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Kaapo Kakko - future is still bright despite transitional rookie campaign

March 31, 2020, 2:20 PM ET [13 Comments]
Jan Levine
New York Rangers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Larry Brooks is providing player evaluations daily in the NY Post, an exercise that began the past Monday. The order is by last name, and while he is not giving a grade, he is giving a sort of high-level assessment. Since it's my hope that we will have hockey, I thought it might be interesting to take one or a few aspects of his daily column along with his closure  - the latter in italics - and provide my view, then receive yours in the comments. I will try and do this daily, and have covered Lias Andersson, Pavel Buchnevich, Filip Chytil, Tony DeAngelo, Jesper Fast, Adam Fox,  Alexandar Georgiev and Brett Howden. Today it's Kaapo Kakko.

Kakko



Much of the conversation about the 2019 second-overall pick in the draft focused on his spot in the lineup, his linemates, his minutes and whether he should have been shoehorned into a top-six role, ready or not. There was also much talk about the difficulties confronting a teenager from Finland attempting to make the transition not only to the NHL, but to a foreign country with a foreign language.

No doubt these external factors proved meaningful through Kakko’s rookie season, but No. 24’s obstinance became a self-made obstacle that he was unable to overcome on a consistent basis. Kakko dominated in Finland by holding onto the puck as long as possible. He would take the puck to the net, he would circle the net, he would beat a couple of men on one side, dangle a bit, then beat the same two guys again en route to a highlight-reel goal.

He was very much an individualistic — as opposed to, selfish — player, able to go one-on-one with results that were overwhelmingly positive. That was a function of the league and of the big ice, though Kakko did dominate on the small ice of the 2018-19 World Juniors in Buffalo, albeit against teenagers. The NHL is not a league of teenagers.

The more Kakko tried to play it his way, the more his tendency to double down. He would hold onto the puck too long in slowing it down. He’d make his patented move to the net, beat one man, maybe even a second, but then would lose the puck to a third opponent, or maybe the initial defender who had circled back. Kakko believed he could make the league bend to him. One day, maybe. Last year, not.

When Kakko played with pace and moved the puck quickly, he was a much more effective offensive player. Indeed, the rookie seemed to get it late in the season in becoming a more dynamic and diversified player. There is no shame in adapting.

Kakko did pick it up the two or so weeks leading into the March 12 coronavirus-induced shutdown. He had more jump in his step and played more of a give-and-go, dart-to-open-spaces game. He was more effective. And David Quinn gave some thought to moving Kakko into a top-six role in the absence of the injured Chris Kreider.

But there was no improvement at the other end of the ice, where Kakko’s struggles were measurably worse. Not sure if a lack of awareness or of attention was the primary issue, but the winger was on for 40 goals-against at five-on-five, second most to Pavel Buchnevich’s 44 among New York forwards. Problem is that Buchnevich played 170 more minutes than Kakko. Beyond that, Buchnevich was on for 54 Rangers goals, a plus-10 while Kakko was on for 16 goals for and was a minus-24.

You may not think plus-minus matters. Let me tell you, minus-24 playing for a team that was plus-seven at full strength, it matters. Kakko’s GF percentage of 28.57 was the worst in the NHL among the 215 forwards with at least 750 minutes at five-on-five. The three next worst were all Red Wings.

Kakko wants to be great. No, he expects to be great. He spent the year beating himself up because he could not attain that standard. It was painful for everyone. But there is time for Kakko to grow and there may be a top-six opening for him to grab if Jesper Fast departs.

Kakko has the tools. Everyone in the hockey world was not wrong about him last year. He is talented and driven. And stubborn
.


Expectations were raised for Kakko because of his draft slot and play overseas. We all have come to believe that all recent high picks would take the league by storm initially, forgetting just how difficult this really is to accomplish. Those that have done so are truly the elite of the elite.

Just because Kakko struggled this year doesn't mean that his future stature has dimmed by any stretch of the imagination. This season was a learning process. Learning the North American game, how to prepare for games, adjusting to his teammates and system, and most important, what does and does not work on the ice, The hope has to be what we saw at the end of the season and the lessons imparted the hard way - by failure - are ingrained into his brain and muscle memory when/if the year resumes and next season.

To me, the one really concerning aspect of Kakko's game was his indecisiveness. Instead of making a move, he would hold the puck. Rather than releasing the shot, Kakko would hold the puck an extra beat or two, allowing the defense to close on him. All of these are areas that can be remediated fairly quickly. The speed of the game surprises many, even those that grew up in the US or Canada. But Kakko has the skill set to adjust and adapt.

His willingness and desire to be great are why I think he will take a major step forward. I had hoped he would be like Andrei Svechnikov and explode after the All-Star break, but that didn't happen. Maybe the time away, presuming action starts up again this year, enabled Kakko to learn from the error of his ways and see what works on the ice. If there is one player where a quantum leap forward could be anticipated, Kakko would be my choice.

Larry Brooks had a mailbag in today's NY Post. Topics included Henrik Lundqvist buyout, alternate draft reality and RNH acquisition. The draft piece, which bridges off a prior column, is painful to read but interesting.

https://nypost.com/2020/03/31/rangers-mailbag-the-likely-henrik-lundqvist-outcome-alternate-draft-reality/

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