RWJC Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 (edited) Rangers Looking To Move Up In The Draft June 25th, 2024 at 7:28pm CST • By Brian La Rose By virtue of winning the Presidents’ Trophy and falling in the Eastern Conference Final, the Rangers will be waiting a while to make their first selection in the opening round of the draft on Friday as they hold the 30th overall selection. However, it appears they’re looking to make a selection earlier than that as Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that GM Chris Drury is looking to package that pick along with winger Kaapo Kakko to move up in the draft order. Earlier this month, Kakko accepted what would have been his qualifying offer this weekend, inking a one-year, $2.4MM agreement. But if anything, instead of the contract quashing any trade speculation, it has had the opposite effect as many have suggested that the new deal actually helps his trade value as now teams have certainty as to what the 23-year-old will cost. Kakko was the second-overall pick back in 2019 after a very strong season in Finland’s top league and it looked like New York had a future core winger on their hands with the potential for more. However, while there have been signs of that potential over his first five NHL seasons, he hasn’t been able to show it consistently. In 2022-23, Kakko had what looked like a possible breakout campaign, notching 18 goals and 22 assists. Those numbers don’t jump off the page for a fourth-year player but they were career bests and both sides were hoping he’d be able to build off that. But it didn’t happen. Instead, Kakko struggled this year, notching 13 goals and six assists in 61 games while seeing his playing time dip to a career-low 13:17 per night. It went even lower in the playoffs as he was just over a dozen minutes per game while recording just one goal and one assist in 15 appearances. On the one hand, you have Kakko’s recent performance which wasn’t the greatest. On the other hand, here’s a still-young player who other teams might feel that a new team and system could help get him back on track. The Rangers will clearly be hoping that particular perception will help them move up the draft board on Friday. https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2024/06/rangers-looking-to-move-up-in-the-draft.html#ref=home Edited June 26 by RWJC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeanSeanBean Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 Too bad, was hoping we could find a way to nab this kid. So much talent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 Isn't it a red flag, if Kakko so good, why do the Rangers want to trade him? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 9 minutes ago, Ghostsof1915 said: Isn't it a red flag, if Kakko so good, why do the Rangers want to trade him? He’s not that good. He was rushed into the league and it hurt his development. They almost did the same thing with Lafreniere but he seems to have found his way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 Krappo Krappo is Krappo. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 Just now, DeNiro said: He’s not that good. He was rushed into the league and it hurt his development. They almost did the same thing with Lafreniere but he seems to have found his way. Huge difference in the level of compete between Lafreniere and Krappo. Krappo is a softy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flickyoursedin Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 1 hour ago, Ghostsof1915 said: Isn't it a red flag, if Kakko so good, why do the Rangers want to trade him? Probably found out Lafreniere wasn’t going to give a sweetheart discount like Kakko did and need the extra 2 mill to sign him to an extension. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 2 minutes ago, flickyoursedin said: Probably found out Lafreniere wasn’t going to give a sweetheart discount like Kakko did and need the extra 2 mill to sign him to an extension. That makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HKSR Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 I think Lafreniere realizes he is about to breakout. Probably feels a lot more comfortable with his game. NYR are gonna have to pay up. Trading him isn't a logical option anymore. He's 22yo, so even an 8 year deal will just bring him to 30yo where he can land a huge retirement contract. At that time, he'll probably be an elite player in this league. This is probably factoring into moving Kaako. They need all the cap they can get now to lock in Laffy long term. I think if NYR gets him in at $7M to $7.5M over 8 years, they'd be smart to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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