Kappo did not sign a show me deal as a favor. He signed a deal coming off a 19 point season. He had no choice to sign that deal as he did nothing last year. He still needs to prove he is an every day NHL player. If he has another 19 point season his value is almost nothing and he probably ends up on another team as a change of scenery candidate.
There is absolutely no message that is being sent to anyone if he breaks out. 19 point season and you think the Rangers should of signed him for more? Pretty sure the message on that 1 year deal is you do it again and you are gone.
He was and is an RFA. That means if he thought he was worth more, he could've waited for free agency to begin, and seen if he'd get an offer sheet. Drury doesn't make that offer if he doesn't want kakko on the team, Kakko accepted because he wants to stay.
He signed it immediately, which says he knew his year was poor, and thus its a "show me deal"
Also lets keep this in context. He had 19 points in 61 games, which is .3 ppg with absolutely terrible center play. He went from Bonino to wennberg last season. His underlying metrics have looked positive.
Lastly. My discussion has been around "if he puts up 40 points again" then yes re-sign him because he does things that win games in the playoffs, and 40 points with his level of 5v5 and pp time, is not bad production.
My argument has been fairly consistent all off-season, and the past 2 games haven't hurt my argument either. He's a power forward and sometimes they take longer to develop. He also happens to be a power forward with really good defense. Those aren't easy to find.