While all eyes will be on the Stanley Cup Finals, the New York Rangers got down to work today as the NHL Combine got underway in Buffalo.
Very much like the NFL Combine, this week will allow all 31 NHL franchises the opportunity to get an up-close and personal look at this year’s draft class, including the New York Rangers who of course hold the No.2 pick.
However, one player who won’t be in Buffalo will be Kaapo Kakko, who has seen his stock rise to unprecedented highs over the last couple of weeks.
Arriving at the IIHF World Championships in Slovakia very much behind Jack Hughes on most, if not all, mock drafts and NHL Draft Boards, Kakko decided to shake up the narrative with a string of jaw-dropping performances.
Putting up six goals and one assist for seven points and a plus/minus rating of +10 in 10 games, Kakko played a starring role in Finland’s Gold Medal success against Team Canada.
Combining his sublime skill set with brute force and an admirable amount of fearlessness, Kakko really announced his arrival to the NHL on the international stage, not looking out of place against more established stars.
In fact, he thrived against elite opposition and his 6’2″, 190 lb frame is perfectly built to withstand the rigors of a gruelling 82-game NHL regular season.
Kakko’s willingness to put the body on is a huge positive given that he won’t allow himself to be bullied off the puck by some of the league’s bruising enforcers, thus allowing his limitless talent to ooze out on the ice.
Kaapo Kakko has been the talk of the town in Kosice. Now, he and @leijonat arrive in Bratislava. Here are his top plays so far at #IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/3aC0x6u0UD
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 25, 2019
Rangers fans were sent into a euphoric frenzy while watching Kakko strut his stuff on the big stage, and the thought of the forward lighting up Madison Square Garden is a tantalizing one.
The question now, of course, is whether or not the New Jersey Devils will elect to use the No.1 pick on Kakko rather than on Hughes, who is still considered a lock to go first once the 2019 NHL Entry Draft gets underway in Vancouver on Friday, June 21.
Currently back in his homeland celebrating Finland’s World Championships victory, Kakko has opted to give the Combine a wide berth, not that it should bother the Rangers or the Devils that much.
Why’s that? Well, the answer is simple. Kakko has shown enough on the ice at the World Championships and during his regular season with 22 goals and 16 assists for 38 points in 45 games for TPS in Finland’s Liiga.
He has proven that he has the physical attributes to be able to cope with life in the NHL, as well as further hammering home just how high his ceiling is when it comes to potential.
All Kakko will be missing out on this week will be physical testing, a medical examination and interviews.
The Rangers would have already done their due diligence on Kakko, as well as Hughes who is expected to be at the Combine, and they will continue to collect as much information as they need between now and the Draft on June, 21.
So, all in all, it doesn’t really matter a great deal that Kakko will be missing from the Combine this week. He has nothing left to prove and any information that could have been gleaned this week can be done so at a later date.
For now, Kakko will bask in his latest accomplishment back in Finland before preparing to take the NHL, and maybe, just maybe The Big Apple, by storm.