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A review of the Rangers’ 2019 draft class one year later

By Will Wright

MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 27: Kaapo Kakko #24 of the New York Rangers skates against the Montreal Canadiens during the second period at the Bell Centre on February 27, 2020 in Montreal, Canada. The New York Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 27: Kaapo Kakko #24 of the New York Rangers skates against the Montreal Canadiens during the second period at the Bell Centre on February 27, 2020 in Montreal, Canada. The New York Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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Kaapo Kakko #24 of the New York Rangers(Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
Kaapo Kakko #24 of the New York Rangers(Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

Taking a look at the New York Rangers’ 2019 draft picks one year later

The 2019 draft was a crucial one for the New York Rangers as they lucked into selecting a franchise cornerstone in Finnish winger Kaapo Kakko. The acquisition of Kakko obviously led to a lot of excitement, but the Rangers were widely praised for their draft selections after Kakko by a number of prominent draft writers, including The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler and Corey Pronman.

In this piece, I’ll grade each pick and take a look at how each player’s post-draft season went, as well as what improvements the Rangers could have made to certain selections. Here we go!

Round 1:  #2  – Kaapo Kakko, RW, New York Rangers

The crown jewel of the Rangers 2019 draft class, Kaapo Kakko spent this past season with the big club, putting up 23 points in 66 games. It was an up and down season for Kakko, who seemed to struggle with confidence and was often pinned in the defensive zone. He will need to improve his skating and defensive zone positioning (drastically) if he wants to live up to the lofty expectations fans and experts set for him.

What is clear though, is that he is a very gifted player. His power play ability is very advanced and I think he should have got more time on the first unit. He showed how quick his hands are and his passing ability is incredible. When he played with confidence, which admittedly was not often, he showed the ability to take over a game.

While many of the players selected after him did have strong seasons in the NCAA or in the CHL, none were truly dominant and I would still take Kakko with the second pick in the draft.

Thumbs up for Gorton.

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