When Kappo Kakko was drafted by the Rangers 2nd overall back in 2019, everyone felt the Rangers had a franchise player on their hands. He’d been a superstar while playing in the Finnish Liiga, Finland’s top hockey league. He would be a fixture of the Rangers’ top line for years. The guy who would become the face of the Rangers’ rebuild, and help them lift the cup for the first time since 1994.
However, Kakko has left a lot to be desired. His six years in the NHL have been marred by underperforming and injuries. He only played in a full 82 games once in his career back in 2022-23. Now the two shortened COVID seasons make this less concerning. Yet the most points he scored in a season was 40. A far cry from the first-line production everyone thought he would give. This has caused many to label him as a bust.
The Rangers were so disappointed in his production that they traded him back on December 18th to the Seattle Kraken. Although this seems like the Rangers are giving up on Kakko, this is the best thing for his career.
Seattle Will Give Kakko Opportunities
This was a low-risk high-reward deal for the Kraken. Sure Kakko hasn’t lived up to his second overall pick status. However, he’s still only 23 years old, a young player by most standards. Sometimes guys just take longer to develop than others. Look at Tage Thompson, someone everyone thought was a bust when he was 23, yet once given an opportunity has put up three straight seasons of 50+ points. There is no reason to think something similar can happen with Kakko.
Although it’s come in a small sample size, it seems like Seattle is willing to give Kakko the opportunities he didn’t have in New York. For starters, he’s been playing on the first line in his debut. Now this is due to the captain Jordan Eberle being out with a pelvic injury, however, it shows the Kraken has a high opinion of the 23-year-old. They are going to allow Kakko to play in the top six, something that wasn’t going to happen in New York.
He’s also been used on their Power Play two unit. Now this line doesn’t get nearly the amount of ice time that the first unit does, yet it’s still an opportunity. This is where players rack up a decent amount of their points. Kakko can show that he’s still a scoring machine by seeing more scoring chances. If he’s able to score more it could build his confidence, making him a better player.
It Was Never Going To Work With the Rangers
A change of scenery alone could be all Kakko needs to turn his career around. Although they’ll never admit it the Rangers were upset with the way Kakko’s career went. They also didn’t help him at all in terms of his development.
For starters look at the coaching he had in his first few seasons. He went from David Quinn, who by all standards is an underwhelming hockey coach. He then had to work with Gerard Gallant, someone whose coaching style doesn’t mess well with young players. Gallant mostly played him in the bottom six playing with players who weren’t the best in setting up scoring changes. He also was hands-off when it came to practice. Not have a structure and has his players run it. Which doesn’t mesh well when developing a player.
The Rangers also always used Kakko as a scapegoat. Whenever things weren’t going well for the team, Kakko was always the first guy who was scratched from the lineup. This happened in Game Six of the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals, as well as December 15th of this season. Both instances saw the team struggling but Kakko was far from the problem. Yet he still found himself taking the blame for it. It’s hard to improve yourself when you feel the team you play for doesn’t like you. It puts more stress on you because a simple mistake could land you as a scratch. Playing for a team that wants Kakko might take some of that pressure off him and allow him to play his way.
Thanks for reading! Credit for my feature image to Michael Reaves. You can find more MLB content at Belly Up Sports and follow me on Twitter/X.
