Why do Rangers fans have this belief that “decent defensive 3rd liner” is just an unattainable goal for a mid 1st round pick? Why are our expectations so low? I have defended Kakko for years, but let’s be real.
That’s what they already HAVE! Why would you trade an apple for something that might turn into in apple in 2-3 years?
It makes no sense to trade Kakko just to move up in a weak draft. If Kakko gets traded it should be for a guy who’s already in the NHL but has a different skill set than Kakko (ie: speed or grit or both). Personally I think they just need to send him to a skating coach. He beats defenders with strength and quick hands but his feet are so slow they catch right up to him so he’s just wasting energy and not accomplishing anything. He’s needed to go to a skating coach for 4 years. NYR are inept and identifying weaknesses and developing players.
He's most likely been seeing a skating coach since 8u. I dunno why folks think you can make it to the NHL by not learning, and constantly practicing, advanced skating techniques.
Did I say or imply Kakko made it to the NHL without learning skating techniques? Did I say he needs to learn *how* to skate?
Players work on specific things in the offseason. There’s been no mention of Kakko working with a skating coach that we know of. And there’s been no noticeable improvement since his rookie year.
Kakko’s inability to create any meaningful separation, even when he has a step to begin with is the most glaring weakness in his game. Lafreniére mentioned that he worked on his skating/edges and quite noticeably turned it into a strength.
Please don’t misconstrue the argument. Kakko needs to improve his glaring weakness. If he does, he’ll be able to generate much more offense. I didn’t think that would be a polemic take.
It could be an apple, or they could luck into a first line talent or it could be a wolfpack lifer bust. Not saying its the right move, but its not like the ceiling is kakko, could be even higher.
Quantify “a decent chance.”
Let’s say it’s a 25% chance that what we get is better than Kakko, which is generous. That means it’s a 75% chance we lose that trade. Not great odds.
I’d rather have the known NHL player who can be a support piece on a good team.
“If there’s a 25% chance what we get is better than Kakko, then there’s a 25% chance we win the trade”
I can’t give you a % chance. I don’t view trades that way. Because it’s not just about the pick we get, it’s about freeing up a lineup spot immediately for one of Othmann or Berard, as well as clearing some cap space for whatever we plan on doing this offseason. I wouldn’t just give up Kakko for nothing, but depending on how far we move up in the 1st round, I can definitely see this sort of trade being worth it.
You said better than Kakko. How many mid 1st round picks do you think are actually better than a 3rd liner type player? Look at past drafts and it's usually maybe 2 or 3. And this is isn't even trading Kakko for a mid 1st round pick, it's trading up some spots.
By that logic no halfway decent NHL player should ever be traded for picks, ever, because you’re unlikely to get a player as good as them in the draft. It’s a risk, I’m not denying that, but there’s also huge upside if you hit on the pick.
Kakko is a decent 3rd liner. Those guys are moved and replaced all the time. And the Rangers might need the $2.4 million in cap space to fully do what they want this offseason.
Everyone’s delusion saying he’s a decent 3rd liner. How?? Not physical, not a grinder, zero forecheck. That’s a decent 3rd liner in my opinion. Not a guy who dangles along the boards and doesn’t hit anyone ever
Whenever he’s on the ice, the puck is usually in the offensive zone and usually not in the back of our net. He doesn’t take penalties and if there is one thing Kakko can do well, it is hold the puck along the boards. He is legitimately a good defensive 3rd liner but he is not some untouchable asset that we can’t possibly move.
Ok and then you need 8 more examples to push Kakko down to mid 1st round level.
You need at least 20 more examples of players with less points that are better to justify saying a mid 1st rounder has a very good chance of being better
This is just simply not the case. I’m curious how many players I can find drafted from 10th-20th between 2008-2018 that haven’t played the amount of games Kakko has in the NHL thus far.
I wouldn’t trade him, but I’m guessing they aren’t happy with the returns so they would rather just clear his cap hit for a pick than take the NHL trade offers they are getting.
But you probably aren't gonna replace him with a good player for the amount he's making. So unless you include him in a trade for a great player and say "okay, sacrifice the third line to strengthen the first/second," then it doesn't make much sense.
No, but you can put the 2.4 mil towards a better player. Or trade the upgraded pick for one. I like Kakko and think he’s got something that hasn’t been tapped into yet. But let’s not pretend he wasn’t just a healthy scratch in the latest postseason. Maybe he just isn’t a fit on this team, so why not get a perceived worse player who might be a better fit? Happens all the time.
I completely agree with this. I think he has run his course in NY personally and I would rather just have the money then him continuing to underperform. What's the point of just holding onto deadweight if his value is low? Makes no sense to me.
Who cares about his draft position at this point? He's our best third line player, so that's why you keep him. We, as a team, have terrible forward defense, and people are advocating getting rid of one of our best defensive forwards. We don't get better 5v5 by getting rid of Kakko, unless, like I said, it's to make a big splash.
So what about fact that he was being benched as a healthy scratch during the most crucial time of the entire season, twice? This is making us better 5v5? If our best third line player has cracked 20 points 2 times over the course of 5 seasons then I want to see other options. I'm sorry but having the ability to hold the puck against the boards for 5 seconds before you dump it in then come off for a line change isn't gonna cut it.
Realistically, you're only saving like 1.4 mil to put towards another player. The only reason NYR may feel comfortable moving on is if they feel they have an answer waiting in the wings (no pun intended) in Hartford. If you dump Kakko, you're going to have to replace him with someone making an ELC salary.
Considering that the Rangers didn't want to pay Jesper Fast more than 2 million per season to do exactly what Kappo does now, kappo's 2.4 (or 2.6) million per is definitely an overpay in my opinion... Especially seeing as Fast is definitely a better player! We took Kappo 2nd overall expecting him to be a consistent point producer. He's far from that! He's been given plenty of chances on the top 2 lines as well. Did nothing. Was given more Power Play time than Laf, and did nothing with it. Kappo made his own bed. He complains about his usage and his ice time but does nothing to justify giving him more. Just how long should we keep this up?
I get the frustration that he doesn’t produce points as an 2nd overall but he is exactly what you want in a third line winger. He passed the eye test and there’s nothing egregious you can see from watching him as opposed to the things we saw trouba do this post season.
You clearly missed my point.... Beyond the points is his salary. He's not worth what he's giving for what we're paying him. For what he is and does, I have no problem with him. I have a problem paying him as much as we are for what he actually is.
Yeah but think about who we could draft in the middle of the first round, maybe even a reliable middle six winger who plays an excellent defensive game!
It doesn’t. It will make those who said “he’s a bust and waste of roster space” happy, but his value is low so why trade him. Kakko blossoming will be JT Miller’s breakout, but even worse
why do people keep on comparing these 2 lol. even just limited to ranger careers, Kakko did shit vs him.
His last 3 years Miller finished 5th in scoring, 2nd, and then was leading the team and traded (he still finished 5th)
Kakko's big career accomplishment was that he has broken 20 points once in 5 years and being benched in the playoffs by 2 separate coaches. It's a clear bust vs a guy who shouldn't have been traded.
there is not a comparison between being drafted by the same team.
Why, you don't like how Howden, Namestnikov, and Hajek panned out?
Or how about the 1st rounder that we got for Miller? We drafted Nils Lundqvist with it.
Considering the production we got from this whole trade, it must be the worst trade of all time.
We traded our best Dman and Capt along with a young stud 2way center who was the leading scorer when the deal
Went down for bits and scraps. Blais got hurt but he is/was an NHLer. Ironically Butch was traded to help clear cap
Space for Meeka.
JT Miller's breakout seems like a stretch of a comparison. but Kakko is 100% showing early signs of Buchnevich (the point rate trajectory as well) and Kakko turning into Buch on another team seems extremely likely to me
NYR screwing up the draft and development of another forward prospect, this one being the highest draft pick they've ever had until they got lucky a year later with Laf. SSDD for the New York Rangers
The only reason you'd do it is if his agent told Drury behind closed doors that Kaapo would like a change of scenery. Until that trade request is made official and public then yeah, trading Kakko makes zero sense.
Only reason you’d trade him is if you need to allocate his money towards a top 6 forward. You trade Kakko and say sign Marcheseault or Kane but even then you need to replace Kakko with someone in the bottom 6 so it’s not like you’re saving that much.
to be fair... if it was also a cap clearing move in which we'd fill that space with someone valuable for a run it could be a smart move that both improved us in the short term and sought to still add to future prospects. but.... i also think kakko will eventually put it together and id really prefer it be for us.
Depends. Theres hidden gems there. Like Cole Eiserman. That kid has been a goal a game guy everywhere he plays. If he turns into a 40 goal guy and we drafted him, its a win.
I like Kakko as a player but I don’t understand why so many Rangers fans want to pretend he’s better than he is and that trading him will be some terrible mistake.
it depends on how far they move up. if they get into the top 6 and Buium is still on the board, then I might be able to stomach it
but there is almost nobody in this draft worth moving up for. if anything I would argue NYR should be trading down. most of the true quality value will be in the 2nd round picks, of which NYR has zero
Say they could get Buium, which is unlikely, that also doesn’t help the rangers presently. He’s not going to be ready for like 2-3 years.
In my mind, Kakko should only be traded in a package that helps the rangers in the here and now.
agreed, that's why i'm totally against the idea of trading up. but if you *are* gonna trade up, then that's the only reason/way i'd do it. but I don't even think kakko himself is enough to go up to 6. the package you'd need to even get up there would be enough to just get an NHL player right now, which is another reason why i'd ultimately rather do that
1000% what you said. An NHLer or someone on the cusp like McGroarty is the right idea for a Kakko trade.
I also think people underrate how easy it would be to replace Kakko if they just dumped him essentially for a pick and cap space. They’d be mad when drury gives up a 2nd round in spring 2025 to replace him for a rental that probably won’t even be a better player.
the pain of this Kakko situation is going to be a long-term one. Drury is going to trade him in a deal that people will try to claim is a good one on the surface, and then the rest of the offseason will come and we'll see how Drury rounds out the team, and then people like you and I will say something like "what was the point in trading Kakko if you were just going to end up doing this in the end" and everyone else won't put that 2 and 2 together
NYR is in win-now mode and have Kakko on a contract this year that is quite honestly undervaluing him. the odds of NYR being able to move Kakko and it directly improving NYR while also allowing them more cap space to further improve NYR is extremely low. and given Drury's track record I have virtually zero faith in that
My rationale is this: if the Panthers can finish 1st and trade star Hubredeau (getting another star in return, Tkachuck), and going on to win the Cup - why can't we trade Kakko?
He may be great. But he isn't fitting or thriving in our system.
false equivalence. Huberdeau was overrated, Tkachuk was significantly better
there's nothing wrong with the idea of trading Kakko. obviously one is free to trade a player if it makes the team better now and in the future. but the idea that Drury will trade Kakko and win the trade, while also using the extra cap space to make the team better, is just unfounded. Drury is a horrendous GM, nowhere near as good of a GM as Bill Zito is
> Huberdeau was overrated
He had 115 pts for Florida the year they traded him. He had a 90+ pt season under his belt then too.
So if you're willing to trade a guy that just put up 115 pts - because he doesn't fit in your system/vision for the future, you should be more than willing to trade a guy that cannot score 20 goals.
We don't need to "win" the trade. Addition by subtraction is a thing.
Huberdeau was a byproduct of Barkov and immediately showed that to be the case as his point production dropped in half in each of the last 2 seasons while Tkachuk was a play driver in his own right and maintained his play. Yes, Huberdeau was overrated and Zito exposed Calgary
>We don't need to "win" the trade. Addition by subtraction is a thing.
Addition by subtraction is a thing when you're talking about subtracting a liability, like Goodrow or Trouba. Kakko is not a liability, he's arguably the Rangers best defensive forward who is only a season removed from a 40 point campaign in 3rd line minutes, and he maintained the same 18 goal scoring pace this year as he did in the prior one. Assist production dropped due to a significant, outlier level drop in his on ice shooting percentage. Cumulative point production dropped this season directly because of 20 games lost to injury + a 2 min drop in average TOI. You aren't going to find many available 3rd liners (if at all) for his contract value that have the same on ice value
Also supremely ironic that Kakko had more goals this season than Huberdeau in 20 fewer games
Title is clickbait and trade partners are speculative but Vince snuck in this which was the most interesting notes for me
* Sources say Kakko, Trouba, Lindgren, and 30th overall pick, and any prospect not named Gabe Perreault are available.
* Kakko the betting favorite to be traded.
* “Don’t be stunned” if a core veteran is traded but odds are significantly low due to NMC’s.
* “Everything is on the table” Drury earlier this month.
I love when I see “everything is on the table”.
It doesn’t even matter the team, GM’s should be willing to make any move that they think will improve their team, that’s literally their job.
They are. Everyone is always on the table. Even when the GM says otherwise. Telling the world that someone is unavailable is meant to drive up trade prices. As fans, we shouldn't take what GMs say so literally.
> Didn’t read because paywall
Try opening in private browsing mode, you might be just rate limited from free articles due to cookies. I'm not seeing a paywall and I'm certainly not a subscriber.
If that fails, there's always Archive to bypass it: https://archive.is/NzeIA
Ducks: Zegras is a great target. a package involving Lindgren would make a ton of sense for NYR
Flames: pass
Avalanche: pass. if NYR isn't moving Zibanejad then they already have their top 3 centers. and if they bring in Colton and move Chytil to wing, then that's a downgrade
Predators: if NYR can cap dump Trouba then sure but doubt that happens
Senators: Tkachuk obviously a good target but will cost a haul. Chychrun is supremely overrated and NYR should stay away
Utah: pass. also using Jones as a sweetener for them to take Trouba is beyond awful GMing
Jets: Ehlers is the best player mentioned in this entire article and will also cost a Haul. McGroarty is a great target too, another where Lindgren + prospect should be used to try to get him
idk what vince is thinking with half of these ideas
what do you think a tkachuk trade would cost? and how much would his cap affect that decision?
lowkey love seeing your takes in these discussions. Hope they keep kakko around, but seems unlikely
thank you
and it's really hard to say because ottawa has a lot of moving parts and a lot of guys they are actively trying to move and/or possibly move (Chychrun, JBD, Brannstrom, etc.). thought I was reading something that even Giroux might be in the mix to be moved. it would also require Ottawa taking back salary too which only increases the price
i think it would cost a lot. i mean they just traded for Ullmark, so to then go and trade their captain and arguable best player wouldn't make much sense unless they were getting NHL players back in return. it wouldn't surprise me if it was at least Kakko + Chytil + Jones + pick, or Kakko + Chytil + Othmann + 1st, or even something like Kakko + Chytil + Lindgren (sign + trade) + pick. i think the last one probably has the best chance of getting it done. but there's a lot of other things i'd explore before trying to do this
What Ranger fan wouldn’t make any of those trades in a second? Ottawa would never consider those options. And this isn’t really directed at you, more of a general frustration with people pretending Tkachuk is available:
Tkachuk just finished his age 24 season and is already an established 35G, point-per-game player. He is their captain, fits their timeline, and is built for playoff hockey. He’s also a star in a market that doesn’t attract stars.
* Chytil is the same age and best season was half as productive as Tkachuk. He also has serious concussion issues and durability concerns. Plenty of folks were reasonably concerned he wasn’t coming back at all after his last concussion.
* Lindgren is a physical 2nd pair undersized defensive defenseman with durability concerns.
* Despite his draft pedigree, Kakko hasn’t proven anything beyond being a decent possession 3rd liner and is only a year younger than Tkachuk.
* Jones has played 69 games total and at best a 2nd pair and PP2 ceiling as a puck mover.
* Othmann was a #16 pick in 2021 and hasn’t lit up the lower leagues or the AHL. He had the worst +/- (flawed as it may be) on the team and was on half the ppg pace that Brodzinski had on the Wolfpack last year. He has a ceiling of maybe a middle 6 winger.
* #30 pick in a weak draft isn’t going to move the needle.
These are all good players to have in your system but can be replaced. Tkachuk is not replaceable for a handful of magic beans. You could offer a package with *all* of the above and the Sens would still say no.
Unless he’s open with Sens management about not wanting to stay there he’s on the market. If he is on the market it would be a haul. Keep in mind his brother (who admittedly did have better production, ~100 vs ~80 pts) went for a guy coming off a 115pt season *and* a 0.5 ppg top pair D.
Imagine what it would take for us to move Lafreniere, and then imagine what it would take if Laf was coming off back to back significantly better years than Laf had last year.
i don't think he wrote any of these ideas as things that sources are telling him NYR is interested in doing. i think he wrote these things because he thinks they'd be good ideas for NYR. of which more than half of them are not
I never really liked vince, nor any of the other beats. none of them ask any difficult questions for the coaches/front office. they're not journalists, they're really just glorified fans who get paid to go to games and write up summaries
His very limited sports reporting background was local HS Football in Sec 1 when they moved out Carp and his senior salary and hired a kid who had zero knowledge of hockey or experience covering the game.
As someone who grew up in rockland county I wouldn’t mind getting a lohud subscription to support the local paper, but with idiotic nonsense like this id prefer to light the money on fire.
If all prospects are available for trade other than Perrault they might as well make a run for McGroarty. He wants a trade, probably wants to play in a big market and they have some prospects to offer Winnipeg. It’s a long shot but the upside with him is game changing.
I’m paywalled. But to me. I’ll give about anything up if it means Alex Tuch. Dude is still young enough, cost controlled past our cap year. And the kind of grind it out forward you need in May and June.
I also hope we trade Lindgren. I appreciate what he did for this team but he’s peaked and screams Girardi extension. We need to be ruthless at times and not hand out thank you contracts for past performances
Maybe HE is used as a piece to move up in the draft for a team that has cash to spend that could use a defensive dman that can kill penalties
That doesn’t mean that a trade isn’t realistic for him. But I imagine what stops the Sabres is their desperation to get in the playoffs. Not smart for teams to give up the best player in a trade if they’re trying to improve.
Really pretty sure it’s exactly the same thing and I wish we had done it. Wish we would do it. We need to get rid of goal scorers for tough guys who score important goals. Tony amonte was traded away and we got a cup bud. You need to do actual drastic things to win this thing. Stop running back the same shit that other teams can beat. Now we’re going to trade Kakko and not even get close to eichel. So which is better? Alex tuch. Zucc. Buch. These guys aren’t the answer. Niko and vlad would’ve been good to keep around but they got their cup.
makes you wonder if he just practiced finishing the puck in the net throughout the off season if he'd come back a different player. I personally like everything about his game, he just doesn't score as much as you'd like. I feel like he has more resources than ever to improve on that in the offseason.
He doesn’t put himself in position to score. Lafreniere really broke out in the playoffs but over the course of the season all the signs were there. He was very unlucky to not have higher goal totals in the regular season.
I like Kakko but he just hasn’t quite done enough.
I think there's a tradeoff in maintaining the puck longer than most players. It's hard to maintain possession for above average stints of time AND score. He needs help I think and more finishing drills.
I’d rather keep Kakko if it’s just to move up in the draft. I understand they need to start investing in the future, but this is a team trying to win a Cup, and he can help you with that, plus he’s cheap.
Lindgren should absolutely go. I love Lindgren and how hard he tries, but he’s bad at what the Rangers need to improve upon, and that’s moving the puck out of their zone. I also think he struggles against better teams.
The rangers have to beef up their bottom 6. Chytil and Kakko DO NOT FIT. Cullye, Rempe, vesey-(who can go for all I care) , who else? Othman maybe , Edstrom. Not 24 and 72. Just my 2 cents
I certainly hope Lindgren isn't moved. He has the heart of a lion, and you have to shoot him to get him off the ice.
He and Fox work so well together, it would be a shame to move him.
Drurys FO has been very secretive tbh. Probably boring to be them rn.
At least we have the twitter journalists in mickey8rangers making 10000 predictions a day and then acting like a messiah when one of them happens
Trade Kakko, and Lindgren's rights ...move up in the Draft and select a goaltender with the 11th overall pick. Hopefully he will pan out like Dan Blackburn, Brandon Halverson, Antoine LaFleur, Al Montoya, and we can all bitch and moan about how this franchise sucks.
Based on precedence, whether we the fans like it or not, Kakko is getting traded. You don't sign Kakko (A RFA) right after you get eliminated. When there are more important RFAs to be signed and have been in the recent past that this front office waited till the end of the summer to sign. It is not like Kakko is some highly sought after RFA someone is going to offer sheet. Then add Kakko's production was basically matched by a 31 year old career AHL player in Brodzinski in less games for league min. Reason most RFAs take a long while after the end of the season to sign is because the draft and Free Agency come pretty much right after. And those take way more time and energy to do then signing a Rfa contract. And the contract you sign them to is typically a reflection of what money you have left over after Free Agency. Because the team controls them and how much they get. Based on all this.......
Kakko is long gone.
There are plenty of options on the table. You can package him and a our 1st to move up. You can package him and Trouba while eating half of Trouba's contract. Or you can try to just straight up swap for another young and struggling player. You could trade him for another RFA's rights. Who the hell knows what this management group will do?
Typically where there is smoke there is fire. This is the second or so article saying he is likely getting packaged to move up. It being a weak draft class and certain bottom feeder teams all having ex-Ranger GMs...my guess is he goes for a late 1st and a mid round pick to one of them. That is my guess. I most likely wrong.
My reasoning is these teams Ducks/Sharks....need bodies and contracts to hit the ice next season. Kakko's a proven NHL player. He belongs in the NHL at this point. No one would question that. And he could develop into a leadership role on one these teams as he has 5 years of NHL experience and a couple of deep playoff runs under his belt. Mix into this his inability to stay healthy, his lack of physicality, and his diabetes ....I think Drury has seen enough. Some of our fanbase has also and I wouldn't argue against it.
Probably wisest choice is to hold on to him, but this franchise does make wise choices. And Drury isn't a good GM.
Using kakko to move up in a generally weak draft class makes no sense to me
"This prospects ceiling is competent 3rd line winger" "Great! Let's trade our proven 3rd line winger!!"
Yeah I could choose a Kaapo Kakko, but the mystery box could be anything...like a Kaapo Kakko!
That joke doesn’t work because there is a very good chance that a mid 1st round pick is a better player than Kaapo Kakko.
If by very good you mean like 15-20% chance then okay
Why do Rangers fans have this belief that “decent defensive 3rd liner” is just an unattainable goal for a mid 1st round pick? Why are our expectations so low? I have defended Kakko for years, but let’s be real.
That’s what they already HAVE! Why would you trade an apple for something that might turn into in apple in 2-3 years? It makes no sense to trade Kakko just to move up in a weak draft. If Kakko gets traded it should be for a guy who’s already in the NHL but has a different skill set than Kakko (ie: speed or grit or both). Personally I think they just need to send him to a skating coach. He beats defenders with strength and quick hands but his feet are so slow they catch right up to him so he’s just wasting energy and not accomplishing anything. He’s needed to go to a skating coach for 4 years. NYR are inept and identifying weaknesses and developing players.
He's most likely been seeing a skating coach since 8u. I dunno why folks think you can make it to the NHL by not learning, and constantly practicing, advanced skating techniques.
Did I say or imply Kakko made it to the NHL without learning skating techniques? Did I say he needs to learn *how* to skate? Players work on specific things in the offseason. There’s been no mention of Kakko working with a skating coach that we know of. And there’s been no noticeable improvement since his rookie year. Kakko’s inability to create any meaningful separation, even when he has a step to begin with is the most glaring weakness in his game. Lafreniére mentioned that he worked on his skating/edges and quite noticeably turned it into a strength. Please don’t misconstrue the argument. Kakko needs to improve his glaring weakness. If he does, he’ll be able to generate much more offense. I didn’t think that would be a polemic take.
You don't play in the NHL without seeing a skating coach. This take is ridiculous. He hit his ceiling.
It could be an apple, or they could luck into a first line talent or it could be a wolfpack lifer bust. Not saying its the right move, but its not like the ceiling is kakko, could be even higher.
Except a draft pick has a decent chance of being better than Kakko. This isn’t like trading Shesterkin for an elite goalie prospect.
Quantify “a decent chance.” Let’s say it’s a 25% chance that what we get is better than Kakko, which is generous. That means it’s a 75% chance we lose that trade. Not great odds. I’d rather have the known NHL player who can be a support piece on a good team.
“If there’s a 25% chance what we get is better than Kakko, then there’s a 25% chance we win the trade” I can’t give you a % chance. I don’t view trades that way. Because it’s not just about the pick we get, it’s about freeing up a lineup spot immediately for one of Othmann or Berard, as well as clearing some cap space for whatever we plan on doing this offseason. I wouldn’t just give up Kakko for nothing, but depending on how far we move up in the 1st round, I can definitely see this sort of trade being worth it.
You said better than Kakko. How many mid 1st round picks do you think are actually better than a 3rd liner type player? Look at past drafts and it's usually maybe 2 or 3. And this is isn't even trading Kakko for a mid 1st round pick, it's trading up some spots.
By that logic no halfway decent NHL player should ever be traded for picks, ever, because you’re unlikely to get a player as good as them in the draft. It’s a risk, I’m not denying that, but there’s also huge upside if you hit on the pick. Kakko is a decent 3rd liner. Those guys are moved and replaced all the time. And the Rangers might need the $2.4 million in cap space to fully do what they want this offseason.
Everyone’s delusion saying he’s a decent 3rd liner. How?? Not physical, not a grinder, zero forecheck. That’s a decent 3rd liner in my opinion. Not a guy who dangles along the boards and doesn’t hit anyone ever
Whenever he’s on the ice, the puck is usually in the offensive zone and usually not in the back of our net. He doesn’t take penalties and if there is one thing Kakko can do well, it is hold the puck along the boards. He is legitimately a good defensive 3rd liner but he is not some untouchable asset that we can’t possibly move.
Once upon a time our 3rd line was Zuccarello, Brassard, Pouliot. Which one of those guys was a physical grinder?
Defensive teams win Cups.
Bc fans here would rather keep players they like than improve the team in a trade
With our development team? That’s a bold claim boss
Statistically speaking, no there isn’t.
Kaapo Kakko = 7th highest scorer from 2019 draft mid 1st round = 16 7 is better than 16
That’s not a serious metric. Thomas Harley has fewer points than Kakko but is a way better player.
Ok and then you need 8 more examples to push Kakko down to mid 1st round level. You need at least 20 more examples of players with less points that are better to justify saying a mid 1st rounder has a very good chance of being better
This is just simply not the case. I’m curious how many players I can find drafted from 10th-20th between 2008-2018 that haven’t played the amount of games Kakko has in the NHL thus far.
In 2018 as an example, Bouchard, Wahlstrom, and Dobson were taken between 10-20 Joel Farabee as well
And the others? The success rate isn’t nearly bankable enough to justify shipping Kakko for that pick which will take 2-3 years to pan out anyway.
I wouldn’t trade him, but I’m guessing they aren’t happy with the returns so they would rather just clear his cap hit for a pick than take the NHL trade offers they are getting.
But you probably aren't gonna replace him with a good player for the amount he's making. So unless you include him in a trade for a great player and say "okay, sacrifice the third line to strengthen the first/second," then it doesn't make much sense.
No, but you can put the 2.4 mil towards a better player. Or trade the upgraded pick for one. I like Kakko and think he’s got something that hasn’t been tapped into yet. But let’s not pretend he wasn’t just a healthy scratch in the latest postseason. Maybe he just isn’t a fit on this team, so why not get a perceived worse player who might be a better fit? Happens all the time.
I completely agree with this. I think he has run his course in NY personally and I would rather just have the money then him continuing to underperform. What's the point of just holding onto deadweight if his value is low? Makes no sense to me.
Who cares about his draft position at this point? He's our best third line player, so that's why you keep him. We, as a team, have terrible forward defense, and people are advocating getting rid of one of our best defensive forwards. We don't get better 5v5 by getting rid of Kakko, unless, like I said, it's to make a big splash.
So what about fact that he was being benched as a healthy scratch during the most crucial time of the entire season, twice? This is making us better 5v5? If our best third line player has cracked 20 points 2 times over the course of 5 seasons then I want to see other options. I'm sorry but having the ability to hold the puck against the boards for 5 seconds before you dump it in then come off for a line change isn't gonna cut it.
Coaches make bad decisions. One of those coaches got fired partially for things like that.
Realistically, you're only saving like 1.4 mil to put towards another player. The only reason NYR may feel comfortable moving on is if they feel they have an answer waiting in the wings (no pun intended) in Hartford. If you dump Kakko, you're going to have to replace him with someone making an ELC salary.
Didn’t he just sign a cheap 1 year deal
Considering that the Rangers didn't want to pay Jesper Fast more than 2 million per season to do exactly what Kappo does now, kappo's 2.4 (or 2.6) million per is definitely an overpay in my opinion... Especially seeing as Fast is definitely a better player! We took Kappo 2nd overall expecting him to be a consistent point producer. He's far from that! He's been given plenty of chances on the top 2 lines as well. Did nothing. Was given more Power Play time than Laf, and did nothing with it. Kappo made his own bed. He complains about his usage and his ice time but does nothing to justify giving him more. Just how long should we keep this up?
I get the frustration that he doesn’t produce points as an 2nd overall but he is exactly what you want in a third line winger. He passed the eye test and there’s nothing egregious you can see from watching him as opposed to the things we saw trouba do this post season.
You clearly missed my point.... Beyond the points is his salary. He's not worth what he's giving for what we're paying him. For what he is and does, I have no problem with him. I have a problem paying him as much as we are for what he actually is.
Very true, there's nothing egregious in his play because he's busy being a healthy scratch on the bench in the playoffs.
lol I’m saying when he does play
^^^^ This guy gets it. Lol. ^^^^
Yeah but think about who we could draft in the middle of the first round, maybe even a reliable middle six winger who plays an excellent defensive game!
Trading Kakko at all makes no sense to me.
It doesn’t. It will make those who said “he’s a bust and waste of roster space” happy, but his value is low so why trade him. Kakko blossoming will be JT Miller’s breakout, but even worse
why do people keep on comparing these 2 lol. even just limited to ranger careers, Kakko did shit vs him. His last 3 years Miller finished 5th in scoring, 2nd, and then was leading the team and traded (he still finished 5th) Kakko's big career accomplishment was that he has broken 20 points once in 5 years and being benched in the playoffs by 2 separate coaches. It's a clear bust vs a guy who shouldn't have been traded. there is not a comparison between being drafted by the same team.
Seriously. Anyone watching JT understood he was making big strides. Guy had 3 consecutive 20+ goal seasons with the Rangers before being traded.
I get feeling burned on Miller but holding onto Kakko doesn’t mean he breaks out here. Often times a change of scenery is necessary for that to happen
JT Miller was the teams leading scorer when he was traded to TB; worst trade in last 20 years
Why, you don't like how Howden, Namestnikov, and Hajek panned out? Or how about the 1st rounder that we got for Miller? We drafted Nils Lundqvist with it. Considering the production we got from this whole trade, it must be the worst trade of all time.
Somehow trading Buch was worse given the return
Point a Game Center who plays hard and great on the dot. Buch was good but JT is another level
Jt is better. But Hajek and Howden atleast played mhl games. We got a 2nd and 0 goal Blais for Buch.
We traded our best Dman and Capt along with a young stud 2way center who was the leading scorer when the deal Went down for bits and scraps. Blais got hurt but he is/was an NHLer. Ironically Butch was traded to help clear cap Space for Meeka.
Moreso space for Goodrow , Nemeth and Reaves. Ugh. This team
Nemeth was a big time blunder, those two R2s would be nice to have
JT Miller's breakout seems like a stretch of a comparison. but Kakko is 100% showing early signs of Buchnevich (the point rate trajectory as well) and Kakko turning into Buch on another team seems extremely likely to me NYR screwing up the draft and development of another forward prospect, this one being the highest draft pick they've ever had until they got lucky a year later with Laf. SSDD for the New York Rangers
The only reason you'd do it is if his agent told Drury behind closed doors that Kaapo would like a change of scenery. Until that trade request is made official and public then yeah, trading Kakko makes zero sense.
He doesn't want to play here
Then why would he take his QO?
Because he doesn't want to look like a big baby. When asked if he was looking forward to playing for the rangers next season he said "we'll see."
Genuinely asking, could Kakko be traded to move up in the draft and then Drury includes that upgraded spot in another move?
Possible but unlikely
Only reason you’d trade him is if you need to allocate his money towards a top 6 forward. You trade Kakko and say sign Marcheseault or Kane but even then you need to replace Kakko with someone in the bottom 6 so it’s not like you’re saving that much.
Especially as a win now team. Absolutely idiotic nonsensical thought process
to be fair... if it was also a cap clearing move in which we'd fill that space with someone valuable for a run it could be a smart move that both improved us in the short term and sought to still add to future prospects. but.... i also think kakko will eventually put it together and id really prefer it be for us.
This is from the crew that traded Buch for a bag of rocks, after all.
But that means that's exactly what we'd do (oh nooo!)
Depends. Theres hidden gems there. Like Cole Eiserman. That kid has been a goal a game guy everywhere he plays. If he turns into a 40 goal guy and we drafted him, its a win.
If we trade Kakko to move up in this draft I think that would be my final straw for Drury.
Me too but not because he’s trading Kakko, but because he’s using assets on the future when we’re clearly in win now mode.
I like Kakko as a player but I don’t understand why so many Rangers fans want to pretend he’s better than he is and that trading him will be some terrible mistake.
Trading him to move up in a draft class with a weak later first round is not the play though
It depends how far it allows us to move up. For pick 21? Obviously not worth it. For pick 9? Now we’re talking.
this
I'm not suggestions trading Kakko is off the table. But to do so just to move up this draft class is a terrible idea.
For the sake of a better draft, probably. It also clears cap space that can be used July 1st
it depends on how far they move up. if they get into the top 6 and Buium is still on the board, then I might be able to stomach it but there is almost nobody in this draft worth moving up for. if anything I would argue NYR should be trading down. most of the true quality value will be in the 2nd round picks, of which NYR has zero
Say they could get Buium, which is unlikely, that also doesn’t help the rangers presently. He’s not going to be ready for like 2-3 years. In my mind, Kakko should only be traded in a package that helps the rangers in the here and now.
agreed, that's why i'm totally against the idea of trading up. but if you *are* gonna trade up, then that's the only reason/way i'd do it. but I don't even think kakko himself is enough to go up to 6. the package you'd need to even get up there would be enough to just get an NHL player right now, which is another reason why i'd ultimately rather do that
1000% what you said. An NHLer or someone on the cusp like McGroarty is the right idea for a Kakko trade. I also think people underrate how easy it would be to replace Kakko if they just dumped him essentially for a pick and cap space. They’d be mad when drury gives up a 2nd round in spring 2025 to replace him for a rental that probably won’t even be a better player.
You mean they underrate how difficult it would be to replace him
Correct
This isn’t the draft to move up in. It’s such a weak class. And Kakko+30 isn’t getting us into the top 6.
as a Kakko truther, this is going to be a long off-season + trade deadline.
the pain of this Kakko situation is going to be a long-term one. Drury is going to trade him in a deal that people will try to claim is a good one on the surface, and then the rest of the offseason will come and we'll see how Drury rounds out the team, and then people like you and I will say something like "what was the point in trading Kakko if you were just going to end up doing this in the end" and everyone else won't put that 2 and 2 together NYR is in win-now mode and have Kakko on a contract this year that is quite honestly undervaluing him. the odds of NYR being able to move Kakko and it directly improving NYR while also allowing them more cap space to further improve NYR is extremely low. and given Drury's track record I have virtually zero faith in that
My rationale is this: if the Panthers can finish 1st and trade star Hubredeau (getting another star in return, Tkachuck), and going on to win the Cup - why can't we trade Kakko? He may be great. But he isn't fitting or thriving in our system.
false equivalence. Huberdeau was overrated, Tkachuk was significantly better there's nothing wrong with the idea of trading Kakko. obviously one is free to trade a player if it makes the team better now and in the future. but the idea that Drury will trade Kakko and win the trade, while also using the extra cap space to make the team better, is just unfounded. Drury is a horrendous GM, nowhere near as good of a GM as Bill Zito is
> Huberdeau was overrated He had 115 pts for Florida the year they traded him. He had a 90+ pt season under his belt then too. So if you're willing to trade a guy that just put up 115 pts - because he doesn't fit in your system/vision for the future, you should be more than willing to trade a guy that cannot score 20 goals. We don't need to "win" the trade. Addition by subtraction is a thing.
Huberdeau was a byproduct of Barkov and immediately showed that to be the case as his point production dropped in half in each of the last 2 seasons while Tkachuk was a play driver in his own right and maintained his play. Yes, Huberdeau was overrated and Zito exposed Calgary >We don't need to "win" the trade. Addition by subtraction is a thing. Addition by subtraction is a thing when you're talking about subtracting a liability, like Goodrow or Trouba. Kakko is not a liability, he's arguably the Rangers best defensive forward who is only a season removed from a 40 point campaign in 3rd line minutes, and he maintained the same 18 goal scoring pace this year as he did in the prior one. Assist production dropped due to a significant, outlier level drop in his on ice shooting percentage. Cumulative point production dropped this season directly because of 20 games lost to injury + a 2 min drop in average TOI. You aren't going to find many available 3rd liners (if at all) for his contract value that have the same on ice value Also supremely ironic that Kakko had more goals this season than Huberdeau in 20 fewer games
Title is clickbait and trade partners are speculative but Vince snuck in this which was the most interesting notes for me * Sources say Kakko, Trouba, Lindgren, and 30th overall pick, and any prospect not named Gabe Perreault are available. * Kakko the betting favorite to be traded. * “Don’t be stunned” if a core veteran is traded but odds are significantly low due to NMC’s. * “Everything is on the table” Drury earlier this month.
If you're not ready for Kakko, Berard, Othmann, and a first for Strome & Vatrano, are you really a Rangers fan?
BRING. THEM. HOME.
Ladies and gentlemen, we got em
Make it a 3 way trade and send Sykora to the Isles for Gauthier to get this REALLY popping!
Brett Howden for a first? Sign me up, baby
Finally the proven playoff performer we've been looking for!
Not Strome. Plz no. Game 5 ptsd occurs
Not strome
I love when I see “everything is on the table”. It doesn’t even matter the team, GM’s should be willing to make any move that they think will improve their team, that’s literally their job.
absolutely the right attitude. on our 20 man roster, there are really only 2 untouchables.
Everyone should always be on the table. Even McDavid. If Colorado lost their minds and offered McKinnon and Makar for him, Edmonton wouldn’t say no.
They are. Everyone is always on the table. Even when the GM says otherwise. Telling the world that someone is unavailable is meant to drive up trade prices. As fans, we shouldn't take what GMs say so literally.
No I agree. I’m saying the say thing just the opposite way. When a GM says everything’s on the table, he’s not saying anything at all.
A trade proposal like that being the exception, I feel that teams who give up the best players in a trade don’t really win them.
Igor and Fox? Panarin?
I would think Laf and Igor.
Fox and Igor. Laf is definitely not untouchable. And neither is Panarin esp given his age
So pretty much anything a reasonable Rangers fan could have assumed on their own, that is the scoop here.
It’s just some light reading material for the day after the season ended. Relax.
Didn’t read because paywall, but are the sabres on the list? O’Reilly, Montour, Eichel, Okposo, Rodrigues and Reinhart all left and won cups.
No Sabres. I think they’re expected to become buyers
Yeah it was just a joke. Alex Tuch though is the only one I’d want that’s realistically gettable.
> Didn’t read because paywall Try opening in private browsing mode, you might be just rate limited from free articles due to cookies. I'm not seeing a paywall and I'm certainly not a subscriber. If that fails, there's always Archive to bypass it: https://archive.is/NzeIA
Sabres aren't trading with us. Pegula has a hateboner for NYR.
Ducks: Zegras is a great target. a package involving Lindgren would make a ton of sense for NYR Flames: pass Avalanche: pass. if NYR isn't moving Zibanejad then they already have their top 3 centers. and if they bring in Colton and move Chytil to wing, then that's a downgrade Predators: if NYR can cap dump Trouba then sure but doubt that happens Senators: Tkachuk obviously a good target but will cost a haul. Chychrun is supremely overrated and NYR should stay away Utah: pass. also using Jones as a sweetener for them to take Trouba is beyond awful GMing Jets: Ehlers is the best player mentioned in this entire article and will also cost a Haul. McGroarty is a great target too, another where Lindgren + prospect should be used to try to get him idk what vince is thinking with half of these ideas
what do you think a tkachuk trade would cost? and how much would his cap affect that decision? lowkey love seeing your takes in these discussions. Hope they keep kakko around, but seems unlikely
thank you and it's really hard to say because ottawa has a lot of moving parts and a lot of guys they are actively trying to move and/or possibly move (Chychrun, JBD, Brannstrom, etc.). thought I was reading something that even Giroux might be in the mix to be moved. it would also require Ottawa taking back salary too which only increases the price i think it would cost a lot. i mean they just traded for Ullmark, so to then go and trade their captain and arguable best player wouldn't make much sense unless they were getting NHL players back in return. it wouldn't surprise me if it was at least Kakko + Chytil + Jones + pick, or Kakko + Chytil + Othmann + 1st, or even something like Kakko + Chytil + Lindgren (sign + trade) + pick. i think the last one probably has the best chance of getting it done. but there's a lot of other things i'd explore before trying to do this
What Ranger fan wouldn’t make any of those trades in a second? Ottawa would never consider those options. And this isn’t really directed at you, more of a general frustration with people pretending Tkachuk is available: Tkachuk just finished his age 24 season and is already an established 35G, point-per-game player. He is their captain, fits their timeline, and is built for playoff hockey. He’s also a star in a market that doesn’t attract stars. * Chytil is the same age and best season was half as productive as Tkachuk. He also has serious concussion issues and durability concerns. Plenty of folks were reasonably concerned he wasn’t coming back at all after his last concussion. * Lindgren is a physical 2nd pair undersized defensive defenseman with durability concerns. * Despite his draft pedigree, Kakko hasn’t proven anything beyond being a decent possession 3rd liner and is only a year younger than Tkachuk. * Jones has played 69 games total and at best a 2nd pair and PP2 ceiling as a puck mover. * Othmann was a #16 pick in 2021 and hasn’t lit up the lower leagues or the AHL. He had the worst +/- (flawed as it may be) on the team and was on half the ppg pace that Brodzinski had on the Wolfpack last year. He has a ceiling of maybe a middle 6 winger. * #30 pick in a weak draft isn’t going to move the needle. These are all good players to have in your system but can be replaced. Tkachuk is not replaceable for a handful of magic beans. You could offer a package with *all* of the above and the Sens would still say no. Unless he’s open with Sens management about not wanting to stay there he’s on the market. If he is on the market it would be a haul. Keep in mind his brother (who admittedly did have better production, ~100 vs ~80 pts) went for a guy coming off a 115pt season *and* a 0.5 ppg top pair D. Imagine what it would take for us to move Lafreniere, and then imagine what it would take if Laf was coming off back to back significantly better years than Laf had last year.
Vince just aggregates from a myriad of online media - he doesn’t have sources.
i don't think he wrote any of these ideas as things that sources are telling him NYR is interested in doing. i think he wrote these things because he thinks they'd be good ideas for NYR. of which more than half of them are not I never really liked vince, nor any of the other beats. none of them ask any difficult questions for the coaches/front office. they're not journalists, they're really just glorified fans who get paid to go to games and write up summaries
His very limited sports reporting background was local HS Football in Sec 1 when they moved out Carp and his senior salary and hired a kid who had zero knowledge of hockey or experience covering the game.
unreal
As someone who grew up in rockland county I wouldn’t mind getting a lohud subscription to support the local paper, but with idiotic nonsense like this id prefer to light the money on fire.
If all prospects are available for trade other than Perrault they might as well make a run for McGroarty. He wants a trade, probably wants to play in a big market and they have some prospects to offer Winnipeg. It’s a long shot but the upside with him is game changing.
Hey if his value is tanking from him asking out then maybe Kakko gets it done.
You’d have to give up at least Kakko, and picks with probably othmann at the very least. Despite wanting out he’s not just going to go for nothing.
Maybe Kakko goes elsewhere for a pick to package for McGroarty?
This is exactly the kind of trade the rangers should be making which probably means it won’t happen.
Only thing that would make sense is an Othmann for McGroarty swap. Which depends on how the Rangers view Othmann's development
[Mirror](https://archive.ph/NzeIA)
I’m paywalled. But to me. I’ll give about anything up if it means Alex Tuch. Dude is still young enough, cost controlled past our cap year. And the kind of grind it out forward you need in May and June. I also hope we trade Lindgren. I appreciate what he did for this team but he’s peaked and screams Girardi extension. We need to be ruthless at times and not hand out thank you contracts for past performances Maybe HE is used as a piece to move up in the draft for a team that has cash to spend that could use a defensive dman that can kill penalties
They're not trading him. They finally found a dude who *wants* to be a Saber.
Seems like the type of guy that wouldn’t want to leave his home team. Especially after making it known he wanted to go back
Literally lol it blows my mind how many people thinks he’s movable. I’d Literally give it 6 months for him to be named captain
That doesn’t mean that a trade isn’t realistic for him. But I imagine what stops the Sabres is their desperation to get in the playoffs. Not smart for teams to give up the best player in a trade if they’re trying to improve.
Also. Vegas got rid of this guy to win the cup.
They “got rid of him” to get Eichel. It’s not remotely the same thing
Yeah they did what we should have. Given up actual value to get better. Tuch wasnt scraps lmao
But Drury didn’t want to include Kakko in the trade
🤷🏻♂️
Really pretty sure it’s exactly the same thing and I wish we had done it. Wish we would do it. We need to get rid of goal scorers for tough guys who score important goals. Tony amonte was traded away and we got a cup bud. You need to do actual drastic things to win this thing. Stop running back the same shit that other teams can beat. Now we’re going to trade Kakko and not even get close to eichel. So which is better? Alex tuch. Zucc. Buch. These guys aren’t the answer. Niko and vlad would’ve been good to keep around but they got their cup.
makes you wonder if he just practiced finishing the puck in the net throughout the off season if he'd come back a different player. I personally like everything about his game, he just doesn't score as much as you'd like. I feel like he has more resources than ever to improve on that in the offseason.
He doesn’t put himself in position to score. Lafreniere really broke out in the playoffs but over the course of the season all the signs were there. He was very unlucky to not have higher goal totals in the regular season. I like Kakko but he just hasn’t quite done enough.
I think there's a tradeoff in maintaining the puck longer than most players. It's hard to maintain possession for above average stints of time AND score. He needs help I think and more finishing drills.
Do whatever we can to clear up cap space to get leon draisaitl im begging
I’d rather keep Kakko if it’s just to move up in the draft. I understand they need to start investing in the future, but this is a team trying to win a Cup, and he can help you with that, plus he’s cheap. Lindgren should absolutely go. I love Lindgren and how hard he tries, but he’s bad at what the Rangers need to improve upon, and that’s moving the puck out of their zone. I also think he struggles against better teams.
If we can move up with our 1st and Kakko. To a position to draft Eiserman, i'm all for it.
The rangers have to beef up their bottom 6. Chytil and Kakko DO NOT FIT. Cullye, Rempe, vesey-(who can go for all I care) , who else? Othman maybe , Edstrom. Not 24 and 72. Just my 2 cents
I certainly hope Lindgren isn't moved. He has the heart of a lion, and you have to shoot him to get him off the ice. He and Fox work so well together, it would be a shame to move him.
Not sure why people downvoted this. Our defense literally falls apart when Lindy isn't playing.
Totally agree!
All in on Brady Tkachuk!! Whatever it takes! We get Kane and next year will be another dud.
Given they just traded for Ullmark, you're going to be disappointed if you think OTT is even thinking of trading Tkachuk.
I seriously don't understand why anyone thought this was a possibility
I feel like there’s a lot of overlap between NYR fans and Mets/Yankees fans where you can basically just outspend your problems in the MLB
hopium and not paying attention to what the league in general is doing.
Vince is so clueless i dont even read his shit anymore. Guy has zero sources
Tbf all the the rangers beat writers get scooped. It’s actually kind of insane.
Drurys FO has been very secretive tbh. Probably boring to be them rn. At least we have the twitter journalists in mickey8rangers making 10000 predictions a day and then acting like a messiah when one of them happens
Trade Kakko, and Lindgren's rights ...move up in the Draft and select a goaltender with the 11th overall pick. Hopefully he will pan out like Dan Blackburn, Brandon Halverson, Antoine LaFleur, Al Montoya, and we can all bitch and moan about how this franchise sucks. Based on precedence, whether we the fans like it or not, Kakko is getting traded. You don't sign Kakko (A RFA) right after you get eliminated. When there are more important RFAs to be signed and have been in the recent past that this front office waited till the end of the summer to sign. It is not like Kakko is some highly sought after RFA someone is going to offer sheet. Then add Kakko's production was basically matched by a 31 year old career AHL player in Brodzinski in less games for league min. Reason most RFAs take a long while after the end of the season to sign is because the draft and Free Agency come pretty much right after. And those take way more time and energy to do then signing a Rfa contract. And the contract you sign them to is typically a reflection of what money you have left over after Free Agency. Because the team controls them and how much they get. Based on all this....... Kakko is long gone. There are plenty of options on the table. You can package him and a our 1st to move up. You can package him and Trouba while eating half of Trouba's contract. Or you can try to just straight up swap for another young and struggling player. You could trade him for another RFA's rights. Who the hell knows what this management group will do? Typically where there is smoke there is fire. This is the second or so article saying he is likely getting packaged to move up. It being a weak draft class and certain bottom feeder teams all having ex-Ranger GMs...my guess is he goes for a late 1st and a mid round pick to one of them. That is my guess. I most likely wrong. My reasoning is these teams Ducks/Sharks....need bodies and contracts to hit the ice next season. Kakko's a proven NHL player. He belongs in the NHL at this point. No one would question that. And he could develop into a leadership role on one these teams as he has 5 years of NHL experience and a couple of deep playoff runs under his belt. Mix into this his inability to stay healthy, his lack of physicality, and his diabetes ....I think Drury has seen enough. Some of our fanbase has also and I wouldn't argue against it. Probably wisest choice is to hold on to him, but this franchise does make wise choices. And Drury isn't a good GM.