Rangers' Kaapo Kakko hoping to produce after getting second chance on team's top line
Kaapo Kakko #24 of the Rangers skates with the puck during the first period against the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024. Credit: Jim McIsaac
When he was hired over the summer, new Rangers coach Peter Laviolette promised he would give opportunities to young forwards Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere. When the season started, all three were playing on the Blueshirts’ top two lines.
Kakko, who campaigned for more ice time and a bigger role at the Rangers’ Breakup Day last spring, started the season on the top line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. But after he scored just one goal in the first 11 games, he was dropped to the third line. Then he got hurt Nov. 27 against Buffalo.
When he returned to the lineup Sunday against Washington, though, Laviolette put him back with Kreider and Zibanejad. And after a strong – though scoreless – performance, the coach left him there Tuesday when the Rangers played the Seattle Kraken at Madison Square Garden.
“They generated a lot of [offensive] zone time and chances the first [11 games],’’ Laviolette said Tuesday of the Kreider-Zibanejad-Kakko line. “The actual production was just off a little bit … But in the first game here [Sunday], I do think [Kakko] had some chances around the net. He could have scored a couple goals. He generated offense. I think tonight will even be a better look. It's his second game back. We're not in a back-to-back situation for our guys. And hopefully the energy ramps up.’’
“It didn’t work out when we started the season,’’ Kakko said of his prior stint on the top line. “So it feels good to play with those guys again. That means more ice time, also. And I think the last game was good. But I think we still can be better. We need more time in the ‘O’ zone. We need to have the puck over there, and get more chances. I think we can do that.’’
Kreider and Zibanejad, the two longest-tenured Rangers, had instant chemistry with one another once Zibanejad joined the team in 2016. But they have been searching for a right wing to complement them ever since Pavel Buchnevich was traded in the summer of 2021. Kakko seems the most obvious choice currently on the roster, but it hasn’t worked just yet.
The analytics website Natural Stat Trick said that in 21 games before Tuesday, the Kreider-Zibanejad-Kakko line had 4.41 expected goals and 3.68 expected goals against, meaning they created more quality scoring chances than they allowed to the tune of 54.41%. Over 41 games, a line of Kreider, Zibanejad and anyone else had 13.5 expected goals and 15.18 expected goals against, or 47.06%.
In actual goals, though, Kreider, Zibanejad (and a linemate) had produced 21 and allowed 18, while Kreider-Zibanejad-Kakko had scored only two (and gave up one). In order for Laviolette to keep them together, the line is going to have to score some goals and not just create chances.
Kakko, who had a career-high 18 goals and a career-high 22 assists last season, had just two goals and one assist in 21 games entering Tuesday. He has generated chances, but he’s been snakebitten in front of the net – foiled by terrific saves by opposing goaltenders, as well as posts, crossbars and just overall bad luck. He said he’s not sure what he can do differently, except keep shooting and wait for his luck to improve.
“I think I've been trying as hard as I can, so I think there's nothing else you can do,’’ he said. “But, I mean, sometimes it comes easily and sometimes it feels like you're never going to score a goal … But I think I just need one soon, and then hopefully, it feels easier after that.’’
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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