Is he slower than Nash?
Prime Nash was pretty quick but Nash with the Rangers hardly had what I would call good speed.
Kakko is a very good skater, there are a few things contributing to this myth
1) He’s being compared to Hughes, who’s greatest attribute is his skating AINEC
2) He’s big so he can cover more ice without looking like he’s skating his butt off like a smaller player
3) He’s playing against grown men, if you watch highlights of him against peers he is blowing by guys
4) He’s a very complete & mature player and there’s no real weaknesses or red flags in his game, so people say he doesn’t skate like Hughes so that must be his weakness.
He has great acceleration and he is phenomenally agile, he has this move where he’ll circle the perimeter getting a player to chase him and then stop/turn on a dime, while the players stumbling to get back up he’s already skated several feet the other direction.