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

[CLW]

He was excellent last year outside the scoring part (which saw improvements late in the season as well). The biggest problem was/is his ridiculous will to carry the puck to the net instead of shooting, but that's probably fixable

This. On many nights Kakko was objectively the second best player on the Rangers behind only Adam Fox, supported by both the eye test and analytics. The kid simply played good, sound hockey.

There are still some rough areas to improve. Kakko by his own admission had a severe culture chock when he came to the NHL. It didn't help that he had Quinn as coach, a coach who himself didn't understand the NHL game fully and also had some strange fixations. Quinn benched Kakko when he made the "wrong" play which led to Kakko starting to second guess himself, a trait still clearly visible last season in some areas of Kakko's game.

I see a bit of Rantanen's game in Kakko, also a bit of Stone and Hossa. Once he becomes comfortable with himself and the NHL stage Kaapo will be more than fine, in the right setting he will dominate.

Quinn's style was not ideal for Kaapo. Gallant's approach should be a much better fit.

 

[ijuka]

I agree that Gallant should be a much better coach for Kakko, and a more competent coach in general.

Last season Kakko's analytics were extremely good which doesn't amount to much in the short term but of course should signify more success in the long term than if the analytics had been atrocious. It tends to take longer for power forwards to get to their prime than most other forward archetypes so I guess it's important to be patient.

 

[FinPanda]

He is still a prospect?