As we get closer to the NHL Trade Deadline on March 8, 2024, many names are going to be rumored to be on the move. One name that has come up recently for the New York Rangers is Kaapo Kakko. On a recent episode of TSN’s Insider Trading, it was reported by Darren Dreger that the Rangers were listening to calls on Kakko and that they could potentially use him in a deal if the deal was big enough and good enough that they’d have to part with him.
While the Rangers aren’t actively shopping him around, he is now a name to watch as the trade deadline approaches. While it makes sense to move him in a deal for a non-rental player, any other type of deal would not be worth it for the Rangers. It would only show that the team failed to develop yet another top pick, and giving up on him right now is not the right move for the Rangers to make.
Kakko Still Just 22 Years Old
As of this writing, Kakko is 22 and will turn 23 on Feb. 13, 2024. Most of the Rangers’ top players are either 30 or older, so they need guys in their early to mid-20s to help balance the roster. And Kakko is one of those players. While he hasn’t developed like many thought he would, since he is a former second-overall pick, he is still a very good NHL player. He’s not the type of player who’s going to score the most goals or most points like the player who was drafted ahead of him, Jack Hughes. But he is the kind of player that will do the dirty work for his linemates and help them get chances to score. He’s also defensively responsible and can be relied on in the shutdown minutes of a third period.
Kakko is also still very young and still has tons of room to grow his game moving forward. He had 18 goals and 40 points last season, and while he won’t reach those numbers again this season due to injury, he still brings those other aspects to the game that many of the other players on the Rangers don’t bring or lack. They should want Kakko to keep growing into a better NHL player, not give up on him while his career is still young, and they surely don’t want to watch him become a better player for the team they potentially trade him to.
Kakko Is Under Team Control Going Forward
Kakko is going to be a restricted free agent (RFA) after this season. He is currently making $2.1 million per year and will likely cost around the same on his next contract. After scoring 40 points last season, he would have wanted to follow it up with another strong season, but injury and lack of consistency have held him back this season; he has only scored five goals and six points in 28 games played.
This lack of scoring will help the Rangers keep the number on his next deal to the lower end. He likely won’t get a long-term contract from the Rangers and will have to settle for another two-year, prove-it deal. If he takes another contract like the one he is currently on and then has two great breakout seasons, then the Rangers can talk with him about signing a deal similar to the one Filip Chytil got, which was a four-year agreement worth $4,437,500 per season.
This is another reason why the Rangers should keep Kakko around. He is going to be cheap and under team control for the next few seasons. With much of the current cap space taken up by the core players of the team, the Rangers need guys like Kakko, who will be cheaper to help fill out the rest of the roster. That is how winning teams are built. Give the money to the top talent then surround the talent with cheaper but still good players.
Is Trading Kakko Going to Bring in a Much Better Upgrade?
If the Rangers are going to trade Kakko, is the player they’re getting back going to be much better than Kakko? The Rangers won’t trade him for a rental. If they got a player who is going to be here for at least the rest of this season and next, what other assets would it cost them? And would they be able to re-sign the player when their deal is up? Unless they were getting a truly great player, Kakko should not be anywhere near these trade discussions. He has the talent and the skill to become the player that Rangers would want to trade for. They already have him. They just need to give him the time and opportunity to succeed.
The Rangers are known for not developing the high draft picks they have made over the past few years. Players like Lias Andersson, Vitali Kravtsov and Nils Lundkvist were all not given a true chance to develop in the Rangers organization. If they were to trade Kakko, it would be yet another example of a first-round pick not working out with the team. The Rangers are better off keeping Kakko and helping him develop into a legit top-six winger for the team going forward.
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