With forward Kaapo Kakko injured, the team's depth took a hit, forcing the New York Rangers to reconfigure the identity of each line. Here is why Kakkos returns restores roster balance.
Kaapo Kakko returned to the New York Rangers lineup on Jan. 14 against the Washington Capitals, a game where the Blueshirts skated away with a 2-1 victory to snap a five-game losing streak (1-3-1).
The 22-year-old forward missed 21 games from the end of November to mid-January with a lower-body injury.
Without Kakko in the lineup, Jonny Brodzinski, Blake Wheeler, and, for a brief stint, Brennan Othmann filled in and did an ample job helping to fill out the lineup.
With Kakko injured, the team's depth took a hit, forcing the Rangers to reconfigure the identity of each unit.
Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider had a revolving door of right-wingers play alongside them (14 since Pavel Buchnevich was traded).
A third line that once featured Kakko pre-injury saw Will Cuylle, Blake Wheeler, Othmann, and Brodzinski, take reps.
With Nick Bonino at third line-center, it disrupted the identity of the Ranger's punishing fourth line of Jimmy Vesey, Barclay Goodrow, and Bonino/Tyler Pitlick (LBI).
The balance has been restored with the former second-overall draft pick back on the first line.
"Kakko is back, so his impact is felt," Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette told reporters Tuesday morning. "When you see players come back to the lineup, for me, it's more about depth than anything else."
The fourth line can return to a solid, hard-nosed forechecking line. The third line will have more consistency, with Brodzisnki and Cuylle regularly taking shifts together.
Every team needs a multi-faceted third unit to win a championship.
As for the first line, it's more comfortable to place Kakko on Zibanejad's right wing than to swap the rest of the roster around, jeopardizing the makeup of the other trios.
After a strong preseason (two goals, one assist), the thought was that Kakko could have a breakout season in year five but struggled to put up the numbers pre-injury.
But his intangibles are what is needed on the Rangers' top line.
"I didn't like my game at all. I don't think I played good, and at the end [before the injury], I didn't play a lot, which means I didn't play well," Kakko told reporters at Tuesday's practice.
The young forward is as self-critical as his other young teammates are, selling short his defensive responsibility, the threat he has possessing the puck, and his ability to play make on a line with two elite finishers.
The Ranger's success in the first quarter was rooted in Laviolette keeping consistent lines and his players knowing their specific roles night in and night out.
The only glaring lineup question is if Filip Chytil will return, allowing Nick Bonino to move down to the third line and saving the Rangers from making a deal at the deadline for a 3C.
Injuries aren't to blame for the efforts to keep it all stitched together. Kakko's return shows how important he is to the team's makeup.