Major Rumour Confirmed for Former Second Overall Pick Kappo Kakko: Kent Hughes Has an Incredible Opportunity

PUBLICATION

Aaron
February 6, 2024 (7:39)

SHARE THIS STORY

A few days ago, we learned that the New York Rangers were taking calls regarding their young player Kaapo Kakko.

It's been confirmed! Kaapo Kakko is indeed available on the trade market. Wow!

Darren Dreger broke the news, mentioning that the long-term loss of Filip Chytil ($4,437,500) gave the organization a lot of flexibility.

Many made the connection with the Montreal Canadiens, as Jeff Gorton and Nick Bobrov were the ones who selected the young Finn second overall in the 2019 draft. However, this link did not please everyone as the young man seems to be taking time to find his place in the league.

Indeed, Kakko, who was selected one rank behind Jack Hughes and one rank ahead of Kirby Dach, has only 104 points (49 goals) in 267 career NHL games. He also has only 6 points in 28 games this season.

The expectations were definitely much higher for him.

They talked about it in the context of a trade involving Sean Monahan (before he was traded to the Winnipeg Jets), but the Rangers have several other needs, notably in defense.

Could David Savard interest them?

Former NHL executive Craig Button said he would have absolutely traded Monahan for Kakko, accepting in three seconds.

According to him, we can very well live with a 45-50 point per season player, in Kakko.

Considering that last season, only Nick Suzuki passed the 40-point mark, and the season before, he was joined by Cole Caufield. Having scorers in that range wouldn't hurt the CH.

He's only 22 years old and still has many good years ahead of him. As Marc-Olivier Beaudoin points out, Kakko plays little and is in an environment where the focus is on winning now, not on developing players. With the CH, he could get more playing time and thus have his chance to accumulate points.

It's therefore necessary to forget his draft position and see the future potential of the young man. He will never be a point-per-game player, but he can very well provide good service to the CH. Against a rental player, it's an excellent bet!

As of writing this, Kent Hughes surprised everyone by trading Monahan to the Winnipeg Jets. If this changes the offer Kent Hughes could make to the Rangers, it doesn't change the possible interest of the CH in the young Finn.

The Habs could very well work on a trade for Kakko with other assets. If Drury is open to trading his young forward, he might well be open to accepting something other than a veteran.

For this, the Rangers' GM will have to get over his disagreement with the Habs' management. It seems, according to what has been recently reported, that the atmosphere between the two organizations is not the healthiest, as Drury would be upset with the CH for hiring two employees he had fired in Nick Bobrov and Jim Ramsay.

Therefore, in light of recent developments, the CH's offer will have to be excellent if it wants to acquire Kaapo Kakko!