Lack of scoring touch by Rangers' Kaapo Kakko makes future with team uncertain
SUNRISE, Fla. – Kaapo Kakko was not happy to be scratched in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final Friday against the Florida Panthers. Everyone wants to play, so naturally, the 23-year-old forward was more than a little disappointed to be told he was sitting out.
He was back in the lineup for Game 3 Sunday, filling the spot vacated by Jimmy Vesey, who was out after suffering what appeared to be a left shoulder injury in Game 2. And though he didn’t get an assist for it, Kakko played a part in Alex Wennberg’s overtime goal that won that game. He lifted the stick of Florida defenseman Dmitry Kulikov off the puck after a faceoff, allowing linemate Jack Roslovic to take it away and get it to Ryan Lindgren, whose shot was deflected in by Wennberg for the game-winner.
"The goal was good,’’ Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said Tuesday morning as the team prepared for Game 4 Tuesday night. “[Kakko]'s the one who got in off … the sideways draw, and he twisted it up to begin with. [Roslovic] jumped on it quick, a quick play low to high and then delivered to the net. It was good jump by everybody and it started with Kaapo. I thought their line was good.’’
It's been like that for most of Kakko’s five-year career with the Rangers. He has showed skill and been responsible defensively, and he’s used his 6-2, 205-pound body to win puck battles along the boards and hold possession for long stretches in the offensive zone.
But he hasn’t scored a ton. In 300 regular-season games, he’s had 57 goals and 60 assists for an average of 11 goals and 12 assists per season. To be fair, he’s missed significant time because of injuries (or COVID), and has largely been stuck on a played mostly on the third line. But while he and Alexis Lafreniere were both considered to have underperformed in their first few years, Lafreniere (28 goals in the regular season, six in the playoffs) has taken off this season, and Kakko has not.
So it is fair to wonder if there is a future for Kakko with the team after this playoff run. He’s in the final year of the two-year bridge contract he signed in the summer of 2022 and he’ll be a restricted free agent this summer. The Rangers have young prospects in their system, such as Brennan Othmann, they will probably want to make room for in their lineup, so it may be time for the good of both parties that Kakko and the team part ways.
The native of Finland had a good year last season, playing a full 82 games for the first time and putting up career highs in goals (18), assists (22) and points (40). He finally seemed ready for a breakout year this season, especially with a new coach in Laviolette, who promised he would give opportunity to his young players – Lafreniere, Kakko and Filip Chytil.
Kakko started the season on the top line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, but the line didn’t produce much in the way of offense and eventually Kakko got dropped to the third line. A knee injury knocked him out of the lineup for 21 games and he finished with 13 goals and six assists in 61 games in the regular season.
He did score an important goal in Game 4 of the first round against Washington. But for all of the good things he and his line – with Wennberg at center and either Will Cuylle, Chytil, or now Roslovic at left wing – did as far as puck possession and being solid defensively, they simply haven’t scored much. Kakko entered Game 4 with one goal and one assist in 12 playoff games.
When asked if Laviolette explained to him why he was being scratched, or if the coach had particular guidance for him as to what he needed from him when he put him back in, Kakko said, “not really.’’
“It's part of the game, you know?’’ he said. “Somebody's not playing, so I think I can't say much about it. We just need to win six more games [to win the Stanley Cup]. So I'm not thinking about it.’’
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
