st line:

Kreider: 14
Kakko: 14
Zibanejad: 7

Very few things worse in statistics than using "on pace" by doing stat/games played * 82.

 

[TheDirtyH]

Kakko as I've said before needs to grab some nash, hossa, jagr tapes and see how they scored their goals. Not saying he's any of those guys but he should be able to use the same space they did and stop staying below the goal line.

Without even watching I'm confident in saying they all scored by shooting the puck.

 

[McRanger92]

Kakko being allergic to shooting the puck for 4 seasons is the reason his underlying numbers always look good and his production is always bad. Its not more complicated than that.

 

[CLW]

In short, he needs to be more aggressive and cut to the center of the ice more. Take more risks in his possession.

Right now he's playing it too safe, keeping possession around the perimeter at all costs. It means he's never in a good position to score unless his line mates set him up, which hasn't happened much.

Yes. Kakko plays it so damn safe. No doubt he gets praise from the coaches for his defensive work, the offense is left for him to improvise somehow. He plays super safe with the puck to avoid turnovers, usually the most egregious mistake you see him make with the puck is an icing. That's not how you generate offense. He needs to let go of the edge of the pool and swim for himself, cross the blue line with speed, attack the middle of the ice if not with speed then at least with purpose and shoot from the slot, also the high slot.

That damn dump the puck with a slow forecheck his line played the last few games is death. The other death is just moving to stand in front of the goal wrestling with the d waiting for a shot that never comes. All of these issues are residue from shit coaching and ingrained bad habits resulting from that.

And, if he's standing about not moving his feet in any zone, there should be a specially appointed assistant with a cattle prod waiting for him on the bench. This guy needs to never stop skating, anticipate and take a damn chance to reach a puck, also in the d zone.

 

[Profet]

Without even watching I'm confident in saying they all scored by shooting the puck.

 

[CLW]

Kakko being allergic to shooting the puck for 4 seasons is the reason his underlying numbers always look good and his production is always bad. Its not more complicated than that.

I don't like that he doesn't even get that many looks now. He used to, but then he had a muffin. Now he has a shot with some mustard but doesn't get in position to use it much.

 

[Profet]

I don't like that he doesn't even get that many looks now. He used to, but then he had a muffin. Now he has a shot with some mustard but doesn't get in position to use it much.

He's not a good fit for that line. He'll get some assists by feeding Kreider/Zib off the wall to get them into the O-zone on the rush... but by the time he gets into the O-zone the puck is already on it's way out. I have a feeling the same thing will happen with Wheeler.

Kakko seems to do his best work when there is a heavy forecheck and cycle line.

 

[Rempe73]

5v5 points for the top line:

Kreider: 2
Kakko: 2
Zibanejad: 1

You’re telling me Zibanejad has 1 more even strength point than I do?

 

[80shockeywasbuns]

5v5 points for the top line:

Kreider: 2
Kakko: 2
Zibanejad: 1

No no stop cherry picking advanced analytics like points

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

No no stop cherry picking advanced analytics like points

5v5 production is NOT advanced analytics.

 

[bhamill]

5v5 production is NOT advanced analytics.

I think he was being sarcastic. Hahaha. At least I hope so.