Rangers' Kaapo Kakko signs qualifying offer

Kakko, 23, did reach RFA status briefly after his entry-level deal expired in 2022 but agreed to a two-year, $4.2M pact in late July. He would have been arbitration-eligible this summer if he remained unsigned.

Coming off a career-high 40 points in 2022-23, Kakko was expected to build on his offensive showing and play closer to the potential indicated by his second overall billing in the 2019 draft. 

It didn’t go as planned, however, as he dropped firmly back into a bottom-six role under head coach Peter Laviolette, managing 13 goals and 19 points in 61 games while averaging a career-low 13:17.

While he still managed to score 13 goals and shoot 14.3 percent, north of his career average, his normally high-end even-strength possession impacts dipped, making it harder to justify giving him fringe top-six minutes with his otherwise limited offensive production. His 49.4 xGF% was his worst since his rookie season, per Hockey Reference.

Kakko’s offensive struggles continued in the playoffs, as he scored just one goal and one assist and had a -4 rating in 15 games. He was a healthy scratch for Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Final loss to the Panthers, a move that some speculated may lead to a trade request. 

The Rangers were fielding trade interest in Kakko as far back as January, but general manager Chris Drury publically reaffirmed his belief in his potential earlier this month.

No matter what, getting an extension done a couple of weeks in advance of the draft helps the Rangers. It either provides them with more cost certainty heading into free agency next month or makes it easier to put together a trade by providing any potential acquiring teams with cost certainty.

For now, Kakko’s signing brings the Rangers’ projected cap hit next season to $78.8M, $9.2M short of the $88M upper limit. They still have two RFAs to re-sign in defensemen Ryan Lindgren and Braden Schneider and have multiple notable pending UFAs, including Erik Gustafsson, Jack Roslovic and Alexander Wennberg.

Kakko will be in the same situation when his new deal expires next summer as an arbitration-eligible RFA with a $2.4M qualifying offer.