The reason behind Kakko's inefficiency? His short stick

[Machinehead]

Any insight why he was able to be so effective in the international tournaments, but hasn't had the same impact at NHL level? Is it the speed, the size of the rink, level of competition, perhaps all of it? Would he still dominate the IIHF World Champions, or was that 6 goals in 10 games 2019 WC and junior tournament success mostly luck?

He doesn't do anything. He doesn't try to do anything.

No attacking defenders, no trying to beat a guy 1v1, no cutting to the middle, no offense off the rush, no offense off the cycle. Pass to the most open guy or dump it in, rinse repeat.

Nobody wants to believe this but that's the Rangers. That's what they want. Nobody has run the team over the last 23 years without Sather's blessing and the Rangers really haven't changed much over that time. They're not interested in developing offense and they hire coaches that are not that interested in it, lest ye give the puck away.

Even Panarin doesn't do anything anymore. He does his roulette passes over and over again and eventually one of them hits. Nobody on this team tries to back off defenders or beat them. For a guy like Kakko, who's best asset is his hands, and who needs his hands to create space because he's not a burner, this is particularly noticeable.

 

[NotCommitted]

Any insight why he was able to be so effective in the international tournaments, but hasn't had the same impact at NHL level? Is it the speed, the size of the rink, level of competition, perhaps all of it? Would he still dominate the IIHF World Champions, or was that 6 goals in 10 games 2019 WC and junior tournament success mostly luck?

Well, honestly no idea - haven't watched him in the NHL all that much, but I remember seeing him in the world championship tournament and I was sure he was going to do well in the NHL pretty much right away, or after a year or so of growing up. He looked legit and seemed to play a game I thought would translate well to NHL. Apparently a lot of scouts thought the same since we went 2nd OA.

He has been playing winning hockey in the NHL 5v5 so it's not like he's doing horrible, but production seems pretty lackluster and expectations are high for a 2nd OA and he hasn't been meeting those. He's just about to turn 22 so it's not like he's not young... it takes many players until 24-25 to take off in the NHL, even players drafted early.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

I watch a fair bit of Ranger games, even though I root against them. Kakko passes the eye test. He is good on the boards, has good vision and goes to the dirty areas. He's just not finishing. No idea if this short stick thing is legit, but he's not a bust by any means. As a #2 overall pick, his production at this point of his tenure is a little disappointing, he still has a lot of time to grow.

I really hate this era of player evaluation. His production is massively disappointing based on where he was drafted and how much time he's had in the league. Call him an analytics darling if you want, but production is the key metric here and he's not getting it done even though he has the talent and physical attributes to do so. Let's not blame linemates either. He should be driving his line.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

He doesn't do anything. He doesn't try to do anything.

No attacking defenders, no trying to beat a guy 1v1, no cutting to the middle, no offense off the rush, no offense off the cycle. Pass to the most open guy or dump it in, rinse repeat.

Nobody wants to believe this but that's the Rangers. That's what they want. Nobody has run the team over the last 23 years without Sather's blessing and the Rangers really haven't changed much over that time. They're not interested in developing offense and they hire coaches that are not that interested in it, lest ye give the puck away.

Even Panarin doesn't do anything anymore. He does his roulette passes over and over again and eventually one of them hits. Nobody on this team tries to back off defenders or beat them. For a guy like Kakko, who's best asset is his hands, and who needs his hands to create space because he's not a burner, this is particularly noticeable.

Is this the issue?

 

[Machinehead]

View attachment 639952

Is this the issue?

You would think. There's certainly a lot of jokes about that on the Rangers board.

That being said, a lot of grinders become coaches and executives. A lot of really talented players fail in those roles.

The problems predate those two anyway.

Here's the part of the directory you want to look at:

And if Ortmeyer and Glass are problematic, there's the guy that wanted them.

 

[Jauffre]

I watch a fair bit of Ranger games, even though I root against them. Kakko passes the eye test. He is good on the boards, has good vision and goes to the dirty areas. He's just not finishing. No idea if this short stick thing is legit, but he's not a bust by any means. As a #2 overall pick, his production at this point of his tenure is a little disappointing, he still has a lot of time to grow.

Devils fans continue to say this and Rangers fan can appreciate it. Production is not #2OA level but he's noticeable and does things out there.

Lafreniere on the other hand...

 

[Jauffre]

Even Panarin doesn't do anything anymore. He does his roulette passes over and over again and eventually one of them hits. Nobody on this team tries to back off defenders or beat them. For a guy like Kakko, who's best asset is his hands, and who needs his hands to create space because he's not a burner, this is particularly noticeable.

God this is so true. It's like a hivemind mentality that's taken over. The entire team plays boring, ape hockey most of the time, save for Fox especially when down a goal.