It’s hard to talk about Tuiki’s usual rotation caused by playing with Kaapo Kako, writes Urheilu’s NHL editor Tommi Seppälä.
Tommi Seppälä NHL reporter
A return to the rink last week after a 21-game sick leave was supposed to happen Kaapo to Kako new beginning. The fall season on Broadway had been nightmarish, because after the promising last season, the Turku native’s game did not find its groove and the results were not up to par.
The first 20 games of the season included only two goals and three points.
Maybe now the slag between the ears had been cleaned and the season would start as if from the beginning.
The beginning was promising. Kakon noticed in the rink and after returning, the net was swinging right away in the second match.
However, it was back to square one early Monday morning in Anaheim. The head coach Peter Laviolette decided to throw the chains into the blender in the second inning after the Blueshirts were down 0-2 against one of the weakest combinations in the series.
For Kako, this meant a tough fate.
After seven substitutions in the opening set, Kakko, who started in the first chain, got on the ice for the first time in the second set at about 12 minutes and as part of a chain of four. The ride was cold, because there were two substitutions in the second set and three in the third set.
After the match, head coach Laviolette tried not to create drama around the Finn by stating that the game just went like this. According to them, it wasn’t about benching, but about finding a new rhythm with the help of a chain rally.
And they found it: Rangers won the match 5-2.
Opportunities have been offered
In the case of Kako, it was no longer just any solution. After the last rather direct message addressed to the people of Turku, the atmosphere must be tense on both sides. It goes without saying that eight minutes of game time isn’t what the second-string pick from four years ago wants.
In the same breath, you still have to remember that Kako has been offered enough opportunities. Laviolette promised during the season to pump the tires of Kako and the other youngsters in the club with the responsibility of the top chain and with a superior game. That has really happened.
Kakko has played in the first chain for 162 minutes, and even more than half an hour.
There’s just no chemistry at all Mika Zibanejadin and by Chris Kreider to be with. And it’s nobody’s fault.
Sometimes cooperative play comes naturally, sometimes it doesn’t, no matter how much you force it.
The trio has scored four goals in 162 minutes, 1.79 per hour played. When the Swedish-American duo has played with Blake Wheeler, the reading is 3.68. Vincent Trocheck, Artemi Panrin and Alexis Lafreniere have made 3.2 hits per hour.
If it was just about playing 0-0 hockey, there would be no problem. However, you can’t just play for zero in Rangers’ first team. The developed statistics of Kako and the chain are handsomely on the wall of victory and the goal expectation created against the trio is smaller than the other chains of the team, but it is not enough.
The raw realism is that the ball is now in Kako’s half of the field.
The beginning of the end?
Coaching has given opportunities and at times sent a strong unspoken message, so Kaapo Kako should find himself in the condition to score. The pressure is increasing because Rangers are seriously aiming for the championship and Kakko is not going to find his place in the team.
Rangers are certainly one of the teams still looking to strengthen their ranks before the March 8 transfer deadline. Kakko, who is in the last year of his contract, may well serve as a pawn if he doesn’t open the taps at a fast pace. 25 matches and four (3+1) power points is a balance neither side is happy with.
It was impossible to escape the thought when Laviolette moved Kako out of the rotation on Monday morning. The solution could be the beginning of the end for Kako in Isosa Omena.
The coming summer should not be forgotten either. Kaapo Kako should then negotiate his next NHL contract as a restricted free agent. Last season showed promise, but overall, Kako’s career has not gone in the expected direction.
The balance of the previous two and a half years is only 0.4 points per match.
Also listen to: