Last season, the New York Rangers made a trade to send former second-overall selection of the 2019 NHL Draft to Seattle for Will Borgen and some draft picks. Since then, Kaapo Kakko has thrived in his new home and even found some success in the best-on-best tournament at the Olympics in Italy.
That success since leaving the Rangers is just one in a long line of former players who seem to exit Madison Square Garden for the last time and turn their careers around in their new environment. Please see former Rangers like ex-captains Ryan McDonagh and Ryan Callahan, as they both thrived when they were moved to Tampa Bay at separate times. Once the season begins again, this Artemi Panarin trade to Los Angeles is going to have the same effect.
Let's talk about how Kakko has pushed some regret into the mind of Rangers President and General Manager Chris Dury, and how he could have been a big part of this re-tool.
Impressive run with Kraken, Finland
Kakko has had a nice season over in the Pacific Northwest, as he is a key part to Seattle's success. At 27-20-9 for 63 points, they are narrowly behind both Edmonton and Vegas for the top two spots in the Pacific Division.
The 24-year-old winger has six goals and 15 assists in 40 games played this season, as he battled some injuries with a hand fracture and lower-body issues. 21 points on the season puts him as the seventh-highest point total of the Kraken forward group.
For Finland, he represented his country with a bronze medal performance, helping defeat the Slovakian team 6-1. In that medal-winning game, he had a goal against Slovakia, aiding in the runaway victory.
Overall, for the tournament, he had three goals and two assists for five points. That was good enough for the sixth-most points on this Finnish squad that was seriously powerful.
Hindsight is 20/20
Looking back on the trade for the Rangers, it was a volatile situation when Kakko was moved. He was publicly upset with what was happening in terms of his scratches from the lineup, and the performance on the ice was not meeting the standards needed for a failing Rangers team in 2024-25.
If he were still on the team for this season, it likely would not have changed the outcome, but it could have changed the trajectory of his career. The Rangers, in their upcoming Letter 2.0 era, are going to try to rebuild this roster again with blossoming younger pieces.
Kakko could have been one of those pieces that will be entering their primes in the next two to three years. That would have been, depending on what Drury decides to do with this upcoming Trade Deadline and offseason, right into the championship window.
Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and the return of Will Borgen has been a welcome addition for the Rangers' blueline. Still, who knows how much better Kakko could have gotten if this franchise hadn't given up on him.