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Why isn't Kaapo Kakko in the AHL?


Phil

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11:28, 15:16, 11:14, 09:09, 12:33 TOI in his last four. Team-worst minus-15.

 

Two points (assists) in his last ten. Four points in his last twenty. Last goal was Nov 12 (two-goal game against PIT).

 

xGF% (36.10) lower than Brendan Smith and Brett Howden.

 

Lowest SCF% (35.71) of all regular forwards (Fogarty, Nieves, Andersson are lower).

 

--

 

This kid isn't ready yet and that's OK, so why is he still here?

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coach in his head.

 

Howden is his center.

 

Not hard to see. He's been mentally out of it since moving back down the lineup. Which is fine. Give him a game off here and there. But when he is in the lineup, he needs to be put in a place to be successful - and that hasnt happened in awhile.

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I guess the question is where do the coaching staff his development trajectory to be better. They seem to think it's in the NHL, the arm chair GM in me definitely thinks he could stand to benefit from a 15-20 game stint in the AHL.
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coach in his head.

 

Howden is his center.

 

Not hard to see. He's been mentally out of it since moving back down the lineup. Which is fine. Give him a game off here and there. But when he is in the lineup, he needs to be put in a place to be successful - and that hasnt happened in awhile.

 

Great. So why's he still here, then?

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Since December 1, Kakko has 0g 3a -2 in 12gp

 

Chytil 1-2, -2 in 14

Lemieux 2-1, -8

Howden 2-1, -6

Buchnevich 1-1, -9

 

Productively, he's not doing worse. He needs to be working on his offense. That's why he was drafted.

 

I'd much rather have a Jagr scoring goals and playing susceptible defense than Ryan Callahan.

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It’s a good question

 

One can only guess why the organization feels that sending him down would not be in his best interest in terms of his development or mindset or confidence or whatever else, but they do.

 

He’s struggled to be sure. He’s in a long and deep valley right now, hasn’t looked even average for a while. But the skill set is there

 

Don’t sour on him

 

This would not be the first time a young player has struggled as a rookie

Even one as highly touted as him

He’ll be fine

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It’s a good question

 

One can only guess why the organization feels that sending him down would not be in his best interest in terms of his development or mindset or confidence or whatever else, but they do.

 

He’s struggled to be sure. He’s in a long and deep valley right now, hasn’t looked even average for a while. But the skill set is there

 

Don’t sour on him

 

This would not be the first time a young player has struggled as a rookie

Even one as highly touted as him

He’ll be fine

 

I'm not souring on him. I want him in the A playing 20+ minutes a night for a good team that he can keep developing for away from the spotlights of the NHL.

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Same here Phil.

 

Very small sample size to date but it hasn't been good at all.

 

18 shots in the month of Dec and 8 of them in one game.

 

Projecting out at 31 points and a -33.

 

So far there's no signs he turning it around this season. Not the end of the world but certainly a disappointment to date.

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I'm kind of sour on him. His performance can be reasoned away for a million reasons, ultimately he's been terrible and the entire game slows to a standstill when he gets the puck.

 

What would constitute a bust in this slot? I'm not about to make some claim that he's the Finnish Stefan, but if he becomes a 55-65 point guy with a couple years in the 70's.. I dunno. I thought we were getting something more than that.

 

The biggest concern is obvious. He's a relatively awful skater with an ugly stride and poor foot speed. This is the kind of stuff that plagues another supposed premium talent in Dylan Strome. Despite what I read here, I don't think that's as easy to fix as many think, and far from a guarantee that he does, though also certainly possible to do so.

 

Lots of hockey left to show something this year but if not the pressure is really going to be on in year #2.

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I'm kind of sour on him. His performance can be reasoned away for a million reasons, ultimately he's been terrible and the entire game slows to a standstill when he gets the puck.

 

What would constitute a bust in this slot? I'm not about to make some claim that he's the Finnish Stefan, but if he becomes a 55-65 point guy with a couple years in the 70's.. I dunno. I thought we were getting something more than that.

 

The biggest concern is obvious. He's a relatively awful skater with an ugly stride and poor foot speed. This is the kind of stuff that plagues another supposed premium talent in Dylan Strome. Despite what I read here, I don't think that's as easy to fix as many think, and far from a guarantee that he does, though also certainly possible to do so.

 

Lots of hockey left to show something this year but if not the pressure is really going to be on in year #2.

 

All the more reason to get him to the A now. Imagine a similar (or worse) start next year? He'll be sweating like a whore in church and it won't be long before the savior becomes the scapegoat.

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Isn’t Kakko -6 in his last 5 games ?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

Oh he hasn’t been very good, that’s not really the question.

Give him regular games off, baseball style. And continue to work with him. He’s had a looooong year and a half, and he’s still a kid. We have to be patient, as fans. We aren’t used to watching kids develop in this organization. The things he needs to learn are at the nhl level, IMO.

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I'm kind of sour on him. His performance can be reasoned away for a million reasons, ultimately he's been terrible and the entire game slows to a standstill when he gets the puck.

 

What would constitute a bust in this slot? I'm not about to make some claim that he's the Finnish Stefan, but if he becomes a 55-65 point guy with a couple years in the 70's.. I dunno. I thought we were getting something more than that.

 

The biggest concern is obvious. He's a relatively awful skater with an ugly stride and poor foot speed. This is the kind of stuff that plagues another supposed premium talent in Dylan Strome. Despite what I read here, I don't think that's as easy to fix as many think, and far from a guarantee that he does, though also certainly possible to do so.

 

Lots of hockey left to show something this year but if not the pressure is really going to be on in year #2.

 

I do feel his stride has gotten worse as the seasons gone on. Could be tired legs or the Andersson “play fast” plague.

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I'm kind of sour on him. His performance can be reasoned away for a million reasons, ultimately he's been terrible and the entire game slows to a standstill when he gets the puck.

 

What would constitute a bust in this slot? I'm not about to make some claim that he's the Finnish Stefan, but if he becomes a 55-65 point guy with a couple years in the 70's.. I dunno. I thought we were getting something more than that.

 

The biggest concern is obvious. He's a relatively awful skater with an ugly stride and poor foot speed. This is the kind of stuff that plagues another supposed premium talent in Dylan Strome. Despite what I read here, I don't think that's as easy to fix as many think, and far from a guarantee that he does, though also certainly possible to do so.

 

Lots of hockey left to show something this year but if not the pressure is really going to be on in year #2.

 

Think the Rangers would've been in any better of a position with Hughes? I'm thinking not. These guys just aren't generational type top draft picks. If he ends up as a 60-70 point guy, with a few years in the 80s, think we'll have to be satisfied with that.

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best guess is his work ethic. word is he’s putting in what DQ wants to see with regards to mindset & effort (first in/last off the ice at practice, etc). also could be relationship driven.. who’s in his ear, mentoring right now.

 

but on its face, yeah he needs some quality Hartford love.

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Hughes has blazing speed and can operate at that speed. I actually think he'll be fine. It's not the production I'm worried about. It's his pace.

 

But yeah, Hughes isn't exactly as billed, either.

Hughes has improved lately. He's shows a lot of confidence when he has the puck. He sometimes tries to do too much, but he plays hard and is in the right areas a lot. Pretty much the opposite of Kakko, especially the confidence part.
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Not only 11:28, 15:16, 11:14, 09:09, 12:33 TOI in his last four. Team-worst minus-15.

but playing on third and fourth line.

 

18+ minutes a night in AHL, where he can develop his game outside the NHL spotlight, seems like a good choice.

 

If he's with Rangers I want him to replace Fast on one of the top two lines - and his game just isn't there right now.

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Speed was never his game. His game was strength, size, body control, puck possession, vision. Well, he's not nearly as strong relative to competition now to do the things he was capable of against other teenagers. He gets knocked around, falls a lot, etc. Pretty typical for an 18 year old kid you think might be a "finesse power forward" when he hits his prime.

 

Maybe he should be in the A, but what's the hope there? That he suddenly gets strong enough to compete with men in the NHL? His talent level is there. I've seen flashes to feel confident about that, but he needs to gain strength. I think one offseason of hard work and strength conditioning, and you'll see his skill in spades.

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Kane had 72 points as a rookie.

 

Hughes might get 35.

 

The media/blogger/Twitterverse (and this board,for that matter) comparables for these players are so misguided...so, they're overhyped, and people wonder why fans "have no patience".

 

That said, when the NHL is too fast, I wish there was a tier-below developmental league we could send these kids to... Someone should invent that...

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Not only 11:28, 15:16, 11:14, 09:09, 12:33 TOI in his last four. Team-worst minus-15.

but playing on third and fourth line.

 

18+ minutes a night in AHL, where he can develop his game outside the NHL spotlight, seems like a good choice.

 

If he's with Rangers I want him to replace Fast on one of the top two lines - and his game just isn't there right now.

 

Thing is, you practice more than you play. Those are valuable practice minutes with the Rangers he’d be missing out on

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