LW/RW Kaapo Kakko (2019, 2nd, NYR) Part 8

[Pavel Buchnevich]

The jury is still out, but it seem the entire draft class is really struggling in the NHL.

As an Oiler fan, we were sold on Yakupov being a perennial 50 goal scorer.
Habs thought they had an elite #1C in Galchenyuk.

It wasn't until 3-4 years later we all conceded the top end of the draft was kind of terrible, and Yakupov's NHL career was on life support.
2012 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com

BTW, Yakupov had 17 goals and 31 points in 48 games his rookie year, which is WAY higher output than Hughes, Kakko and Dach.


Sometimes the best thing for development, is to develop their confidence and swagger.
Letting them run up the score in the AHL playing on the #1PP, on the top line gives confidence.


What we did to Yakupov was put him on the 3rd line, and try to get him to produce with Eric Belanger as his Center.
Then scream at him he's a 1st Overall pick, and he should be able to carry a line.
And when he failed at that, we benched him and absolutely decimated his confidence.

Agreed. I said that after it was clear after about 10-15 games that Kakko wasn’t an NHL’er that he should be playing in the AHL said. Some here laughed at that.

I don’t think he busts like Yakupov and I don’t think someone can be deemed a bust until at least two full seasons after being drafted, but the possibility that it might’ve been a bad pick and he doesn’t end up as good as most of us thought has to be entertained at this point. His D+1 season has been terrible.

 

[Hokinaittii]

Trade him before it's too late.

 

[FinPanda]

I hope he will have a better summer this year. I would imagine the Rangers can help with that.

 

[Quinnisinoverhishead]

He seems disinterested. They should give him the Stamkos rookie treatment. One game a week off. He needs to be in the gym strengthening his legs. More power leads to more confidence. Kids got talent. We saw it on the world stage.

 

[tellermine]

He seems disinterested. They should give him the Stamkos rookie treatment. One game a week off. He needs to be in the gym strengthening his legs. More power leads to more confidence. Kids got talent. We saw it on the world stage.

I remember him saying that he has allways just played hockey for how fun it is.
He is kid and now game is not fun at all.

But I bet it will be as he is guitehard to himself and wants to get better.
At this point physical problems deny him from playing way he would.

I do have to add that he must play more to his team and forget solo dominance even when he is fast and strong.

 

[mm11]

BTW, Yakupov had 17 goals and 31 points in 48 games his rookie year, which is WAY higher output than Hughes, Kakko and Dach. Thought this was an interesting statline. Thank for sharing. It does open ones eyes....

 

[LOFIN]

He seems disinterested. They should give him the Stamkos rookie treatment. One game a week off. He needs to be in the gym strengthening his legs. More power leads to more confidence. Kids got talent. We saw it on the world stage.

I would be shocked if this was the case, since apparently he's always the last guy off the ice in training etc. There is a difference in if you train right vs train hard though.

 

[Pitaya]

BTW, Yakupov had 17 goals and 31 points in 48 games his rookie year, which is WAY higher output than Hughes, Kakko and Dach. Thought this was an interesting statline. Thank for sharing. It does open ones eyes....

To be fair to all three -

Jack is making a jump no one ever has (US training program straight to NHL)

Kaapo is part of the Europeans who struggle coming over to a new country, this is nothing new

Dach is a third overall who made the jump which also doesnt happen a lot

 

[Tahoeblue]

Hockey fan first, Isle fan second. The kid is going to be fine. Patience

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

His problem is clear: he's too slow. Number one thing he needs to work on in the offseason. That and conditioning. He's not in NHL condition. He's got the smarts, the hands, the size. He's not the first of his kind, Draisaitl and Barkov had underwhelming d+1 seasons for the same reason.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

BTW, Yakupov had 17 goals and 31 points in 48 games his rookie year, which is WAY higher output than Hughes, Kakko and Dach. Thought this was an interesting statline. Thank for sharing. It does open ones eyes....

Yak scored half of his points that season in April. Clearly a fluke as he never approached those totals again and that was a shortened season.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Agreed. I said that after it was clear after about 10-15 games that Kakko wasn’t an NHL’er that he should be playing in the AHL said. Some here laughed at that.

I don’t think he busts like Yakupov and I don’t think someone can be deemed a bust until at least two full seasons after being drafted, but the possibility that it might’ve been a bad pick and he doesn’t end up as good as most of us thought has to be entertained at this point. His D+1 season has been terrible.

Rantanen had 0 points in his 9 game cup of coffee in his first year with the Avs, but he played the rest of the season in the AHL and dominated. Might have been good for Kakko to do the same but I guess when you're drafted 2 OA there are different expectations as Rants was drafted 10th

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I hope he will have a better summer this year. I would imagine the Rangers can help with that.

The Rangers strength and conditioning coach runs his summer training program in Stamford, Connecticut. Stamford is in the same local region as the team plays in. A lot of players on the Rangers and some others in the league participate in it. I believe that Kakko last summer decided against participating. There were a few rookies last summer who participated.

It might be better if Kakko listens to the team this summer and gets in sync with their program as his program last summer didn’t seem to work as he would’ve liked. But at the same time, I get why he would want to spend the summer at home after he was away for hopefully 10 months, more likely 8.

 

[LOFIN]

The Rangers strength and conditioning coach runs his summer training program in Stamford, Connecticut. Stamford is in the same local region as the team plays in. A lot of players on the Rangers and some others in the league participate in it. I believe that Kakko last summer decided against participating. There were a few rookies last summer who participated.

It might be better if Kakko listens to the team this summer and gets in sync with their program as his program last summer didn’t seem to work as he would’ve liked. But at the same time, I get why he would want to spend the summer at home after he was away for hopefully 10 months, more likely 8.

As long as they do the plan for the training together with the club. I'm pretty sure it can be supervised just fine in Finland by his PT here.

 

[lemonybergamot]

As long as they do the plan for the training together with the club. I'm pretty sure it can be supervised just fine in Finland by his PT here.

As a Rangers fan, I'd still want him to be around as many of his teammates & other NHLers as possible. Just to soak up as much knowledge as possible from other nhlers and be there in person. Whatever he did in Finland hasn't worked out too well in the nhl for him. Of course Kakko would miss his family and friends though, so as a person, I hope he could see them as much as possible.

 

[LOFIN]

As a Rangers fan, I'd still want him to be around as many of his teammates & other NHLers as possible. Just to soak up as much knowledge as possible from other nhlers and be there in person. Whatever he did in Finland hasn't worked out too well in the nhl for him. Of course Kakko would miss his family and friends though, so as a person, I hope he could see them as much as possible.

You assume that with different training he would've been more ready this season. While that certainly could be the case, he's also a young kid still growing up. He will not be physically fully developed untill 3-4 more years have passed, if even then. Look at Rantanen for a good example.

 

[EdJovanovski]

His problem is clear: he's too slow. Number one thing he needs to work on in the offseason. That and conditioning. He's not in NHL condition. He's got the smarts, the hands, the size. He's not the first of his kind, Draisaitl and Barkov had underwhelming d+1 seasons for the same reason.

I'd say it's much more so conditioning/endurance than lack of speed. If you watch video of him in Liiga or any of the international tournaments, he was pretty fast and had exceptional agility. The past several games since the break I've seen a few times per game he'd have occasional bursts where he looked way faster than earlier on, which bodes well for the idea that it's a conditioning issue. He's played a ridiculous amount of hockey participating in basically every tournament he could've sans u-18 last year, going all the way to Gold at all of them. Playing that much (many of it professional) hockey at 17-18 can be overwhelming and I'm sure he'll be much more adept at it after having a full NHL off-season.

 

[ru4reals]

Hughes, Kakko, and Dach will be fine. All three will be great NHLers. Not everyone is Sid, Ovie or McJesus. Most take Time to develop. Give them their one year to get their feet wet get a taste of the speed and physicality then work on what they need to work on in the off-season and just watch. All three will be great you can see glimpse of their talent just need patience.

 

[93LEAFS]

Hughes, Kakko, and Dach will be fine. All three will be great NHLers. Not everyone is Sid, Ovie or McJesus. Most take Time to develop. Give them their one year to get their feet wet get a taste of the speed and physicality then work on what they need to work on in the off-season and just watch. All three will be great you can see glimpse of their talent just need patience.

Unless you have a very loose definition of great. I'd put the odds at all 3 being great NHLers quite low. How many drafts can you point to where the top 3 picks all became multiple time All-stars (which is a loose interpretation of great). The only draft in recent memory where all 3 top picks became All-Stars is 2009 which was Tavares, Hedman, and Duchene, and to be honest, all of them got off to much better starts to their careers. It could happen, but it is unlikely. All 3 being productive NHLers is a reasonable and likely expectation, with the chance 1 or 2 become perennial all-stars.

 

[Jersey Fresh]

Unless you have a very loose definition of great. I'd put the odds at all 3 being great NHLers quite low. How many drafts can you point to where the top 3 picks all became multiple time All-stars (which is a loose interpretation of great). The only draft in recent memory where all 3 top picks became All-Stars is 2009 which was Tavares, Hedman, and Duchene, and to be honest, all of them got off to much better starts to their careers. It could happen, but it is unlikely. All 3 being productive NHLers is a reasonable and likely expectation, with the chance 1 or 2 become perennial all-stars.

Chips on the table, who are you putting your money on?

 

[93LEAFS]

Chips on the table, who are you putting your money on?

Dach has impressed me the most this year given the role and opportunity, and he's always had sky-high potential. I'd guess, Hughes but its now a 3 man race instead of the 2 man race I expected in June. But, I don't really want to devolve this thread into who is the best or will be. I feel we've had enough Hughes/Kakko debates for a lifetime over the past 12 months.

 

[ru4reals]

Unless you have a very loose definition of great. I'd put the odds at all 3 being great NHLers quite low. How many drafts can you point to where the top 3 picks all became multiple time All-stars (which is a loose interpretation of great). The only draft in recent memory where all 3 top picks became All-Stars is 2009 which was Tavares, Hedman, and Duchene, and to be honest, all of them got off to much better starts to their careers. It could happen, but it is unlikely. All 3 being productive NHLers is a reasonable and likely expectation, with the chance 1 or 2 become perennial all-stars.

Don't disagree with you very valid points indeed. We'll see what happens I just think they have too much talent not to do well. Maybe I'm using great too loosely but all three will be good players.

 

[FinPanda]

Scored 2 goals last night.



He has built up quite a bit of muscle while being in North America.

 

[ThirdEye]

Wow, that's not insignificant

Confidence is the biggest reason he hasn't met expectations this season... he's insanely critical of himself and you can see it on his face every time he screws up. He doesn't really have enough time this season to redeem himself but i can almost guarantee you he doubles his production next year

 

[Albatros]

14th all-time among 18-year-old European rookies now, one point more and he reaches Barkov.