Kaapo Kakko burst onto the world stage with strong performances, leading the Finnish team to gold medals at both the 2018-19 World Junior Championships and the 2019 World Championships, and was selected second overall by the Rangers in June of the same year. Ta.
Five years have passed since then, and although his NHL career has had its share of starts, stops, and setbacks, there is no guarantee that Kakko will be selected to represent Finland next February in the Four-Nation Tournament that will also include the USA and USA teams. Not at all. Canadian and Swedish teams. At best, he's just on a bubble.
“I feel like all the guys that play in the NHL are on that list,” Kakko told the Post after Friday’s practice ahead of Saturday’s off day. “We had one meeting over the summer, but I haven’t thought about it at all.
“That's not true. [motivation] For me. We have to be as good as we can in every game we play this season here. That's the important thing. ”
The most important thing for No. 24, as he has said repeatedly, is to stay healthy this season. Kakko missed 21 games last year with a foot injury, two years after missing 39 games first with a wrist injury and then with lower-body issues. The Finn appeared to be progressing well, but is undergoing rehabilitation.
“Honestly, I just want to play as well as I can and try to stay healthy,” Kakko said. “I missed a lot of games last year, but we'll see what happens after that. I want to do my best regardless of how much ice time I get.
“I mean, that's all I can do.”
It feels like you're in a time warp, right? Kakko in the third row, Phil Sittil in the middle, except Will Quill replaces Alexis Lafreniere on the left side, and neither the center nor the right wing are kids anymore.
“I know what Phil can do outside. He's a good player,” said Kakko, who has been on the ice with Sitil for about a third of his career 5-on-5 ice time. “But I think I had a very good match with Brozi last year.” [Jonny Brodzinski] and bargie [Alex Wennberg] When he came to the deadline. ”
We know that Kakko has been given top-six opportunities at intermittent parts of his career to ride shotgun with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad (the first 11 games of last season, as an example). , know the history of how it could not be maintained. landing. He is reliable enough without the puck and strong on the wall. However, there is a disconnect before the puck hits the net.
On the breakup day after losing to Florida in the conference finals, Kakko was hurt in Game 2, but head coach Laviolette acknowledged shared responsibility for the winger's plight and suggested ways to get the winger more involved in the game. He suggested that it was his responsibility to find out. game.
However, that would be very difficult. Kakko has at least seven forwards ahead of him when it comes to power plays, and it looks like there are at least six forwards ahead of him when it comes to penalty killing. Third liners without special teamwork will have limited playing time.
“I mentioned targets, but[ing] Some players try to improve their game, [Kakko] was one of them, but it probably didn't turn out the way he wanted it to, the way I wanted it to, or the way we wanted it to turn out,” Laviolette said Friday. “I'm sure he wants to be a part of the power play unit, I'm sure he wants to get more minutes and make an impact, and I'd like to facilitate that if possible.
“But that should be guaranteed on the ice, too, right? I thought that was his line. [Thursday against Boston] It was really good. I thought the puck was on his stick quite a bit.
“We got off to a good start.”
Kakko signed a one-year contract for $2.4 million with no fuss or hassle for the qualifier. The Rangers made it clear he was not untouchable, but general manager Chris Drury refused to sell the Finn cheaply. So he came back. Kakko has played in 300 games with the Rangers, scoring 57 goals and 117 points, but it almost always looks like he's starting from scratch.
Well, at least the third line isn't still wearing green practice jerseys like it was in the heyday of the kid line.
“Regardless of how things turn out, having that balance and depth somewhere in the top nine could make us a really dangerous hockey team,” Laviolette said. “So nothing has changed since then heading into this year.”
