Those guys aren’t due for a raise. Kakko is. Rangers have major cap issues. Now this doesn’t mean you move Kakko (or Lafreniere) just for the sake of it, but they cannot afford to have any passengers.Let me guess, we should also trade Berard, Cuylle, and Othmann the minute they don't look as good as you guys want too, huh? I already see plenty of people wanting to trade Miller & Lundkvist too
Tell me this isn't the most depressing image ever lol "Room for Improvement: None"
Well, imo it's a mix of:
a) this weird Shroedinger's rebuild situation we got here. The team already having a strong core that dwarfed their minutes, situations, experience.
b) David Quinn / the front office for hiring him.
This is the JT Miller situation. They need confidence, and in a maybe very simple way, minutes = confidence.
a) Kakko has been on the Zibanejad for a while now.
b) David Quinn is no longer the coach. He was my favorite whipping boy but we need to stop blaming him.
c) JT Miller was a late first round pick and showed a ton more than both Kakko/Laf.
Let me guess, we should also trade Berard, Cuylle, and Othmann the minute they don't look as good as you guys want too, huh? I already see plenty of people wanting to trade Miller & Lundkvist too
a) confidence, chemistry
b) PTSD, internalization
c) mid 1st rd pls, 15th OV and no he did not show a ton more. At 23 maybe, yeah. But at 20 he's show less than both.
Lol, I guess no one watched him play, because clearly his skating had a ton of room for improvement at the bare minimum.
Tell me this isn't the most depressing image ever lol "Room for Improvement: None"
People just don't learn from the many examples of young players not all starring at 21. Patience. We're not expected to win the cup this year but there's every likelihood that they will be key contributors to a real cup run.
Tell me this isn't the most depressing image ever lol "Room for Improvement: None"
Who is everyone more down on now? I feel like for the longest, around the league other fans were more down on Kakko, but Rangers fans were more down on Laf & had more faith in Kakko. But recently it seems Kakko has been falling more and more out of favor among Ranger fans. I have more faith in Laf than Kakko because Laf seems like a somewhat confident kid. Kakko seems like an absolute beta/awkward guy who I have no idea how he got this far in hockey. If he was around the typical hockey kids/hazing/etc in North America I don't think he'd ever even become an NHL prospect. I know this is harsh but I don't get how people don't see that
True his straight away speed leaves a lot to be desired but for a big kid/man his edge work and skating in tight corners is amazing. We need to see that again.Lol, I guess no one watched him play, because clearly his skating had a ton of room for improvement at the bare minimum.
What is crazy is that there have been absolutely zero flashes of anything last what 10-12 games? I mean zero. His rookie year and last year at least we saw some points where he would hold onto the puck and shield the dman with his size and good edge work.
Among regulars on the roster at F, at 5v5 Kakko ranks 1st in CF%, FF% (only F over 50%), SF% (only F over 50%), xGF% (only F over 50%). He's 2nd in GoalsFor%, behind only Blais (who played 14 games). And that GF% could easily be higher if the team was shooting better than 7.69% with him on the ice
Laf is 5th on the team in goals, but all the goals he's scoring are the kind he's expected to score. He's shooting at 16.3% but his numbers aren't being boosted by ENGs or PP goals. Were the team's personnel different and he playing on PP1, his scoring numbers could very reasonably be expected to go up.
Beginning of the year I would have no way to Kakko but he is just a passenger wherever he plays right now and doesn’t drive play, hit or shoot.
Laf has shown the ability to physically engage and score some goals, I have more confidence he’ll eventually be a contributor at this point.
We have to learn going forward, regardless of ranking you just can’t draft guys this high who aren’t good skaters. I don’t care, trade the pick, reach a little, it just can’t be someone who is slow.
Unless he's injured I tend to believe what @EdJovanovski said, which I rarely make that claim. He seems to be missing something upstairs. Not IQ, but attitude and composure when things don't go well.
Beginning of the year I would have no way to Kakko but he is just a passenger wherever he plays right now and doesn’t drive play, hit or shoot.
Laf has shown the ability to physically engage and score some goals, I have more confidence he’ll eventually be a contributor at this point.
We have to learn going forward, regardless of ranking you just can’t draft guys this high who aren’t good skaters. I don’t care, trade the pick, reach a little, it just can’t be someone who is slow.
Jason Robertson is just as slow as Kakko and LaFreniere, possibly slower, and has 37 points in 30 games in his second full NHL season right now.
It's not as simple as just drafting fast guys. This team would draft a good skater projected to score 80 points a season and he'd end up becoming Enver Lisin.
I don't even think it's a drafting issue at this point. It's not like the Rangers went way off the board with Kakko, LaFreniere, Chytil, Kravtsov or Andersson (maybe a tiny bit with Andersson but nothing crazy). This team clearly has a problem developing forwards once we've chosen them and I don't think it's as simple as everyone they draft being a slow skater.
His shot never developed/hasn’t developed yet. Look at Svechnikov. He didn’t have a great shot when he came into the league (and wasn’t too different of a player to Kakko) but it’s something that has improved a great deal in Carolina and now he is all star caliber player. Probably the best u23 player in the league. Kakko hasn’t taken the next step in any of his skills.What is crazy is that there have been absolutely zero flashes of anything last what 10-12 games? I mean zero. His rookie year and last year at least we saw some points where he would hold onto the puck and shield the dman with his size and good edge work.