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Kaapo Kakko

Eleven Players Elect Salary Arbitration

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Eleven players across the NHL have elected for salary arbitration, per the NHLPA.

Those names include:

The deadline for second club-elected arbitration is Sunday at 5 p.m., with arbitration hearings scheduled from July 20 to August 4. Two seasons ago, 23 players filed for arbitration, and last summer, that number dropped to 14 — a downward trend that continues this year.

As a reminder, not every player is expected to head to a hearing, as negotiations will continue leading into July 20. However, each player who elects for salary arbitration is now prohibited from negotiating with other teams or signing an offer sheet.

Kraken Acquire Kaapo Kakko

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The Kraken have added some extra depth up front, acquiring winger Kaapo Kakko from the Rangers.  In return, New York receives defenseman Will Borgen, a 2025 third-round pick, and a 2025 sixth-round selection.  Both teams have announced the swap.

Kakko was the second overall pick in 2019 but while he has shown flashes of being an impact player, he has also struggled to produce with consistency over his now-six-year career.  The 23-year-old has only reached the 40-point mark once thus far, that coming back in 2022-23 when he had 18 goals and 22 assists in 82 games.  His output dipped to just 19 points in 61 games last season, resulting in the two sides agreeing on a one-year, $2.4MM contract back in June, a move that didn’t do anything to slow the trade speculation surrounding him.

This move comes not long after Kakko voiced his frustration with being a healthy scratch over the weekend as the Rangers continued to try to shake up their lineup to snap their recent drought.  That frustration was justifiable as he is off to a reasonable start this year, picking up four goals and ten assists in 30 games despite spending a lot of time in the bottom six, averaging just 13:17 per contest.  Hovering around half a point per game in that role is certainly decent output, one that Seattle will welcome to add to an offensive group that sits in the middle of the pack.

As for Borgen, the soon-to-be 28-year-old has been a physical presence over his four-year tenure with Seattle who selected him from Buffalo in the expansion draft.  Last season, he posted career bests in assists (22), points (25), blocked shots (111), hits (195), and ATOI (17:35) and looked to be on his way toward a bigger role on the back end.  However, that hasn’t exactly been the case this season as he has been limited to just one goal and one assist in 33 games while his playing time has dropped to 15:12 per night, a career low.

Despite his struggles, NHL.com’s Dan Rosen reports (Twitter link) that the Rangers had been coveting Borgen for a while.  With the departure of Jacob Trouba to Anaheim, they needed a bit more defensive depth and this move should allow Victor Mancini to return to AHL Hartford where he can have a bigger role.  Borgen is also in the final season of his contract, one that pays him $2.7MM so New York takes on a small amount of money with this swap.  Notably, he’s eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer while Kakko will have one more RFA year remaining.

Considering his draft stature, it seems like a fairly low price for Seattle to pay to acquire Kakko and they’ll hope that a change of scenery can help unlock the offensive potential that helped make him the number two pick.  Meanwhile, with New York seemingly unsure about committing a long-term deal to him, they’ve elected to make a move more geared toward the present rather than trying to maximize value in the form of higher draft or prospect compensation.  With the two selections they added, they now have seven for the upcoming draft.

Interestingly, the 2019 draft class has seen quite a few first-round picks moved already.  As Peter Baugh of The Athletic points out (Twitter link), eight of the top 19 selections from that year have already been traded, including three of the top four selections.  Among those who haven’t moved, a couple (Dylan Cozens and Trevor Zegras) have been in trade speculation themselves in recent months so the number of high picks on the move from that class could be growing even more soon enough.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rangers’ Kaapo Kakko Frustrated With Healthy Scratch

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New York Rangers winger Kaapo Kakko spoke openly at Tuesday’s practice about being healthy scratched on Sunday night. He told media, including Peter Baugh of The Athletic, that he was surprised by the decision and that he felt head coach Peter Laviolette may have been singling out the young guy. Kakko went on to say, “Nobody’s playing great right now… I haven’t been on the ice too much when they score a goal. I have not been the worst.”

Kakko’s vocal stance against his scratching ring loud on a Rangers team that’s gone 3-7-0 in their last 10 games. But his recent efforts might not be strong enough to back the pride. He has just one assist in six games since December 1st – making him one of the lowest-scoring forwards on the team in that span, next to Adam Edstrom (zero points, seven games) and Brett Berard (one point in four games). Both players have also recorded more shots, hits, and blocks than Kakko as of late – painting a clearer picture of why Laviolette opted to scratch the 2019 second-overall pick. The decision didn’t do much to change New York’s fate. They went on to lose 3-2 against St. Louis, though Berard scored the Rangers’ first goal of the game.

The lost games and hard feelings seem to be pulling both the Rangers, and their fourth-highest draft selection in club history, into a new low. Kakko is no stranger to being healthy scratched, having sat out of multiple regular season and Conference Finals games before – but he’s rarely been so vocal. His comments could drive the wedge between player and club even further, bringing more energy to trade rumors that stretch as far back as 2022. The Rangers have said they aren’t looking to make any more moves after dealing captain Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks, but they may need to bank on Kakko’s value sooner rather than later. He hit a low last season, netting just 19 points in 61 games after a career-high 40 points in 2022-23. And while he’s bounced back from that a bit this year with a much more promising 14 points in 29 games, he seems to be falling into old struggles once again.

New York could find reasonable replacements on the open market, with St. Louis Blues winger Brandon Saad the easiest choice. Saad has totaled 138 points in 259 games and four seasons with the Blues and tended to operate out of the team’s middle-six. The Blues have shown no hesitancy making bold moves this season – recently acquiring career-Anaheim Duck Cam Fowler – and reportedly have Saad on their trade block. The details of swapping a young, former second-overall pick for a 30-year-old would certainly be nuanced, but the trade could certainly be a quick option.

For now, any trade speculation is just that. Kakko said he’s motivated to return to the lineup, and Laviolette batted away questions about his comments. The head coach mentioned that older players have sat as well – citing Reilly Smith and Jonny Brodzinski – and that it’s okay for Kakko to be upset. Brodzinski is expected to step out of the lineup again on Tuesday to make room for Kakko’s return. Defenseman Urho Vaakanainen is also expected to make his Rangers debut on Tuesday, after being acquired in the trade that sent Trouba to Anaheim. Vaakanainen brings much-needed shutdown defense to the team that’s allowed the fifth-most goals in December. New York will hope that can prove a difference-maker before they’re forced to explore the trade market, or begin questioning more engrained veterans.

Rangers Notes: Panarin, Kakko, Laviolette, Trades

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The New York Rangers announced earlier today that star forward Artemi Panarin would not play tonight against the St. Louis Blues and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. It’s not exactly clear when the 33-year-old’s injury occurred but it is more bad news for a team that fell out of a playoff spot last night.

Panarin currently leads New York in scoring with 15 goals and 21 assists in 29 games and has been one of the few Rangers stars to meet offensive expectations thus far. New York ranks 20th in the NHL in offense and outside of Panarin, just three other Rangers forwards have topped 20 points on the season, with the next closest being William Cuylle with 22 points in 29 games.

In other Rangers notes:

  • Arthur Staple of The Athletic tweeted that Rangers forward Kaapo Kakko was a healthy scratch today against St. Louis. Kakko’s scratch will surely add fuel to the trade rumors about the former second-overall pick. The 23-year-old is mired in a slump that has seen him produce just a goal and two assists in his past 12 games. Kakko’s offensive numbers are up from last season, but many of his underlying numbers are down and he’s received favorable deployment, starting nearly 60% of his even-strength shifts in the offensive zone.
  • Larry Brooks of the New York Post reported that the Rangers have no appetite to make a coaching change at this time and Peter Laviolette’s job is not in jeopardy. The Rangers have made several coaching changes in recent years, firing Gerard Gallant two years ago and David Quinn four years ago. Laviolette is in his second season In New York and took the Rangers to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. He is not even halfway through the three-year contract that the Rangers gave him in June 2023 that pays him a salary just shy of $5MM annually (as per TSN’s Pierre LeBrun).
  • Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet is reporting that the Rangers have essentially put a for-sale sign-out and are listening to trade offers on just about everyone in their lineup other than goalie Igor Shesterkin and those with no-movement clauses (Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck and Adam Fox). The Rangers have been in a free fall since starting the season 5-0-1 and are just 3-7 in their last ten games.

Metropolitan Notes: Kolosov, Kakko, Boll

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While a report last weekend indicated that Flyers goaltending prospect Alexei Kolosov told the team he wouldn’t report to AHL Lehigh Valley in the fall, general manager Daniel Brière says the team doesn’t “have any confirmation that he’s not coming back” and expects him to be their third-string netminder this season, he told Sam Carchidi of Philly Hockey Now.

Kolosov, 22, signed his entry-level contract last summer but was returned on loan to Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League. Only after Dinamo’s season ended was Kolosov brought over to North America, where he finished the season with an .885 SV% in only two games for Lehigh Valley.

Last weekend, sources told Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey that Kolosov felt isolated after arriving in North America, a notion Brière refuted in his interview with Carchidi. “As we know, he’s coming back for camp in September,” the GM said. “He was not left by himself, and we thought everything was going good. If he wants to play hockey, he has to come back over. He’s under contract with us, so that’s why I don’t understand all the fuss. I guess a Russian team could say they’re not going to honor the contract. But he’s under contract with the Flyers and that’s where he’s going to have to play if he wants to play hockey.”

Kolosov, a third-round pick of Philadelphia in 2021, posted a .907 SV%, 2.39 GAA and 22-21-3 record with four shutouts in 47 games for Minsk last season.

Here’s more from the Metropolitan:

  • In a mailbag for The Athletic, Arthur Staple opines that Rangers winger Kaapo Kakko is stuck as a “buy-low” trade candidate after signing a one-year, $2.4MM deal for this season back in June. While Staple says there’s been some amount of documented interest in the 2019 second-overall pick on the trade market, he’s “not a player other teams are coveting.” The Finn averaged a career-low 13:17 per game under head coach Peter Laviolette last year amid the worst offensive showing of his five-year NHL resume, limited to 19 points (13 goals, six assists) in 61 games.
  • While the Blue Jackets settled on their next head coach with the hiring of Dean Evason last month, it didn’t mean the rest of the coaching staff was set in stone. The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reported a couple of weeks ago that the futures of all three of their assistants, Jared Boll, Steve McCarthy and Mark Recchi, were up in the air pending meetings with Evason. Today, Portzline confirmed that Boll’s job is safe for next season, while McCarthy’s and Recchi’s futures haven’t been decided on. The Blue Jackets were already down an assistant after opting not to renew the contract of Josef Boumedienne.

Rangers Looking To Move Up In The Draft

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By virtue of winning the Presidents’ Trophy and falling in the Eastern Conference Final, the Rangers will be waiting a while to make their first selection in the opening round of the draft on Friday as they hold the 30th overall selection.  However, it appears they’re looking to make a selection earlier than that as Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that GM Chris Drury is looking to package that pick along with winger Kaapo Kakko to move up in the draft order.

Earlier this month, Kakko accepted what would have been his qualifying offer this weekend, inking a one-year, $2.4MM agreement.  But if anything, instead of the contract quashing any trade speculation, it has had the opposite effect as many have suggested that the new deal actually helps his trade value as now teams have certainty as to what the 23-year-old will cost.

Kakko was the second-overall pick back in 2019 after a very strong season in Finland’s top league and it looked like New York had a future core winger on their hands with the potential for more.  However, while there have been signs of that potential over his first five NHL seasons, he hasn’t been able to show it consistently.

In 2022-23, Kakko had what looked like a possible breakout campaign, notching 18 goals and 22 assists.  Those numbers don’t jump off the page for a fourth-year player but they were career bests and both sides were hoping he’d be able to build off that.  But it didn’t happen.  Instead, Kakko struggled this year, notching 13 goals and six assists in 61 games while seeing his playing time dip to a career-low 13:17 per night.  It went even lower in the playoffs as he was just over a dozen minutes per game while recording just one goal and one assist in 15 appearances.

On the one hand, you have Kakko’s recent performance which wasn’t the greatest.  On the other hand, here’s a still-young player who other teams might feel that a new team and system could help get him back on track.  The Rangers will clearly be hoping that particular perception will help them move up the draft board on Friday.

Metropolitan Notes: Devils, Kakko, Blue Jackets

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It’s well-known that the Devils are looking to upgrade between the pipes this summer.  However, as Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports (video link), that’s hardly the only thing on their wish list.  In addition to searching for a starting goalie, Seravalli relays that New Jersey is also looking for a top-six forward, a bottom-six forward, a top-four defenseman, and a bottom-four blueliner.  That’s a particularly long wish list and is one that they’ll be hard-pressed to fit within their remaining cap room.  Per CapFriendly, they have a little under $20MM in space to work with but a fair-sized chunk of that will go to pending RFA Dawson Mercer.  Accordingly, while GM Tom Fitzgerald is hoping to add that many pieces this summer, he might have to settle for a bit less unless there’s a cost-cutting move coming somewhere.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • While the Rangers and Kaapo Kakko agreed to a one-year, $2.4MM deal on Thursday, that might not be enough to quell any trade speculation. As Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman relayed in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link), it’s possible that this was done to provide more certainty to interested teams as to what his cap charge will be for next season without having to worry about salary arbitration.  Kakko is coming off a down year that saw him record just 13 goals and six assists in 61 games, hardly the type of production New York was hoping for from the second-overall pick in 2019.
  • New Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell has some work to do to reshape Columbus this offseason. To that end, he told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch that he is telling teams that “for the right price, everything is in play”.  He has been fielding calls inquiring about the fourth overall selection in a couple of weeks although it would be surprising to see them most that pick.  Meanwhile, it certainly looks like Patrik Laine could be on the move in the coming weeks and other veterans could also go as Waddell puts his stamp on the team.  After another last-place finish in the Metropolitan, it could be another busy summer in Columbus.

Rangers’ Kaapo Kakko Signs Qualifying Offer

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Rangers winger Kaapo Kakko will sign his one-year, $2.4MM qualifying offer and avoid restricted free agency, reports the New York Post’s Larry Brooks. The deal will yield a $300K increase over his previous $2.1MM cap hit but will pay him the same salary he earned in the 2023-24 season. The Rangers later made the signing official but did not confirm financial details.

Kakko, 23, did reach RFA status briefly after his entry-level deal expired in 2022 but agreed to a two-year, $4.2MM pact in late July. He would have been arbitration-eligible this summer if he remained unsigned.

Coming off a career-high 40 points in 2022-23, Kakko was expected to build on his offensive showing and play closer to the potential indicated by his second-overall billing in the 2019 draft. It didn’t go as planned, however, as he dropped firmly back into a bottom-six role under head coach Peter Laviolette, managing 13 goals and 19 points in 61 games while averaging a career-low 13:17.

While he still managed to score 13 goals and shoot 14.3%, north of his career average, his normally high-end even-strength possession impacts dipped, making it harder to justify giving him fringe top-six minutes with his otherwise limited offensive production. His 49.4 xGF% was his worst since his rookie season, per Hockey Reference.

Kakko’s offensive struggles continued in the playoffs, as he scored just one goal and one assist and had a -4 rating in 15 games. He was a healthy scratch for Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Final loss to the Panthers, a move that some speculated may lead to a trade request. The Rangers were fielding trade interest in Kakko as far back as January, but general manager Chris Drury publically reaffirmed his belief in his potential earlier this month.

No matter what, getting an extension done a couple of weeks in advance of the draft helps the Rangers. It either provides them with more cost certainty heading into free agency next month or makes it easier to put together a trade by providing any potential acquiring teams with cost certainty.

For now, Kakko’s signing brings the Rangers’ projected cap hit next season to $78.8MM, $9.2MM short of the $88MM upper limit. They still have two RFAs to re-sign in defensemen Ryan Lindgren and Braden Schneider, and have multiple notable pending UFAs, including Erik Gustafsson, Jack Roslovic and Alexander Wennberg.

Kakko will be in the same situation when his new deal expires next summer as an arbitration-eligible RFA with a $2.4MM qualifying offer.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Rangers Notes: Kakko, Trouba, Core

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Rangers general manager Chris Drury held his virtual end-of-season media availability today after his squad was bounced by the Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final. Among the topics of discussion was the future of 2019 second-overall pick Kaapo Kakko, who’s already found himself in trade rumors after being benched during the playoffs and reaching the end of his contract.

Drury compared Kakko’s situation to that of 2020 first-overall pick Alexis Lafrenière last summer, saying the team will “continue to try and find everything we can do to help him reach his potential” (via USA Today’s Vince Z. Mercogliano). Like Kakko, Lafrenière was a restricted free agent last summer but ended up sticking with the team and signing a two-year, $4.65MM deal in August.

It turned out to be the prudent choice. Under new head coach Peter Laviolette, Lafrenière was finally elevated to a consistent top-six role and scored 28 goals and 57 points while playing in all 82 games, all career highs. He was also one of the Rangers’ better playoff performers, adding eight goals and 14 points in 16 contests.

Unlike Lafrenière, though, Kakko looked to have taken a step forward last season after scoring 18 goals and 40 points but regressed heavily this year. The 23-year-old Finn averaged 13:17 per game, a career low, and mustered only 13 goals and 19 points in 61 games. Whether the Blueshirts hold onto his signing rights and attempt to continue developing him into a top-six threat or decide to move him remains to be seen.

More from Drury on the Rangers’ offseason and future:

  • He also went out of his way to defend captain Jacob Trouba, who’s drawn public ire after a poor showing in their loss to the Panthers (via The Athletic’s Peter Baugh). “Jacob’s been an excellent captain and leader for us. … He gives us everything he can every single night.” The blue-liner had three goals and 22 points in 69 games this season, tied for his lowest offensive output per game since New York acquired him from the Jets in 2019. He did have seven points in 16 playoff games but got caved in defensively at even strength, only managing to control 41.6% of shot attempts.
  • The third-year GM still believes their core of Adam Fox, Artemi Panarin and Igor Shesterkin can lead them to a championship after their Presidents’ Trophy-winning season. “I do believe in our players individually,” Drury said. “Now it’s part of the job to figure out if this group collectively can get us where we want to be. That process is already underway” (via Mercogliano).

Afternoon Snapshots: Olympics, Tanev, Monahan, Kakko

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Currently, the last time that NHL players were included in the Olympics was the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games. Due to a dispute over funding in 2018, the Olympic hockey teams were composed of professional players not currently residing on an NHL roster. Set to go back in 2022, those plans were unfortunately canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the 2026 Winter Olympic Games to be shared between Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy, the NHL is once again looking to send the world’s best hockey players back to the international event. In today’s edition of TSN’s Insider Trading, Chris Johnson reports that Commissioner Gary Bettman is set to meet with the International Ice Hockey Federation tomorrow, and he could make the announcement as soon as Friday in Toronto.

Not only is the league looking for a return to the Olympics, but they are also looking to bring back a World Cup, which would begin in 2028 under the reported deal. Although nothing is currently set in stone, it does appear momentum is heading in the right direction for the return of NHL players to international hockey.

Other snapshots:

  • During the Insider Trading segment, TSN’s Darren Dreger mentions a new team interested in the services of Calgary Flames’ defenseman Chris Tanev; the Ottawa Senators. One would have to assume that if the Senators were to acquire Tanev at the trade deadline, an extension would almost have to be worked out, given that they are all but out of the playoff race even at this point in the season. However, the reported interest in Tanev may just be a ploy to drive up the price for their intra-provincial rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
  • After a lost season to injury last year, Montreal Canadiens forward Sean Monahan has found himself back on the trade market for this year’s trade deadline. With most teams waiting to see what happens with the Flames’ Elias Lindholm, Pierre Lebrun indicates that once that domino does fall, and Montreal commits to trading Monahan, it is more than likely the Canadiens will be able to fetch a first-round pick for a few months of Monahan, especially if they are willing to retain salary.
  • To finish off the reports from Insider Trading, Dreger also indicates that the General Manager of the New York Rangers, Chris Drury, has begun receiving calls on the availability of Kaapo Kakko. With Filip Chytil now missing the rest of the 2023-24 season due to injury, the Rangers have quite the hole down the middle after Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck. Only a few years removed from being the second overall pick, New York could build a package for a center with Kakko as the main piece heading back the other way.

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