Player Discussion Kaapo Kakko: Part V

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duhmetreE

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CLW

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So Kaapo is skating with this group in Turku. The group is coached by Ismo Lehkonen (Artturi's father) a veteran who has coached summer groups for over two decades. Their skating coach is Tiia Hurme, a former Finnish ice skating champion.

Ismo says that the training sessions are no joke, these guys are pros and know what they want, but since the players are so competitive his biggest task is to make sure nobody gets injured.

Mikko Rantanen (COL), Artturi Lehkonen (MTL), Rasmus Ristolainen (PHI), Mikko Lehtonen (CBJ), Aleksandar Georgiev, Kaapo Kähkönen (MIN), Sampo Ranta (COL), Tarmo Reunanen, Joonas Järvinen (Liiga), Lauri Pajuniemi, Matias Maccelli (Liiga/ARI), Susanna Tapani (women hockey player).

"Näille ei voi vetää mitään höpö-höpö -treenejä" – Ika Lehkosen jäillä todella kova nippu
 

LOFIN

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Barnaby

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Kaapo Kakko kertoo suomalaisten NHL-tähtien rajuista yhteisharjoituksista – "Näiden jäätreenien jälkeen ei jaksa kuin maata sohvalla"

Nothing really to add to the post above from this article, but it does have some footage of said training session with interviews from Kakko and Rantanen. They are on the ice 3 times a week, on top of that he still hits the gym and plays some tennis/badminton. Leaves for NY in mid September.

I bet he puts the shuttlecock anywhere he wants.
 
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EdJovanovski

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I think this is the year that will determine whether he's a "bust" in the eyes of hockey fans. How many points do you think he needs this season to shake that label?

I think 50pts bare minimum. I know people will cope and say well he's good defensively, but we drafted this guy 2nd overall thinking he was an elite offensive player. Everyone had him penciled in for 60pts his rookie year, if he doesn't hit 50 this year I think it's safe to say he's not going to live up to anywhere near the hype.
 

Chytilmania

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Kaapo Kakko's Draft-Year Scoring -- 36 Goals in 36 Minutes - YouTube
When we drafted him I thought we were drafting a trigger man opposite Panarin or Zibanejad on the PP. Swapping Strome out for Kakko could be lethal and also see a huge burst in points.
Only difference in this highlight video I see is him having the confidence to shoot. If he gets PP time and builds confidence then he will return to this production. Both him and Laf, when playing with Zib or Panarin ES, were afraid to have the puck. Not sure if that's coaching, rookie jitters or intimidation. Then demoting Kakko to 3rd/4th lines also killed his confidence. I'd say 50 points is a good mark, or 30 goals. If he's scoring a bunch of goals and playing great defense I won't worry about point totals.
 

jay from jersey

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I think this is the year that will determine whether he's a "bust" in the eyes of hockey fans. How many points do you think he needs this season to shake that label?

I think 50pts bare minimum. I know people will cope and say well he's good defensively, but we drafted this guy 2nd overall thinking he was an elite offensive player. Everyone had him penciled in for 60pts his rookie year, if he doesn't hit 50 this year I think it's safe to say he's not going to live up to anywhere near the hype.
I think your right, he should get more favorable minutes/ situations. Hopefully his maturity and training he gained this offseason has paid off
 

duhmetreE

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All the off-ice workouts are great but I would really like to see him shooting, an absurd amount, on-ice.

When was the last time we had a one-time threat on the right dot?
 
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HockeyBasedNYC

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I think this is the year that will determine whether he's a "bust" in the eyes of hockey fans. How many points do you think he needs this season to shake that label?

I think 50pts bare minimum. I know people will cope and say well he's good defensively, but we drafted this guy 2nd overall thinking he was an elite offensive player. Everyone had him penciled in for 60pts his rookie year, if he doesn't hit 50 this year I think it's safe to say he's not going to live up to anywhere near the hype.

If he gets 40-50 Im not sure you can rule out that he will have a greater offensive impact in the future. It’s possible he could be a late bloomer or still needs to develop his shot or other parts of his game.

Wouldn’t be completely encouraging but I wouldn’t tie him to the 50 point mark. He will only be 21 going into 22-23.

But, he is a second overall so I guess the hype part is warranted. Expectations are tied to that.
 
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EdJovanovski

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If he gets 40-50 Im not sure you can rule out that he will have a greater offensive impact in the future. It’s possible he could be a late bloomer or still needs to develop his shot or other parts of his game.

Wouldn’t be completely encouraging but I wouldn’t tie him to the 50 point mark. He will only be 21 going into 22-23.

But, he is a second overall so I guess the hype part is warranted. Expectations are tied to that.
Can you honestly say that if you went back in time to that 2019 draft and a psychic told you he's not going to break 50pts after 3 seasons in the league; that you wouldn't be disappointed? He was billed as the most NHL ready prospect imaginable, so much so that during the draft Sportsnet's graphic said "Room for Improvement: None". This was the kid who shattered Barkov & Laine's goals records in Liiga. This is the kid who scored 5 goals in 2 games against men at the World Championships. Look back at threads in 2019 and see what everybody's expectations were. In a poll on the main boards 74.2% of voters believed he'd put up at least 50pts in his rookie season.
 

EdJovanovski

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What was the number they showed? Because they don't use miles in Russia.
I don't think I watched it, maybe a twitter clip or something; but I vividly remember several people talking about it. I'm sure I'll be able to find people talking about it, I tried watching the 2019 KHL All Star skills comp and I didn't see him shooting. I think it was a Traktor skills comp, there's no way people mistook 100km for 100mph though, 100km is 62MPH and every player in the league could easily hit that. Kravtsov has a great shot, there's no way his shot is 62MPH lmao
 

LOFIN

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What was the number they showed? Because they don't use miles in Russia.
I don't care if they showed 161 km/h, I don't believe Kravtsov shoots that. That would be a world class slapshot, and there's literally no footage of him using it lol.

To me, Kravtsov seems to be the Selänne type of goal scorer. Right place at the right time. Looking at his KHL highlights, so many redirections, rebounds and opportunistic snapshots.
 
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