Player Discussion Kaapo Kakko

[NickyFotiu]

Yes. Vibes are BAD for sure but I still don't want to trade him or let him walk. I'd take my chances on him as our own lottery ticket and maybe something cool happens.

I think Drury is a good GM and as a good GM he should let the market decide if a trade should be made or not. Dont throw the guy away but also listen to offers. See what people are willing to offer then decide. That goes for 50% of our team not just KK.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Yes. Vibes are BAD for sure but I still don't want to trade him or let him walk. I'd take my chances on him as our own lottery ticket and maybe something cool happens.

Honestly, if he were drafted in the third round maybe. But the guy busting so hard being a #2 overall is toxic for this organization.

 

[bhamill]

I’ll accept nothing less than unconditional surrender on Kakko. There’s never been a more obvious spot to upgrade. Keeping him here because he’s got a cheap QO is an act of charity for Kakko that doesn’t make the Rangers better.

Gotta say: giving a 23 year old who last year scored 40 5v5 points, who is good on D and possession, 2.4 mil a year does not look like charity to me. It would be a Show Me deal. This year was a lost year. He missed a huge chunk of it with a bad knee injury and still scored 0.3 ppg. Hey. If we can get another 23 year old defensively responsible possession monster who scores 0.5 ppg like Kakko did last season at 22, or better yet a comparable Dman, for 2.5mil or less, take the shot. If we can’t get at least what Kakko did at 22, what’s the point? Then we’re are trading him out of frustration, which is an advantage for some other team.

 

[rangers1314]

Look I don’t want to be coming across as KK defender here, but I do think his 2OA is killing him here.

If he’s a bust, what does that make Lias and Krav? He’s not either of those guys. He’s an NHL player. He’s not a star, or particularly good at anything except running live, in game corner possession drills that result in nothing. He’ll move on and put up 30-35 points for another 10 years.

Hes an identity-less player. Hes “generic NHL 3rd line player”. Hes the faceless create a player

 

[SA16]

Honestly, if he were traded in the third round maybe. But the guy busting so hard being a #2 overall is toxic for this organization.

And yet if we didn’t have him a 30ish point good defensive 3rd line wing would be exactly what we wanted. Who cares where a different regime drafted him 5 years ago?

 

[SnowblindNYR]

And yet if we didn’t have him a 30ish point good defensive 3rd line wing would be exactly what we wanted. Who cares where a different regime drafted him 5 years ago?

He's a 4th liner. He played like a 4th liner all season long. And as emotional rather than logical as it may seem being having an all time bust on your team to me is absolutely toxic. I want to rid the team of the stench of this scrub.

 

[McRanger92]

Gotta say: giving a 23 year old who last year scored 40 5v5 points, who is good on D and possession, 2.4 mil a year does not look like charity to me. It would be a Show Me deal. This year was a lost year. He missed a huge chunk of it with a bad knee injury and still scored 0.3 ppg. Hey. If we can get another 23 year old defensively responsible possession monster who scores 0.5 ppg like Kakko did last season at 22, or better yet a comparable Dman, for 2.5mil or less, take the shot. If we can’t get at least what Kakko did at 22, what’s the point? Then we’re are trading him out of frustration, which is an advantage for some other team.

I’m willing to accept that. They need a top 6 RW who can do the job.

 

[SA16]

He's a 4th liner. He played like a 4th liner all season long. And as emotional rather than logical as it may seem being having an all time bust on your team to me is absolutely toxic. I want to rid the team of the stench of this scrub.

He scored 40 points just last year. He's not a 4th liner. His rate is 32 pts/82 games in his career.

How is it toxic? Because some of the fans don't like it? I'm sure the players don't care. The coach/GM aren't even the same guys as it was when he was drafted.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

He scored 40 points just last year. He's not a 4th liner. His rate is 32 pts/82 games in his career.

How is it toxic? Because some of the fans don't like it? I'm sure the players don't care. The coach/GM aren't even the same guys as it was when he was drafted.

He was a big fat zero in the playoffs. Had like 2 points, one of which was a gift. If people want to get rid of our 120 point player who put up almost a PPG in the playoffs the guy that put up 2 is fair game too.

 

[SA16]

He was a big fat zero in the playoffs. Had like 2 points, one of which was a gift. If people want to get rid of our 120 point player who put up almost a PPG in the playoffs the guy that put up 2 is fair game too.

Well yea it's been about 20 years now and people always dislike the best players on the team. Pretty much ever since Jagr. Doesn't matter if it was Gaborik, Nash, Richards, Panarin, Kreider. The only ones that were universally liked were like Brassard and Zuccarello.

 

[effen]

People thought it was effort with Lafreniere too, but I don’t buy it with Kakko any more than I did with Laf. I think lack of confidence looks a lot like lack of effort.

And on the flip side Kakko ABSOLUTELY seems like the shy, awkward, not confident type.

He is severely lacking in acceleration, top end speed, and shooting ability. He is moderately lacking in core strength and stickhandling.

No one has any idea if he can pass or not because he not only gets zero separation from anyone, he actively seeks someone humping him on the wall.

All of his goals but like... 4? 5? have come within 8 feet of the crease... In his entire career. It was on one of the Valley segments during the year.

 

[effen]

3 coaches in 5 years have no use for the guy other than the 3rd guy on a 3 man line. Multiple playoff scratches now with the team screaming for anything from him.

He is obviously happy with the kind of player he is. Literally the same guy he was his 2nd year (his 1st year he was obviously scared and hesitant).

He's not afraid of making mistakes. He knows he can't make high end plays so he doesn't try. There's a difference. Good on him knowing he sucks I guess?

 

[The Crypto Guy]

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pretty disappointed with Kakko in the playoffs...BUT, I'm still willing to give him time to figure his shit out. Worst case he is a decent 3rd liner for us or can be relied upon defensively and won't cost much to re-sign.

Just rather hold onto him and pray he develops a bit more and can really turn into another offensive threat for the team. And his value is likely at it's all time low now, so why even bother trading him.

But who knows, maybe his agent asks for a trade to start fresh somewhere, I can definitely see that too.

 

[NickyFotiu]

He's a 4th liner. He played like a 4th liner all season long. And as emotional rather than logical as it may seem being having an all time bust on your team to me is absolutely toxic. I want to rid the team of the stench of this scrub.

This year he produced like a 3rd line 4th line tweener. Last year he was a solid 3rd liner. The reason he frustrates me is because he is so hard to figure out. Some guys its easy to see man we should keep him. Some its easy to say we need to move on from that guy. With KK he does just enough to make it really hard to know. This season he was really bad production wise. His 6 assists in 61 games were a joke but I noticed he is making some good passes from the defensive zone now. A total contradiction adding to my frustration. Some people will point to this seasons horrible production. Some will point to last seasons solid production. What has me a bit concerned is he has never produced in the playoffs.

 

[EdJovanovski]

Have to think he's played his last game as a Ranger

 

[Hunter Gathers]

He scored 40 points just last year.

Oh boy! 40 points in the #2 overall pick's (who is a forward) D+4 year! How can we ever replace that!?

 

[Hunter Gathers]

And yet if we didn’t have him a 30ish point good defensive 3rd line wing would be exactly what we wanted. Who cares where a different regime drafted him 5 years ago?

He's so good defensive that he gets this amount of PK time per game (yellow is the column - 23/24 stats).

And to show that he's never been viewed as anything special defensively, here are his PK stats from 22/23 and 21/22.

21/22:

22/23:

Can we perhaps stop saying that this guy is anything remotely special defensively? I really couldn't care less what the advanced stats say about his defensive game when three separate coaches think he's not good enough to PK.

Like, again, what does the guy even do, here?

Calling him a "good defensive 3rd line wing" is silly. He's not a good defensive anything. He's just a floater who can be strong along the boards.

 

[dshea19]

A straight trade for someone else? Depends on how other teams view him. It could make more sense to just keep him. As part of a package to make the team a better playoff team? In a heartbeat without looking back.

 

[CLW]

And that is his problem. He always floats outside of the game, waiting for others to do something and just making passes.

Many Finnish hockey journalists etc has been saying for a while now, that he needs to put that body to work, drive the net, shoot and shoot more and not always try to find passing lane.

He is so scared to make mistakes that he has complitely killed off his game.

That's what happens when the big boys tell him to sit in the corner and look pretty... and coaches swap him around for perceived mistakes that others are fine to do.

He's become a negative image/polar opposite of the kid who loved to drive to the net and create havoc around the goal. He needs to go elsewhere and reboot his mind and his approach, if nothing else because he's not a fit with Zib or Panarin and one of them is always on one of the top 2 lines.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

A straight trade for someone else? Depends on how other teams view him. It could make more sense to just keep him. As part of a package to make the team a better playoff team? In a heartbeat without looking back.

There's a good thread on the Trade board that some Avs fans posted up. I think that they may be a good team to deal with since they have a few guys that are interesting.

He should be going in a deal for another under-achieving prospect.

 

[BroadwayStorm]

I say give him one more year to prove himself. There are a lot of guys who need to go this offseason long before we even look at Kakko.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

I say give him one more year to prove himself. There are a lot of guys who need to go this offseason long before we even look at Kakko.

His salary can be better spent elsewhere.

 

[bl02]

His salary can be better spent elsewhere.

How much is he going to get realistically?

 

[ICanMotteBelieveIt]

3 things that I hate about him.

1) He hasn't improved his skating. Compare him to LAF in that regard. LAF is a much better skater today compared to when he was drafted.

And this scares me. Is he lazy? Does he not realize he needs to become a faster skater?

Why haven't we hired a coach that can work on Kakko's skating a few times per month?

2) He's supposed to be finnish, but where's the Sisu? Dude has zero passion. He's on the ice looking like someone's out of shape uncle who's slow as molasses. No effort at all.

Use your fat ass body, shield the puck, drive to the net, do something already or just retire if you have no passion for the sport.

3) Why tf is he using such a short stick? It's annoying AF and you can tell it's not working to his advantage. I guess it makes sense in a way.

He uses a kid's stick. He plays as bad as a kid and he is as soft and scared as a kid.

 

[JimmyG89]

He should be going in a deal for another under-achieving prospect.

Bingo. We need to find a LHD that has underwhelmed but has the tools we are looking for.

Anaheim has a boatload of young D on the way. Someone that has had relative success on their roster is Vaakanainen. Also an RFA.