Kaapo Kakko back on Rangers' 'Kid Line' in hopes he'll shoot more
The Rangers' Kid Line, from left: Alexis Lafrenière, Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil against the Washington Capitals at MSG last month. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Kaapo Kakko took pride in being a first-line player for the Rangers. He loved all the ice time he got and embraced the responsibility of trying to win the puck along the boards, possess it in the offensive zone and look to set up linemates Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad for scoring chances.
But for all those things he did, there was one thing Kakko did not do on that top line: He didn’t shoot the puck enough.
“I think I need to shoot more,’’ he said over the weekend. “I think I’ve been keeping the puck and trying to find them [Kreider and Zibanejad] a little more. I think we scored a couple good goals with that. But I think, still, like — I don’t know when the last time was that I scored a goal. So yeah, so I need to shoot.”
Kakko last scored Dec. 22, notching the winner in the Rangers’ 5-3 victory over the Islanders in the last game before the Christmas break.
The 21-year-old Finnish winger had gone 11 straight games without a goal entering Monday’s game against the Florida Panthers at Madison Square Garden. And in those 11 games, he was credited with 17 shots on goal — none in the last two games.
Kakko entered Monday with 77 shots in 46 games, an average of 1.67. Zibanejad led the Rangers in shots with 166. Kreider and Vincent Trocheck were tied for second with 141.
To be fair, all three get more ice time — and more power-play time — than Kakko does. But it still seems as if Kakko could shoot more than he does.
So why doesn’t he?
“Maybe confidence,” he said. “I’ve been keeping the puck behind the net, in the ‘O’ zone more. I’m trying to find [Kreider and Zibanejad]. But I think I need to be shooting more.’’
The more he talked, the more it sounded as if Kakko, whose nine goals and 20 points make him easily the top right wing on the team, probably deferred too much to Kreider and Zibanejad.
That may be part of the reason coach Gerard Gallant moved Kakko off that line for Monday’s game and put him back on the Kid Line with longtime linemates Filip Chytil and Alexis Lafreniere. Gallant was hoping that perhaps playing Kakko with his fellow youngsters might encourage him — as well as the other two — to shoot more.
“Exactly,’’ the coach said. “It’s just them.”
“I think the kids play well together,’’ Gallant said. “I think they’re comfortable together. Sometimes they pass the puck too much, and they’ve got to get confidence in shooting the puck. Kaapo’s got a great shot, Laffy can shoot the puck, Fil’s a skilled player.
“Sometimes they’re playing on different lines and they try and get too fancy, or they try and give Chris Kreider the puck, and Zibanejad the puck, when they’re in shooting areas. And we tell them every day in practice, ‘You’ve got good shots. Have confidence in your game, shoot the puck. We need more people shooting the puck, and you young kids are good goal- scorers.’ ”
For all the pride he took in being a first-line player, Kakko sounded happy to be back with Chytil and Lafreniere.
“I think with [Kreider and Zibanejad], we knew what to do — Kreids goes all the time in front of the net and Mika, I tried to find him for one-timer, or something like that,’’ he said. “I think [with the Kid Line], we like to keep the puck, all of us, but we need one guy in front of the net also. So maybe I should be there sometimes, and also Laf and Fil.’’
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.
