Kaapo Kakko will be back in the lineup when the New York Rangers visit the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night. But he’s still angry about being scratched for Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Blues in St. Louis, and he made his frustration clear after the morning skate at Bridgestone Arena.
“I was surprised, yeah,” said Kakko, who was the left wing on a third line with Reilly Smith on the right and Mika Zibanejad at center on a new third line Tuesday morning, as well as being included on the second power-play unit. “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.
“I’m not too happy, I can say that.”
Coach Peter Laviolette wasn’t angry when told that the 23-year-old forward was upset.
“I’ll keep those messages between him and I,” he said. “But I think it’s OK to be frustrated. It’s OK to be upset.”
Asked if it was easier to target a younger player rather than a veteran, Laviolette said, “There’s been older players that have sat out, as well. The decisions that I make, they’re tough decisions. Our team, Kaapo – we need to play better. We’re 3-10 in our last 13 games, and that’s not good enough. We need to play a better brand of hockey, all of us.”
Kakko didn’t say specifically that he shouldn’t have been the one scratched Sunday if the coaching staff felt a lineup change was needed, but it didn’t take a lot of reading between the lines to figure it out.
“Haven’t been on the ice too much when [opponents] score a goal,” he said. … “I have not been the worst guy, but that was me out of the lineup.”
Asked if he’s frustrated to be singled out multiple times during his four-plus seasons with New York, Kakko concurred.
“Yeah, for sure,” he said. “I can say the same thing all the time, the whole team is playing kind of bad and I get that you got to do something. I don’t know. If I were coach, I would do something also. I was surprised it was me at that point.”
The Rangers were 12-4-1 in their first 17 games before the 3-10-0 slide that has dropped them to 10th place in the Eastern Conference. It’s been a team-wide collapse – the forwards aren’t scoring or driving play, the defense is shaky and the goaltenders have been left to fend for themselves far too often. They haven’t beaten a team with a winning record since Nov. 19, when they edged the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 in the second of a four-game road trip.
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Kaapo Kakko not happy with Rangers after healthy scratch
Kakko, the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, has seen his offense decline recently but is still off to a solid start, mostly as the right wing on a third line with left wing Will Cuylle and center Filip Chytil. He has 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) and is plus-10 (second on the team) in 29 games. However, he has just one point, an assist in a 7-5 home loss to the Seattle Kraken on Dec. 8, in six games this month. He was selected to play for Finland in the 4 Nations Face-off event in February.
The 23-year-old has been on for 19 goals and just nine against 5v5 this season, far better than many of his teammates.
He signed a one-year contract in June and can become a restricted free agent after this season, and his name has come up in trade talks. The Rangers look like a team that needs to make a move or three, even after trading defenseman Jacob Trouba, their captain, to the Anaheim Ducks 11 days ago.
When asked what the coaches said to him when they told him he was not in the lineup Sunday, Kakko said: “He needs to do something,” adding that there hadn’t been much communication beyond Laviolette telling him he had to make a change.
“I’m not going to do that,” he said when asked if he needed to talk to the coaches to see what they want from him. “They’re going to say if they have something to say, but I’m not going there.”
