Player Discussion Kaapo Kakko

[SA16]

I hope Rangers trade him. I wouldn't mind him coming to the Flyers or the Canes. Heck, I would rather see him in the Devils and Avalanche as well.
He needs a franchise that at least can give him something to work with and especially give him a real opportunity to proceed and develop- or fail.
Rangers have been pretty bad regarding that with Kakko.

And chill, this isn't a biased Finnish poster, why do you guys think I would want him in a franchise I support? Thing is i both believe and hope he has something more to unlock, but I don't believe that will happen in Rangers.

Yea I guess the 13ish games he got locked in as the 1RW with Kreider and Zibanejad wasn’t enough of an opportunity

 

[IDvsEGO]

Yea I guess the 13ish games he got locked in as the 1RW with Kreider and Zibanejad wasn’t enough of an opportunity

It was a great opportunity, and he didnt play poorly.
Mika and CK squandered a ton of open looks that he created.

 

[jerseyjinx94]

I don’t think we need to pretend that Kakko was great and got bumped off the 1RW because Mika and Kreider sucked.

And I don’t think that means we have to trade him because he’s terrible.

He didn’t run with that particular opportunity.

He’s developing. He’ll get another opportunity.

We need to have patience, there’s no need to move Kakko barring a massive overpayment.

 

[LOFIN]

Sad to say it, but let’s be honest, Kakko needs the larger ice surface to be successful. He does not fit with North American style of game.

He looked fine when Finland won the U18 and WJC on North American surface.

 

[LOFIN]

Yea I guess the 13ish games he got locked in as the 1RW with Kreider and Zibanejad wasn’t enough of an opportunity

Imagine thinking playing next to the corpse of Zibanejad being an "opportunity".


Most of this is on Kakko, but let's not pretend that he was once again given a prime chance to succeed. In theory, yes. In practice, Zibanejad was so awful it didn't help at all.

Like I said, Kakko has to look on the mirror. He's playing the most awful hockey of his NHL career so far, it doesn't matter who his linemates are when he himself is hurting the play most. Kinda bafling, because he had a fine season last year considering his deployment and looked great during the pre-season. Don't know what happened.

All that said, those of you who are advocating trading him, do you think he would be considered a main piece by any other organization in this league? I mean in their board rooms, maybe yes. The skill and potential is still there. But the Rangers are not dealing from a position of strength regarding him. I think we are going to sell low on him if we trade him away now.

 

[Kocur26]

If he wasn’t picked where he was - Kakko would be calling window seat on the bus from Hartford to Hershey.

 

[avgard]

he may be by pourpose at downhill spirals. setting in to be tradet before long gone. propably very tired of getting doghouseminits almost every game. imagin self being in situation coming to like three games with 11min in game the suddenly 16min and not motivating level at high anymore. just letting things going and still while game on still like softing in coach feeling going on. thnkin and seeing zimbabwedad being like jesus here with benifits . and at same time thinking hey im much better give me minits. but no. after belonging to like milkteam of anaheim he getted 25min in game and rising levels popping up at scoreboards jumbothrones. but hey.. coach still not acted. lets see. remember last season he almost getted to collection almost 50points in doghouseminits and no pptime. almost..or i ask teamrecord?

sir avgard hockeyprofessor

 

[Svedu]

Yea I guess the 13ish games he got locked in as the 1RW with Kreider and Zibanejad wasn’t enough of an opportunity

I MEANT HIS WHOLE TIME WITH THE RANGERS DUFUS. 13 times, oh wow... Jesus. 13 games over a couple of years.

 

[NickyFotiu]

We have one of the all time leaders in coaching wins. We have some great young assistant coaches. KKs issues are not about coaching. Im hopeful he will find his game but that ultimately is on him imo.

 

[NickyFotiu]

I hope Rangers trade him. I wouldn't mind him coming to the Flyers or the Canes. Heck, I would rather see him in the Devils and Avalanche as well.
He needs a franchise that at least can give him something to work with and especially give him a real opportunity to proceed and develop- or fail.
Rangers have been pretty bad regarding that with Kakko.

And chill, this isn't a biased Finnish poster, why do you guys think I would want him in a franchise I support? Thing is i both believe and hope he has something more to unlock, but I don't believe that will happen in Rangers.

I like Kaako too much to send him to the Flyers and Torts.

 

[NickyFotiu]

I hope Rangers trade him. I wouldn't mind him coming to the Flyers or the Canes. Heck, I would rather see him in the Devils and Avalanche as well.
He needs a franchise that at least can give him something to work with and especially give him a real opportunity to proceed and develop- or fail.
Rangers have been pretty bad regarding that with Kakko.

And chill, this isn't a biased Finnish poster, why do you guys think I would want him in a franchise I support? Thing is i both believe and hope he has something more to unlock, but I don't believe that will happen in Rangers.

I'm not against KK in any way. I was happy with his play last season. So far this season he has not been engaged. This is not about points for me. I'm not the average fan in that regard. He has 3 hits and 5 blocks in 18 games. He should get more than that by accident in 18 games. I do not know what is going on in his head but that is not about linemates or coaching. If KK raises his game it will be to KK's credit but it is up to him.

 

[LORDE]

There's plenty of hockey left... we're not even out of Nov yet

If everyone were firing now, that would be 5 months too early.

That being said, I'll say what I had been saying about Laf also...

I'd just like to see a flash of brilliancy. Even if it didn't result in a goal or assist.

 

[GENESISPuck94]

I think Cyulle-Chytil-Kakko will be a very good 3rd line that will be a big pain to play against as they develop further into the season.

Let Chytil get back into the lineup. Give them time to gel and get into a rhythm.

Appreciate how young he is. He still hasn't settled into a defined role yet. That 3rd line could be our "That 70s Line" that LA had. Big strong kids they'll be hard to handle.

It's disappointing that he didn't work with Zibanejad and Kreider. It wasn't like Kakko didn't create chances and play well. He did. But that trio just didn't produce.

Again, patience. The team is rolling. They and we, can afford Kakko the time to get comfortable into a defined role. Less pressure on the 3rd line. He has good history with Chytil. He's looking good with Cyulle so far.

I'd try to get him on the PK too. He's a very good defensive player.

 

[Boris Zubov]

he may be by pourpose at downhill spirals. setting in to be tradet before long gone. propably very tired of getting doghouseminits almost every game. imagin self being in situation coming to like three games with 11min in game the suddenly 16min and not motivating level at high anymore. just letting things going and still while game on still like softing in coach feeling going on. thnkin and seeing zimbabwedad being like jesus here with benifits . and at same time thinking hey im much better give me minits. but no. after belonging to like milkteam of anaheim he getted 25min in game and rising levels popping up at scoreboards jumbothrones. but hey.. coach still not acted. lets see. remember last season he almost getted to collection almost 50points in doghouseminits and no pptime. almost..or i ask teamrecord?

sir avgard hockeyprofessor

Avgard posts in back to back days?!? Kakko better be paying attention...

 

[NickyFotiu]

There's plenty of hockey left... we're not even out of Nov yet

If everyone were firing now, that would be 5 months too early.

That being said, I'll say what I had been saying about Laf also...

I'd just like to see a flash of brilliancy. Even if it didn't result in a goal or assist.

You are right. It is still somewhat early. We have seen some KK flashes over the years. KK had a solid uptrend last season. Not sure why KK has dropped back so far this season.

 

[Clark Kellogg]

 

[LOFIN]

Again, patience. The team is rolling. They and we, can afford Kakko the time to get comfortable into a defined role. Less pressure on the 3rd line. He has good history with Chytil. He's looking good with Cyulle so far.

Should be a sticky here and in the roster thread TBH. We don't have to make any changes right now.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Should be a sticky here and in the roster thread TBH. We don't have to make any changes right now.

We don't have to make any drastic changes like a trade but we do have to try to get through to him. Ask him what we can do to help get him on track. Ask him why he has not been involved as much as he was last season. KK knows when he is playing well. He said as much weeks ago. We should seek to nip this in the bud before a slow 18 games turns in to a slow 40 games. I do think Chytil could help a bit if he comes back healthy but KK's game can't be so dependant on Chytil that he disappears. KK had a pretty strong season last year. I would show him some clips from last season. Let him know we know he has it in him.

 

[Rongomania]

Laf was really fat, slow and blew 8 weeks ago too.

I want to see Kak away from bonino and back with Z if he gets it rolling. Or Cuylle/Chytil/Kak plz.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Bonino is a great defensive, 4th liner, but you arent helping out any of his linemates offensively if you stick him on their line..

He might be one of the worst offensive players we’ve had in ages, even worse than Hunt.

 

[Harbour Dog]

Laf was really fat, slow and blew 8 weeks ago too.

I want to see Kak away from bonino and back with Z if he gets it rolling. Or Cuylle/Chytil/Kak plz.

I don't think him and Zibanejad are a particularly good fit, but getting a good long look at Cuylle/Chytil/Kakko is going to go a long way in forming my opinion of what the future will look like for him.

The trade talk is asinine. He's a stabilizing defensive force on whatever line he gets put on; would be pretty hard to trade him and improve the roster, much less if you take into account all the potential we'd be shipping off for no apparent reason.

 

[CLW]

I think Cyulle-Chytil-Kakko will be a very good 3rd line that will be a big pain to play against as they develop further into the season.

Let Chytil get back into the lineup. Give them time to gel and get into a rhythm.

Appreciate how young he is. He still hasn't settled into a defined role yet. That 3rd line could be our "That 70s Line" that LA had. Big strong kids they'll be hard to handle.

It's disappointing that he didn't work with Zibanejad and Kreider. It wasn't like Kakko didn't create chances and play well. He did. But that trio just didn't produce.

Again, patience. The team is rolling. They and we, can afford Kakko the time to get comfortable into a defined role. Less pressure on the 3rd line. He has good history with Chytil. He's looking good with Cyulle so far.

I'd try to get him on the PK too. He's a very good defensive player.

The issue with that is that even if he is a solid defensive player that keeps improving, he still isn't fully a PKer. Kakko keeps finding himself in awkward role positions because the team is cobbled together the way it is. It must be frustrating as hell for him. All he can do is man up but that takes us to the next question. Is that the best thing to do for his career?

He lost a lot of money from his next contract partly because Zib and Kreider were pedestrian ES to start the season (we knew they would be). A few points there and things would be looking differently. Now if he's a good team player he'll get a shit contract next season. If he starts to free style for his own point production the coaches will shit down his neck. If he doesn't people will scream about his lack of points.

He should move on for his own career, but why would the Rangers move a perfectly fine young cheap player with plenty of runway for growth, especially in the right situation? No wonder he looks like he does

 

[DanielBrassard]

I do want to see how he looks when Fil is back, but a lot of his struggles have nothing to do with who he‘s linemates with and everything to do with how he plays.

 

[bhamill]

I don't think him and Zibanejad are a particularly good fit, but getting a good long look at Cuylle/Chytil/Kakko is going to go a long way in forming my opinion of what the future will look like for him.

The trade talk is asinine. He's a stabilizing defensive force on whatever line he gets put on; would be pretty hard to trade him and improve the roster, much less if you take into account all the potential we'd be shipping off for no apparent reason.

Agreed.

 

[bhamill]

I do want to see how he looks when Fil is back, but a lot of his struggles have nothing to do with who he‘s linemates with and everything to do with how he plays.

A lot of struggles don’t have to do with his linemates… but a lot of them also do. It’s no one thing. IMO, though, confidence is the biggest issue, and that will come back, just like it has with Laf.
I by no means feel KK is untouchable, but selling low on him and his potential would be monumentally stupid. If you told me you wanted to structure a trade around KK and Ryan Leonard or Oliver Moore, or another solid looking speedy young prospect I could probably get behind it, but there would have to be VALUE, and as far as that this is about Kakko’s nadir. Very bad time to talk trading him, and when he picks it up, no one will really want to. Unless someone bowls us over I doubt he goes ANYWHERE.