You're finally seeing the light about Krappo! Did you hit your head this morning? I agree with you about Quick, he's been the better goaltender and deserves more starts. The defense leaves him hanging as much as Igor but he kept the Rangers in the game. Whether it was Lav's coaching or Laf just maturing at least Alexi has figured out that he needs to shoot the puck more. Last year in 81 games Laf had 135SOG, this year through 50 he has 129 and should surpass last year's 39 points.
Kakko's defensive game is excellent. I don't know if it's confidence since the cluster fuck Rangers have done everything to ruin him and Lafreniere. Lafreniere has seemed to overcome it. However, passing is passing. Pass the fucking puck accurately.
How is it the organizations fault for kakkos performance on ice? no matter where he’s placed , and who with, he’s a 2nd overall pick in draft and should shine. only thing org responsible for is that they picked him. The kid is soft for his size!
so now cross ice passes are affected by lack of power play time? how the hell do guys like Jimmy Vesey ever score goals?
I’ve told you this many times and you don’t want to look at facts. If you look at every other organization with young top forward draft picks, they play them 17+ minutes tonight and put them on the first power-play unit from day one. Only this dumbass organization didn’t do that. Confidence is a huge part of any player especially when they’re young and for forwards, they get that on the power-play if their scorers
Somehow Lafreniere seems to be getting it, but not Kakko. 3 coaches have all given Kakko a chance, and every one of them eventually lowered him in the lineup. How many coaches does Kakko have to play for before we say maybe he just isn't the guy who we thought he was when he was drafted # 2. How many missed open nets or poor passes do we need to see? With that said, I think Kakko is a solid player who is solid in his own zone and adds value to the team (he was missed when he was out). I think he is a good 3rd line RW, and that is certainly important for any team. I just don't think he'll ever be the 30 goal or 60-point guy you'd expect from the # 2 pick. And at this point, after 3 coaches and many opportunities, he owns what he is, it's on him, not the organization. But again, he has value, we just need to set our expectations accordingly IMO. When I look at him through that prism, I am happy he is back and on the team.
Kakko's biggest value is cap saver as like Laf he's not going to earn much of a raise. It looked like he was coming on last year but like Laf Kakko simply doesn't shoot the puck enough. This year in 29 games played he has 35 SOG, has nothing to do with coaching and everything to do with effort. Other than being a +3 Kappo does little defensively - 8 hits and 8 blocked shots this year in 29 games, doesn't play on the PK. Kappo strikes me as always chasing the puck and when he finally gets it he circles the ice until the inevitable turnover.