Report: Only Two Options for Kaapo Kakko Going Forward with NY Rangers

New York Rangers' beleaguered young forward Kaapo Kakko had a rough season in 2023-24 and was the subject of trade rumors. But instead of trading him, the Rangers surprised some by re-signing the restricted free agent for a $2.4 million cap hit for the coming season.

That doesn't mean, however, that the former No. 2 overall selection (2019 NHL Draft) is out of the woods just yet. According to Peter Baugh of The Athletic, there are really only two scenarios that could play out for Kakko this season.

In the first, he winds up being trade bait after all, at the trade deadline.

(NYR GM Chris) Drury will almost certainly be looking to add at the deadline, so if Kakko could be the difference in an impact trade getting done, perhaps he’s part of a win-now move.

But the much more preferable sequence of events would be that the 23-year-old starts to show some of the promise suggested by the scouts that led to his lofty draft selection. Baugh calls that the "best-case scenario" and points to Kakko's 18-goal, 40-point season in 2022-23 as an indicator of that, which, we would suggest, would be a starting point, at least, to the 6'2" Finn starting to show his stripes.

Otherwise, the Rangers will have to sell low on Kakko, which they'd have had to do if he was dealt this summer.

Perhaps the one-year deal drives him to elevate his game to another level. The Blueshirts can only hope.

In 300 NHL games, Kakko has 57 goals and 60 assists for 117 points while averaging 14:32 of ice time per night. He owns a plus/minus rating of +4.