Rangers have nothing but positives to say about Kaapo Kakko after trade

DALLAS — It’s been a heavy couple of days, a heavy week, a heavy last month or so for the Rangers. So on Thursday, a day after forward Kaapo Kakko was traded to Seattle, they made an effort to make practice at the Dallas Stars’ training facility lighthearted. At the end of the practice, when the entire team took penalty shots, the coaching staff got involved, too.

“The players wanted the coaches in the shootout,’’ said coach Peter Laviolette, who took the last shot and scored against Igor Shesterkin, setting off some hooting and hollering from the players (“He gave me seven-eighths of the net,’’ Laviolette quipped).

It was a moment of lightness after some dark days. The Rangers have lost 11 of their last 14 games and two weeks ago traded captain Jacob Trouba before shipping a disgruntled Kakko to Seattle on Wednesday for defenseman Will Borgen and two 2025 draft picks.

Things have been so heavy that center Vincent Trocheck felt the need to address the beat writers following the team about a report out of Canada that said the Rangers had a players-only meeting to complain about general manager Chris Drury. Trocheck said that did not happen.

“That could not be further from the truth,’’ he said. “If we’re having a closed-door meeting with just the players, I think the last thing that we’re going to do is complain about our general manager. When we have closed-door meetings in here, it’s about us. It’s about what we can do. Obviously, we’re in a little bit of a hole right now, and it’s about what we can do to get out of it.’’

Kakko, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 draft, had expressed his unhappiness at being scratched from the lineup on Sunday, saying on Tuesday, “I have not been the worst guy’’ and insinuating that it was easier for Laviolette to scratch him than an older player.

But in a Zoom call with Seattle media on Thursday, Kakko said he did not think his comments led to the trade. He did say he welcomed the trade as a “fresh start’’ for him after five-plus often frustrating years with the Rangers.

“I feel that’s what I need right now,’’ he said.

Laviolette, who scratched Kakko for Sunday’s game and then gave him the least ice time of any player in Tuesday’s 2-0 loss at Nashville, said he spoke to Kakko after the trade.

“I just thanked him for everything he did,’’ Laviolette said. “It was a good conversation. Really good conversation.’’

On Thursday, Kakko’s now-former teammates sang his praises as a player and person.

“When I heard [about the trade], it was emotional, because I spent so much time with him and we played so much time together on the same line,’’ center Filip Chytil said. “Probably it’s the guy who I played with the most the last five years. So it’s been tough when I heard that. But we chatted after and I just wished him good luck. He’s a great guy. He has so much talent, and I think [the trade]’s gonna help him as well.’’

Urho Vaakanainen, the defenseman the Rangers got back from Anaheim in the Trouba trade, was a teammate of Kakko’s on the 2019 Finland team that won the World Junior Championships. He and Kakko were Rangers teammates for only 12 days.

“We’re pretty close,’’ Vaakanainen said. “We knew each other before. So yeah, it sucks to see him go. But you know, that’s business, and you could kind of see it coming. So obviously, pretty sad day yesterday, but I think it’s a good opportunity for him.’’

Borgen, who turned 28 Thursday, was an original member of the Kraken when they entered the league in 2021. He said he had just landed in Chicago with the team when he got the word he’d been traded to the Rangers. He quickly packed up his things and flew to Dallas.

“It’s mixed emotions,’’ Borgen said of how he felt about the trade. “I mean, I was in Seattle since the beginning there and had a lot of fun there. But I’m excited to be here — Original Six team, New York City. It’ll be exciting. I’m looking forward to it.’’

Notes & quotes: Laviolette said Borgen will be in the lineup for Friday night’s game against Dallas . . . Artemi Panarin (upper-body injury, two games missed) practiced in a non-contact jersey, but Laviolette couldn’t say when he will be able to return to the lineup . . . Matt Rempe, who was called up from AHL Hartford on Thursday when Victor Mancini was sent down, did not make it to Dallas in time for practice and may or may not be in the lineup . . . K’Andre Miller (injured reserve, upper-body injury) is skating in New York and will meet the team when it returns home.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

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.