Why Alexis Lafrenière and Kaapo Kakko don’t fit in the Rangers top 6
The New York Rangers organization does not generally follow the standard script. They have drafted players against the consensus pick. They have built a contender on elite goaltending rather than strength at center. And since February of 2018, the New York Rangers rebuild has been anything but standard.
Did the New York Rangers really rebuild?
The Rangers began the rebuild with a notice to the fans and began to sell off highly valued and fan favorite players. But just one season into the rebuild, they made a splash in free agency by signing Artemi Panarin in July of 2019. less than a year later, at the 2020 trade deadline, the team decided to extend Chris Kreider.
These actions have led the New York Rangers down the path of a hybrid rebuild. They have torn it down in part, but retained and or acquired key pieces to raise the team back into the tick of the playoff race. However, bucking the trend and not following the standard rebuild protocols, has had unintended consequences.
The New York Rangers knew that their rebuild sell off trades would provide them with valuable assets for the future. What they could not have known was that they would score big wins in the draft lottery in consecutive years. In doing so, the Rangers were able to draft Kaapo Kakko second overall in 2019 and Alexis Lafrenière first overall in 2020. How these players fit in will go a long way towards the success of the team now, and in the coming years.
A ghost of coaches past
On November 30, 2021, the much beleaguered former coach of the New York Rangers, David Quinn, was interviewed on the Cam & Strick Podcast. During the interview, the former Rangers bench boss summed up the current situation facing these young stars.
“When you go to a team that finished dead last and you don’t have a lot of high end players and then you step in, y’know, you play them on the top lines, they get all these minutes, they get all these opportunities because, y’know, their on a team that just isn’t that good. But, well, these two guys step into a situations where you’ve got Panarin, Zibenejad, Kreider, Buchnevich, Strome ,Jesper Fast, I mean, you’ve got legit top six forwards. So its hard for them, its hard for you as a coach to just put them up there and let them go because thats just not how its going to work. Listen, as much as a head coach has management to answer to, you have a locker room to answer to.” – David Quinn
Though his message was not positively received, Quinn tried to put his players in the best spots for them to succeed.
“If you can be respectful to your players and hold them accountable and let them know that every decision you make has their best interest at heart, they may not like it and at that moment they may be pissed at ya’, but when they put their head on the pillow at night, they know you care” – David Quinn
Quinn went on to add
“These two guys {Lafrenière and Kakko} are going to be great players, they really are, but it was unfair to them, the expectations because you get drafted first and second overall, the situation they were going into wasn’t the same as the situation some of those other high end picks were going into. They were coming to a pretty good hockey team with some pretty good forwards.” – David Quinn
(For those who are interested in the full interview, it can be found here, with the interview starting at about the 55 minute mark.)
All said, based on how the New York Rangers organization approached their rebuild has dramatically affected the development, both actual and perceived, of these two players.
Lafreniere’s deployment issues are two fold. First, as David Quinn noted, Lafreniere’s ascent to top six left wing is blocked. With Panarin leading the team in scoring and Kreider scoring goals at a career best pace, this is unlikely to change for the next few seasons. The second issue is that neither Quinn, nor the current coach, Gerard Gallant are particularly comfortable deploying Lafrenière on the right wing.
Its the Dynamic Duo, not trio
While on the top line with Mika Zibanejad and Kreider, Lafrenière ‘s offense appeared to blossom, however, the line itself was made less effective. At even strength the top line with Lafreniere deployed on it scored 3.17 goals per sixty minutes (p/60) and surrendered 2.49 goals against p/60. With any other winger the Zibanejad, Kreider duo has scored 3.49 goals p/60 while surrendering only 2.26 goals against p/60.
The second issue facing Lafreniere is that the defensive play, when switching to ones off wing is not always a simple thing. Almost immediately the player is at a defensive disadvantage. The play comes at a defending player in reverse, generally to the players weak side, making every pivot, turn and reaction that more difficult. A scenario coach Gallant recognized.
There are also more technical aspects of the game a switch to the off wing creates. Ken Dryden in his book The Game explained one such technicality. In trying to gain even the smallest advantage over the Soviets, the Czechoslovakians invented the Left Wing Lock. This system is designed to force the puck carrier to always face two defenders while funneling the play to the right wing. Most of the Soviets were left handed shooters, leaving their right wing on his backhand along the boards, giving the advantage to the left handed, left side defenseman on his forehand.
Another was noted by Steve Valiquette, during a recent Rangers telecast. Off wing players often cause problems for their goaltender when keeping their sticks in the passing and shooting lanes. While deflecting the puck off the backhand of the blade can help deaden a puck, the curve of the blade creates a ramp and will elevate the puck instead.
Kaapo Kakko had a similar situation in his first two seasons. His ascension to top six right wing was blocked by Pavel Buchnevich and Jesper Fast. Though now, with Fast playing for the Carolina Hurricanes and Buchnevich playing with the St. Louis Blues, Kakko no longer has anyone blocking him on the right wing depth chart. The issues he now faces are his health and style of play.
Distance makes the heart grow fonder
Kakko has been unfortunate with injuries and illness and has missed the last 30 games. Overall, he has missed 42 games over his three seasons in the NHL, more than 21% of the Rangers games during that span. When he returns however, he may not be best suited to play in the top six. He has proven to be an effective 200 foot player who drives offense. Even with having missed so much of the season, he is still third best on the team with a 49.89% Corsi rating among Rangers forwards with 37 or more games played.
The question though with Kakko is not his skill level, but his style of play. Having grown in strength his board work and puck protection are exceptional, but the are also detrimental to the Rangers top six as currently constructed. To be effective, Kakko needs the puck, but so do Zibenejad and Panarin, the play drivers of their lines. wWould placing him in the top six reduce the effectiveness of the Rangers top play drivers and thus their lines as a whole? Would Kakko be able to shift his game from one of puck possession to being more of a finisher without reducing his overall effectiveness?
It would be better suited for the here and now, that when he returns to the lineup, Kakko join Lafrenière on the third line. His three zone game along with his play driving and puck possession game would immediately make the team more well rounded. This should be seen as a positive player assignment rather than holding onto the idea that the player should be shoehorned into a position they are not suited for.
That said, It is important that the message be given and received as such. Being the players coach that he is Gallant’s message has so far been heard where David Quinn’s was lost. This deployment should not be seen as a demotion. but as the coach placing his players, especially his young ones, in a place where they and the team are best suited to succeed.