Former Rangers Kaapo Kakko, Ryan Lindgren face Blueshirts for the first time

SEATTLE — Kaapo Kakko wore a white Yankees cap and a never-ending smile as he left the locker room Saturday morning at Climate Pledge Arena after the Kraken’s morning skate.

It took the Finnish forward a while before he was able to get out of the building, though, as he had to walk past the Rangers’ locker room to get out. He kept stopping to hug people and tell them how happy he is here in the Pacific Northwest.

Kakko missed the first 10 games of the season with a hand injury, but despite Seattle coach Lane Lambert’s refusal to give it up — “That’ll be a game-time decision,’’ Lambert said when asked if Kakko would be in the lineup Saturday night against the Rangers — all indications were that Kakko would make his season debut against his old team.

Defenseman Ryan Lindgren definitely was playing Saturday and absolutely looking forward to it.

“Yeah,’’ he said. “It’ll be weird for sure for a little bit. But I got to see a lot of the guys last night and get dinner with them. So yeah, it’ll be weird for sure, playing the Rangers for the first time. But I’m excited, and it should be a really good game.’’

Lindgren hosted a bunch of his old teammates — former defense partner Adam Fox, Alexis Lafreniere, Braden Schneider, Will Cuylle, Jonny Brodzinski and Jonathan Quick — at his place Friday. Kakko, who had dinner with current teammate Eeli Tolvanen and former Rangers teammate Urho Vaakanainen at Tolvanen’s house, swung by later to say hello.

Both Kakko and Lindgren faced the Rangers for the first time since being traded last season as general manager Chris Drury began to remake the roster. Kakko was dealt to Seattle in December for defenseman Will Borgen and two draft picks; Lindgren was sent to Colorado a week before the deadline, with Jimmy Vesey, for forward Juuso Parssinen, defenseman Calvin de Haan and a pair of draft picks.

The two ended up being Seattle teammates when Lindgren signed a four-year, $18 million contract as a free agent in July and Kakko signed a three-year deal for $13.575 million a few days later.

“They were one of the teams that was interested right from the start,’’ Lindgren said of why he signed with the Kraken. “And [they were] a team that you look at and you can see it had a lot of upside to it, and a lot of good young players, mixed with some really good veterans. It seemed like a place [where] I would fit well.’’

Lindgren, 27, played in all 10 of Seattle’s games before Saturday, partnering mostly with Brandon Montour on the second defense pair. Lambert said Lindgren — always tough and gritty and willing to sacrifice his body for the team — has been a positive addition to the Kraken.

“He’s a quiet sort of leading by example guy, and what he’s brought is what we’ve tried to develop here, our culture, our identity, and certainly the standard that we play by,’’ Lambert said. “And that’s come to work every day. And he’s the epitome of that.’’

Kakko, 24, the No. 2 overall pick by the Rangers in the 2019 draft, never quite lived up to the high expectations in his 5 1⁄2 seasons with the team. He famously was scratched by Gerard Gallant for Game 6 of the 2022 Eastern Conference Final, then was scratched by Peter Laviolette in Game 2 of the 2024 Eastern Conference Final.

After being scratched by Laviolette for a regular-season game against St. Louis last December, a frustrated Kakko complained bitterly.

“The whole team is playing kind of bad, and I get that you’ve got to do something,’’ he said at the time. “But I was surprised that was me [getting scratched] at that point.’’

He was traded the next day.

He ended up recording 10 goals and 20 assists in 49 games for Seattle. Borgen, an original member of the Kraken when they entered the league in 2021-22, became a stalwart on the Rangers’ defense.

“He’s abrasive. He’s hard to play against,’’ Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said of Borgen, who played his first game against the Kraken. “There’s a physical edge to him, but he has a good stick and he’s mobile. He’s a good defender. He’s a solid, reliable, trustworthy defenseman.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

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.