Confirmed Trade: [SEA/NYR] Kaapo Kakko for Will Borgen, 2025 3rd, 2025 6th

[OysterForever]

Players establish themselves.

Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

For example, many Sabres players made themselves better players after leaving the team. Heck, some of them even won the cup.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Yeah need to give the Zibs and Panarins all the ice, for a whole lot of nothing

Okay, so you don’t understand our forward core, so I’ll explain it to you.

Regardless of Panarin or Kreider (Zibanejad is a center and we don’t have players who can play either, so they literally have no overlap), our strongest position is probably our wingers.

Lafreniere has shown more than Kakko, and the team was ready to commit to him in a way they weren’t for Kakko. I agree with that choice. Cuylle has had a very impressive season, and is arguably now a future top 6 guy, maybe even first line. At the very least middle six. Our top two prospects are pretty much NHL ready wingers, Perreault and Othmann. You’re talking about two top 9 spots, at the very least. Likely no later than the start of next season. Brett Berard has gotten nearly 20 games this season (was just sent down), and has looked like he’ll probably be a third line winger. Possibly middle six. I think as the season goes on he’ll get more games, and will probably be a regular next season, at the latest. So that’s at least 5 top 9 guys. And then you get to how feasible it is to move Panarin and Kreider with their clauses. Even if hypothetically we can move one or both, the top 9 is pretty much full at the winger spots. Even if we can move both, we can always sign one cheap UFA winger on a short term deal.

There really was no place for Kakko on that contract in that lineup spot. It’s not to say that he was a bad player or not worth his contract, but we were going to need his lineup spot for the ELC’s that are coming within our system to stay cap compliant and we certainly were in no position to be giving out a raise soon, which’ll be required.

 

[Stephen]

Kakko has little value

Dude is a 3rd liner.

Borgen is a good bottom pairing D.

Doubt Kakko becomes better than what he is now. He also bascially asked for a trade publicly via his recent call out of team.

Rangers couldnt develop him, and he busted hard being unable ti meet minimal expectations for 2nd OA

Both sides can move on

Kakko on fire now in Seattle.

 

[The don godfather]

Kakko on fire . This could turn nasty on the rags.

 

[hamzarocks]

Kakko on fire now in Seattle.

Hes definately producing better at 7 in 10.

Will have to see if he can keep that up but he's of to a good start and proving me and any other doubters wrong so far

 

[Dfence033]

Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

For example, many Sabres players made themselves better players after leaving the team. Heck, some of them even won the cup.

Assuming you are referring to Eichel here. If so, that’s a really poor narrative that Buffalo held him back. He’s scoring at roughly the same pace (including the fast start this season) in Vegas as he was in. Buffalo - 0.95PPG vs. 1.03PPG. Excluding his rookie year, it’s 1.02PPG vs 1.03PPG. Eichel had already established himself as the player he currently is in Buffalo, no matter the narrative around the team.

As much fun as fans like to have suggesting certain teams “ruin” players, while others turn shit into gold, the player themselves has vastly more control over the player they become at the NHL level than the jersey they put on. That’s why some low picks go on to be great players, while some top picks flounder and become just okay or worse. There is no “secret sauce” to scouting, drafting, and development that makes one team destroy a player’s potential while others make their players exceed it. Scouting has gotten better with the focus on skating and the mental game, but it’s all a crapshoot, development isn’t linear, and often makes no sense at all.

Kakko on fire . This could turn nasty on the rags.

Serious question: I’ve seen many posts of yours on the main boards here. Do you actually root for any team? Or do you just attempt to troll the Rangers at all opportunities?

 

[Dfence033]

Hes definately producing better at 7 in 10.

Will have to see if he can keep that up but he's of to a good start and proving me and any other doubters wrong so far

He’s done this before, multiple times, with the team that “ruined” him. He has never consistently kept this up. While I hope for his sake (because I don’t like rooting against kids playing a game to fail, no matter what colors they put on) he figures it out, a 10-game, post wake-up trade stretch isn’t selling me that it’s anything more than one of his prior hot streaks.

 

[OysterForever]

Assuming you are referring to Eichel here. If so, that’s a really poor narrative that Buffalo held him back. He’s scoring at roughly the same pace (including the fast start this season) in Vegas as he was in. Buffalo - 0.95PPG vs. 1.03PPG. Excluding his rookie year, it’s 1.02PPG vs 1.03PPG. Eichel had already established himself as the player he currently is in Buffalo, no matter the narrative around the team.

Eichel, Reinhart, Ullmark, Rodriguez, Ristolainen to name a few.

 

[The don godfather]

Assuming you are referring to Eichel here. If so, that’s a really poor narrative that Buffalo held him back. He’s scoring at roughly the same pace (including the fast start this season) in Vegas as he was in. Buffalo - 0.95PPG vs. 1.03PPG. Excluding his rookie year, it’s 1.02PPG vs 1.03PPG. Eichel had already established himself as the player he currently is in Buffalo, no matter the narrative around the team.

As much fun as fans like to have suggesting certain teams “ruin” players, while others turn shit into gold, the player themselves has vastly more control over the player they become at the NHL level than the jersey they put on. That’s why some low picks go on to be great players, while some top picks flounder and become just okay or worse. There is no “secret sauce” to scouting, drafting, and development that makes one team destroy a player’s potential while others make their players exceed it. Scouting has gotten better with the focus on skating and the mental game, but it’s all a crapshoot, development isn’t linear, and often makes no sense at all.



Serious question: I’ve seen many posts of yours on the main boards here. Do you actually root for any team? Or do you just attempt to troll the Rangers at all opportunities?

What troll this is a horrendous trade I lmoa off when I heard it. They dumped the 2nd overall for peanuts. kakko just popped 2 goals last night this is getting interesting.

 

[Mike C]

What troll this is a horrendous trade I lmoa off when I heard it. They dumped the 2nd overall for peanuts. kakko just popped 2 goals last night this is getting interesting.

Lmoa you say??

 

[The don godfather]

Lmoa you say??

Correction lmao.

 

[Mike C]

Correction lmao.

Just funnin' with you man!

I picked up Kakko in fantasy. Sometimes players need a change in culture, scenery, system, etc

 

[The don godfather]

Just funnin' with you man!

I picked up Kakko in fantasy. Sometimes players need a change in culture, scenery, system, etc

Hes gonna keep popping points good pickup. I'll do the same just now.