Kaapo Kakko KOed in OK Trade
The Rangers last night traded 23 year old Kaapo Kakko to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for defenseman Will Borgen and two picks. The move comes as GM Chris Drury continues to deal with the fall-out of a team in an uncontrolled spiral, and just one day after Kakko expressed his frustration at being a healthy scratch against the St Louis Blues.
Like the Jacob Trouba trade last month, this was a case of unfinished business from last Summer that saw Kakko sign a team-friendly one year contract, presumably to help enable a move. To Kakko’s credit, he started the season well on pace for 50-60 points as part of a strong line combination with Will Cuylle and Filip Chytil. While he wasn’t the leader of that line, he was able to find ways to contribute and was part of one of the best line-combinations in the league in terms of GF and xGF.