Kaapo Kakko's candid comments get him in even hotter water with Rangers

Kaapo Kakko spoke his mind — and told some truths — when discussing his unhappiness at being scratched from the Rangers' lineup for Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Blues in St. Louis.

Did that cost him? He was back in the lineup Tuesday for what would be another disheartening loss, this one 2-0 to Nashville, but Kakko played the least of any Ranger, other than backup goaltender Jonathan Quick. He was on the ice for 10 minutes and 14 seconds — less than fourth-liner Adam Edstrom (11:02), who doesn’t play on any special teams, and fourth-liner Jimmy Vesey (11:06), who had one penalty-killing shift.

Kakko’s ice time was low despite the fact he had a shift on the power play, and despite the fact that Will Cuylle spent five minutes in the penalty box serving a fighting penalty, which meant one or two shifts of his had to go to someone else.

And what did Kakko do in his 10:14? He had three shots on goal, which was tied for the most on the team (with Adam Fox and fourth-line center Sam Carrick). He had six shot attempts — one was blocked, two were wide — which was tied for third-most. And according to Natural Stat Trick, his line, with Reilly Smith and the struggling Mika Zibanejad, gave up a goal but had more scoring chances-for than against (4-2), was even in high-danger chances (1-1) and had the best expected goals total and expected goals percentage of any of the Rangers’ lines.

So, according to the analytics, Kakko was one of the Rangers’ more effective players in the game.

Why didn’t he play more? Maybe because he said this Tuesday morning:

“I’ve not been the worst guy, but that was me who was out of the lineup [Sunday].’’

And this:

“I know you’ve got to do something as a coach when you're losing games, but I think it's just easy to pick a young guy and pull him out. That's how I feel, to be honest.’’

And this:

“Everyone’s got to be better. But I think . . . like I said, not too many goals against [while I’ve been on the ice]. So, there still can be more goals [for], but, I mean, I’m also not playing the most. I’ve been on the third line, and playing 10 to 12 minutes.’’

Coach Peter Laviolette responded to Kakko’s assertion that he found it easier to bench a young player than a veteran by saying, “There's been older players that have sat out as well.’’ And, he said, bottom line, the team needs to be better, and that includes Kakko.

It’s hard to blame Laviolette for this nightmare the Rangers find themselves in. Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, two-thirds of what was supposed to be the No. 1 line, have been ineffective all season. The defense has been poor, and getting the puck out of the defensive zone cleanly has been a struggle. Turnovers have been a problem, and so has an inability to sustain offensive zone time. They keep giving up odd-man rushes and putting too much pressure on their goalies. And recent injuries to defenseman K’Andre Miller (three games missed) and leading scorer Artemi Panarin (two games missed) have certainly not helped matters.

None of that is Laviolette’s fault. And to be fair, the coach does have to try different things, sometimes radical things, to try and change the team’s fortunes.

But singling out Kakko seems unfair. Punishing him for speaking his mind also seems unfair. And given that the Rangers have lost both games since Laviolette sat the 23-year-old winger out, it clearly hasn’t worked.

Now the question is, can this little episode be patched up, and everyone moves on? Or does the team now have to trade Kakko the way they traded Jacob Trouba?

If they do, would that make the team better?

Probably not.

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.