The New York Rangers' second overall pick from the 2019 NHL Draft is set to enter what will be his fifth season in the league. After having a roller coaster start to his young NHL career, the team needs him to have a breakout year in the 2023-24 season.
The New York Rangers' 22-year-old right-winger is entering a very important time in his career. Kaapo Kakko has played in 239 NHL games, tallying 44 goals and 54 assists for 98 points in that span. As he enters the second and final year of his bridge contract, the Rangers are going to need their Finnish Phenom to start producing more offensively.
In the 2022-23 season, Kakko had 18 goals and 22 assists for 40 points in 82 games. If you ask me, if there is one player that can take a huge leap in point production, there is no doubt in my mind that it is him.
People love to compare players and something that Kakko can't escape from is being compared to the New Jersey Devils' first overall pick from the 2019 Draft, Jack Hughes. The Rangers and their fans have done their best to remain patient with Kakko, but due to the breakout season from Hughes, who put up 99 points last year and is now officially an NHL superstar, the patience seems to be dwindling a bit.
If you remove Hughes from the equation, Kakko's progression hasn't been all that bad and has at least improved from year-to-year.
Has it been as speedy as most people would have liked? No, but after playing his first full 82-game season, the expectations for him to produce are much higher.
With that being said, I believe that criticizing Kakko for the past four seasons isn't all that warranted with the ice time and opportunity that he has been given.
Now that a new era has begun for the Rangers under head coach Peter Laviolette, it seems as though this could be a fresh start for Kakko with ice time and overall opportunity.
There are a lot of positives to take away from his game. One of the key tangibles that Kakko brings to this team is his play along the boards, especially in the offensive zone. Mike Rupp, the NHL Network's Studio Analyst had some very high praise about this part of his game when he came on The Blue Crew Podcast.
"I love Kaapo Kakko's compete on pucks. His board play, he's awesome. There are a lot of second-overall picks that don't know the board play, so that to me will give him sustainability in this league for a long time. Worst case scenario, this guy is a 15-year third-liner in my opinion. He's got to be able to start tucking the puck a little bit more, he gets chances. His finishing ability is gonna have to come around."
The full clip is below:
Building off what Rupp said, in my personal opinion, I don't think there is anyone on the Rangers that is better than Kakko at generating chances off of the cycle in the offensive zone.
What Kakko needs most is consistent opportunity. Of course, an opportunity isn't just handed out, especially under a new staff, but under the previous two head coaches, he was never able to find his footing. Sure, there were some spurts here and there when Kakko looked like a force to be reckoned with, but even when he was at his best, the production just wasn't there consistently enough.
At the start of the 2022-23 season, there were plenty of games that featured Kakko on the team's top line as the right wing with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, but as the season went on, Gerard Gallant seemed to steer clear of having Kakko with those two. Now that Vladimir Tarasenko has signed with Ottawa, and with Patrick Kane most likely waiting to sign until midway through the 2023-24 season, Kakko is Rangers' #1 option for the right-wing position. I'm not discrediting Blake Wheeler, but he wasn't brought to New York to be a first-line winger. He can play up and down the lineup while providing some mentorship to the youngsters like Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere.
The Rangers have always brought in big names because let's face it, who wouldn't want to play in New York City at the world's most famous arena? But now that some of those big names have departed, it is time for the next wave to step up and make a name for themselves. We have seen what Kakko can do when he is feeling confident, now he just has to channel that for 82 games. I expect him to be given more opportunities this coming season than ever before, hopefully, he can seize that.
I will stand firmly by this take.
2023-24 is the year of Kaapo Kakko.