The New York Rangers have agreed to terms with Kaapo Kakko on his three-year entry-level contract, getting a bit of business done before restricted free agents take up the rest of the summer. Kakko’s deal will likely kick in this season as he is expected to play in the NHL, and should contain a huge number of performance bonuses.
Kakko, 18, was the second overall selection in last month’s NHL Entry Draft after an outstanding season in Finland and internationally. The rangy, powerful forward broke Aleksander Barkov’s Liiga record of goals scored in one season by an under-18 player with 22, and won Rookie of the Year. That performance wrapped around an outstanding effort at the World Juniors where he and his Finnish teammates took home the gold medal. Kakko scored the game-winning goal in the final against Team USA and draft rival Jack Hughes.
With some unfinished business after his TPS squad was eliminated from league playoffs, the teenager then suited up for Finland again at the IIHF World Championship where he recorded six goals in ten games and once again helped Finland capture the gold. Even with nearly unprecedented success in his draft year, he was unable to pass Hughes for the honor to be selected first overall.
The Rangers won’t be complaining though, as Kakko is exactly the kind of franchise-changing talent that they can put in the middle of their rebuild. The team had already been growing a strong program with recent trades, but have now obviously turned the corner towards competing with the selection of Kakko and signing of Artemi Panarin. The wingers should form the basis of a solid forward core for years to come while other young talents like Filip Chytil, Lias Andersson, Brett Howden and Vitali Kravtsov fill in the rest of their impressive depth chart.
Obviously there may be growing pains for Kakko in his first season, but after showing he can compete against NHL stars at the international level he should step right into a substantial role with the Rangers in 2019-20.
Has he even been rescued from New York yet or was this deal signed while he was kidnapped
He was successfully kidnapped by the benevolent dictator, J.D., so he has a very favorable ELC…
The funny thing to me is the wide range of possibilities for the Rangers that people seem to ignore. Taking into consideration that their cap space is dwindling and Trouba isn’t signed yet, this team is relying on a team of young players to take that next step alongside Panarin. I think Kappo is a sure thing. The rest of this roster is a bunch of unestablished question marks with some positive grades next to their name.
Taking all of that into consideration, this is a Rangers team that if it clicks, could easily win the division and make a cup run. They could also finish 5th or 6th very easily too, and possibly missing the playoffs by a decent margin. 1 or 2 players can’t carry a team without support Taylor Hall has shown and expressed in New Jersey before this off-season. Injuries are inevitable. Lundqvist is getting older. Their backups again, fit the young, unestablished question marks with positive grades next to their names.
The future looks bright, for sure for the Blue Shirts, but I think they have a few missing veteran pieces that will make this team click and lack the cap space to add them this year. Some other UFA’s fit this bill, but came off the market on July 1.
Now with that all tied to together with future for the young players in Kravtsov,Kakko, with Panarin signing and other players that we looked at this past season, now is time to look at the future of Shattenkirk, Buchnevich, DeAngelo, and pending contract of Trouba, who will go and who will stay and will we get anything in return in players or additional cap space.
Buchnevich will obviously stay given his tremendous talent and Shattenkirk will go because he’s bad, in fact the Rangers have started to make an effort to get rid of him last season as a cap clearing move.
You’ve seemingly touched and pinpointed all obvious observations for any team out there. The Blues could have a bad year if their players don’t perform, or they can win the cup if they do.
Another thing that hasn’t been taken into consideration is Lundqvist. He’s 37 and his age is catching up to him. He could have a nice year but at this point they’re going to need a much improved defense