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RW Kaapo Kakko - TPS, Liiga (2019 Draft) Part 2

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Kaako Kappo said:
Does anybody who's actually watched this kid a lot this season agree with this? I think he's been guilty of over-passing the puck all season long & that he definitely prefers to set his team mates up. Only in the latest games he's started using his shot more.
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Yeah, I thinks that's accurate. I think it was after the u20 tourney that he became this shoot first type of player. I might be mistaken about the exact time, but he definitely wasn't like that in the early season.

Another sign of growing confidence is him holding on to the puck a lot. Some have pointed that out as a problem. I don't think it is. He creates something much more often than causes a dangerous turnover.

Also, he didn't hog the puck this much early on in the season, so clearly he's not just inherently selfish with it. In fact, during his short stint in Liiga last year I was hoping he'd keep the puck much more. It seemed he couldn't get rid of it fast enough.
 
tuozzi said:
Yeah, I thinks that's accurate. I think it was after the u20 tourney that he became this shoot first type of player. I might be mistaken about the exact time, but he definitely wasn't like that in the early season.

Another sign of growing confidence is him holding on to the puck a lot. Some have pointed that out as a problem. I don't think it is. He creates something much more often than causes a dangerous turnover.

Also, he didn't hog the puck this much early on in the season, so clearly he's not just inherently selfish with it. In fact, during his short stint in Liiga last year I was hoping he'd keep the puck much more. It seemed he couldn't get rid of it fast enough.
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Weird, I've never found his shot to be his strongest weapon. Strong cycle game and passing, more so. But maybe it just shows how many tools he has? First half he was passing and now he's shooting and scoring.

Also i think he hogged the puck more early on..
 
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Franson said:
He's a RW.
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He is, but he plays also center. He has played around 15 games at center this season (against men) and most of his time in junior too. I’d say he could make the move to center like Aho has in the NHL.

Why say anything about a prospect, who you clearly know nothing about :laugh:
 
Kaako Kappo said:
Weird, I've never found his shot to be his strongest weapon. Strong cycle game and passing, more so. But maybe it just shows how many tools he has? First half he was passing and now he's shooting and scoring.

Also i think he hogged the puck more early on..
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Yup, he has a great shot, but he needs to shoot more, which he has done since the WJC.

The puck hogging might be because of he is trying to set up others to some nice backdoor goals. He hasn’t done that in a while which is good to see, as he is looking really deadly out there pretty much everytime when he is on the ice.
 


This goal he scored as 16yo cemented me to believe that he has a great shot but I have to admit I also kept thinking whether he would be similar to Puljujärvi where you have a great shot but half of the time you just shoot the dust off the puck, basically being very inconsistent with your shot. So I was wondering that he doesn't like shooting often because he doesn't trust his shot too much.

But after seeing how much more he has been shooting recently and how many goals has come from those shots, I don't have those doubts anymore.

Also with Kakko having a short stick, I think it affects slightly to the power of his shot but it also allows him to have fast release which is absolutely necessary to have if you want to be 30+ goalscorer in the NHL.

Kakko won't be sniping goals from far like Laine but he can be similar to Selänne who didn't have the greatest power in his shots but they were sneaky, versatile and deadly accurate.
 
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Kaapo's goal production is indeed pretty unbelievable atm comparing to current NHLers (except Ruutu and Ikonen) who were at their 17s-18s.

He has chances to continue and better his streak today against the best team in liiga, but the competition is the toughest possible tho.
 
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Snowsii said:
He is playing as a center..
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Not currently but he has like 6-8 games as center under his belt this season which happens to be more than guys like Aho, Granlund or Kotkaniemi played center in their draft years. So considering his smarts, I could see him turn into center in the NHL.
 
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Hokinaittii said:
Not currently but he has like 6-8 games as center under his belt this season which happens to be more than guys like Aho, Granlund or Kotkaniemi played center in their draft years. So considering his smarts, I could see him turn into center in the NHL.
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Kakko was playing C before and after the WJC. After he was face-smashed to the wall and Filppula got injured they switched him back to the wing. The Kakko-Palve tandem has been producing outstanding results, so I understand if there's hesitation of reverting him back to his previous position. I see Kakko as a center looking long-term based on the skill-set alone, as well as the fact that he's been extremely successful in that position on a pro level (I think he's PPG or PPG+ for the games he's played in the middle by the way). TPS seems to have this habit of having a one powerline, whether that's Palve-Filppula, Kakko-Filppula or Kakko-Palve, which could explain why he hasn't centered in the past games as Filppula hasn't been playing. I think most of the NHL teams that have scouted him know that he's well capable of playing either position so at the end it's up to them if they want a long-term future #1 C or extremely skilled, scoring power winger in the roster.
 
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kelsier said:
Kakko was playing C before and after the WJC. After he was face-smashed to the wall and Filppula got injured they switched him back to the wing. The Kakko-Palve tandem has been producing outstanding results, so I understand if there's hesitation of reverting him back to his previous position. I see Kakko as a center looking long-term based on the skill-set alone, as well as the fact that he's been extremely successful in that position on a pro level (I think he's PPG or PPG+ for the games he's played in the middle by the way). TPS seems to have this habit of having a one powerline, whether that's Palve-Filppula, Kakko-Filppula or Kakko-Palve, which could explain why he hasn't centered in the past games as Filppula hasn't been playing. I think most of the NHL teams that have scouted him know that he's well capable of playing either position so at the end it's up to them if they want a long-term future #1 C or extremely skilled, scoring power winger in the roster.
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Things could change when Filppula and Korpikoski get back (unless we get more injuries) but we shall see. After all, no point in breaking a working duo.
 
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I'll assume the D bit hard on the fake shot(as did the goalie) and was trying to go for a block.
 
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TheFinnishTrap said:
Pretty nice for a guy who I initially didn't see as a prominent goalscorer.
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He honestly should be considered better than Laine at this point. His game just is so much more complete, yet he can still score very well. If anything, he's far more multidimensional as a goal-scorer as well.

And in reality, that's all the more reason why I don't get why Hughes supposedly has a lock on #1OA. No one would consider Hughes to be anywhere near Matthews of course. If a draft was Matthews vs Hughes and another draft was Matthews vs Kakko, I think Matthews vs Kakko would be a significantly tougher decision. It's interesting...
 
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