Kaapo Kakko Came To New York With Hope And Left In Misery

The Kaapo Kakko era with the New York Rangers ended in shambles.

On Wednesday night, the Rangers traded Kakko to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for defenseman Will Borgen, a 2025 third-round pick and a 2025 sixth-round pick.

Kakko came to New York with so much excitement and optimism, but left in frustration and anger.

The relationship between the Rangers and Kakko reached a boiling point after the team scratched him out of the lineup on Sunday night and for the first time, Kakko aired out all of his frustrations to the media.

“I was surprised, yeah,” Kakko said via Mollie Walker of The New York Post about being benched. “I know you got to do something as a coach when you’re losing games, but I think it’s just easy to pick a young guy and boot him out. That’s how I feel, to be honest.

“Haven’t been on the ice too much when [opponents] score a goal… I have not been the worst guy, but that was me out of the lineup.”

While Kakko played one last game with the Rangers on Tuesday night, after he made those comments, it was clear that a divorce between the young forward and the Blueshirts was necessary.

Why was Kakko so visibly upset after being scratched just one time?

This frustration was built up over many years, and getting benched on Sunday was the last straw for Kakko.

Since arriving in New York, Kakko has been the punching bag of the Rangers and constantly blamed for everything as he failed to reach his highest potential.

The 23-year-old knew he was unwanted in New York and was in dire need of a fresh start elsewhere.

Kakko felt it was unfair that he was pinpointed when he had not been the Rangers’ biggest problem. In fact, Kakko was actually playing some of the best hockey of his career to start the season.

At the end of the 2023-24 campaign, Kakko seemed destined to leave the Rangers after another underwhelming season.

He was forced to hear his name in trade rumors all summer with the Rangers actively shopping him, but Kakko ultimately signed a one-year $2.4 million contract to remain in New York.

Going into training camp there was a feeling that unless Kakko exceeded expectations this would be his last year with the Rangers.

There obviously has to be some blame placed on Kakko for the way things turned out, but he was not always dealt a fair deck of cards.

Will Kakko ever transform into a superstar player? Probably not. At the very least though, this change of scenery will help him.

Kakko is a person who is usually calm and level-headed. The bluntness with which he spoke was uncommon for a player who rarely enjoys speaking to the media, so it showed how fed up he was regarding his current status with the Rangers.

Disappointment and frustration are the words best to describe Kakko’s time in the Big Apple.

There was a feeling of disappointment from the Rangers organization directed at Kakko and a feeling of frustration from Kakko directed at the Rangers.

This divorce was dragged out and long overdue to the point where it became awkward between the two sides.

Now, Kakko gets a fresh start and the Rangers must try to salvage a season that is beginning to spiral out of control.