With the sun rising on the 2021-22 season, the final year of the young Kaapo Kakko’s entry level contract is set to begin. With that comes the hefty weight of entering the New York Rangers top six forward group.
The training wheels are off, and it is time for the young winger to step into his new role as a dominant force of the Rangers offense. The departure of Russian winger Pavel Buchnevich cemented Kakko’s new position, whether he is ready or not.
Expectations are already high for a second overall pick. However, without a known quantity like Buchnevich to handle the responsibilities of playing significant ice time, those expectations are increased exponentially.
No other alternative
While former bench boss David Quinn was happy to stick Kakko on the third line for a majority of his tenure in New York, new head honcho Gerard Gallant will not be so eager. In fact, Gallant likely has no choice but to play Kakko.
For it is the reality of the situation that rookie winger Vitali Kravtsov has played a grand total of 20 games in the NHL. He is most certainly not going to be thrown into the fire and expected to play a legitimate role on the team. It is also noteworthy to mention that the young Russian has four total points to his name (2 goals, 2 assists), thus it would be foolish to feed him to the wolves.
Along with Kravtsov , who else would be a contender to enter the season as a top six winger? Newly signed winger/center Barclay Goodrow does not seem to have the skillset to play a prominent position with some of the Rangers top players, despite his defensive conscience.
No, the void in the Rangers top six falls on Kakko’s shoulders alone. It is imperative that the third-year-Finn step up and fulfill the job requirements. Perhaps it is unfair to expect that from the 20-year-old, but no one ever said the NHL was fair.
Areas for improvement
Over the course of the last two seasons, Kakko has 40 points in the 114 games he has under his belt. Playing on a line with one of Artemi Panarin or Mika Zibanejad is likely to change that in some factor, but an offensive surge in Kakko’s game is going to be essential.
One issue that seems to have plagued Kakko during those first two seasons was his inability to shoot the puck. While progress has been made in his tendency to try playing keepaway with the puck, massive strides in his shooting ability must still be made if he is to become a true threat.
Far too often did he take too long to get shots off. As a result, defenders were able to get into the firing lane and block the shot; or the goalkeeper was given enough time to slide over and make a save. Regardless, the low goal totals to start Kakko’s career have become a glaring symptom of his hesitancy.
Or perhaps it was a lack of strength that caused Kakko to take such long windup times, which in that case a summer of hitting the weights and pumping more iron than Arnold Schwarzenegger would benefit him.
The good news regarding Kakko’s offense is he carried a Corsi For of 56.1 percent this past season. Thus, the great shot differential is bound to reveal itself on the scoresheet at some point. Perhaps consistent ice time on one of the top two lines will enable an increase in goal totals for the young man.
Despite his struggles to consistently find the scoresheet, his progress in the defensive zone is a welcome sight and a necessary addition if he is to take the reins in a top six position. Although, Kakko’s number of defensive zone starts will likely change from the 37.7 percent he finished with last season. It remains to be seen if his strong defensive play will uphold with more responsibility.
Another area that Kakko may want to improve is his skating ability. He has never truly been a terrific skater, but working to get a more explosive first step to put some distance between him and the defender would certainly benefit his game.
As the new season draws near, the training wheels have been removed from the skates of Kaapo Kakko. The team’s success largely depends upon Kakko staying upright. Surely one fall will scrape the team’s elbow, which in such a competitive division could quickly turn the season into a writeoff.