Kaapo Kakko: By the Numbers 

Wednesday, general manager Ron Francis announced that the Kraken had made a trade with the New York Rangers to acquire 23-year-old forward, Kaapo Kakko. It’s a fresh start for the 2019 second-overall pick, and the Kraken believe that there is still more potential to tap into and are excited to see what Kakko can do in a hopefully expanded on-ice role.

“I like (Kakko’s) size, I like his puck possession game, those are the two key aspects,” Francis said. “If he can find a little more confidence and offense in his game, that will be great as well.”

So, what specifically can Kraken fans expect from the Finnish forward?

Let’s dig in.

Although he’s played 330 games in the NHL already, the majority of that was third line minutes. With Seattle, the expectation is that Kakko can slot into both the top-six (in his first game, he played alongside Matty Beniers and Jared McCann) and also on the power play. With Kakko’s skill, this helps fill the gap left after Jordan Eberle was lost for three months due to a hip injury.

And what will the Finn do in those minutes? The hope is that he will score. While he has just four goals to his name this season, it’s worth mention that Kakko’s current shooting percentage is at a career-low 8.9-percent. Across the four previous seasons, he’s averaged a shooting percentage of 12.7, so a rebound in the positive direction is probable.

And even if he’s not directly scoring, Kakko can also set up his teammates for chances. Before coming to Seattle this season, he had been averaging 1.5 assists per 60 minutes of play, which’s the highest rate of his career. More importantly, he’s generating primary assists at the highest rate of his career as well (1.05 per 60).

Watch here how Kakko (NYR24) wins a board battle and then attacks off the rush before sending a cross-slot pass for the score.

The forward uses battle level, speed and a pass that forces the goaltender out of set position to get a goal.

Kakko can set up teammates in different ways, too. Here, he sets up behind the net to execute another pass that challenges the netminder to read where the shot is coming from. And check out that nifty little stick move below the goal line that allows Kakko to get the puck past Sean Durzi (UTA50).

There are a couple of other things to take note of in those clips. It’s not just the what of Kakko’s play; it’s the where. With his 6-foot-1, 215 lbs frame, Kakko isn’t afraid to get in and around the net.

He isn’t a high-volume shooter (Kakko pretty consistently generates10-12 shot attempts and 6-7 shots on goal per 60 minutes of play), but he’s going to do the work to get net front, and that can make those shot attempts more dangerous to a goaltender.

Here’s a look at Kakko’s shot attempt locations from last season (61 games played) courtesy of HockeyViz.com. That’s a good bunch of attempts coming from net front.

And scroll back up to the very first assist we looked at. It starts with Kakko winning a battle. When it comes to coming out on the right side of beating out an opponent for the puck, that’s something Kakko can do.

Across his career, he is plus-37 in terms of takeaways versus giveaways. Last season, he ranked tenth among all NHL forwards who played at least 100 minutes of 5-on-5 play in terms of winning puck battles in the defensive zone (45.2%). The only player from his previous team to rank higher was Chris Kreider.

This season, Kakko has been winning D-zone puck battles at a rate of 43.6-percent, and as he joins his new team, the only forward to rank higher is Shane Wright (47.2%).

Watch as Kakko follows a rimmed puck and stays in the fight to gain possession and send a pinpoint pass that begins the Rangers’ breakout, where they get some possession time.

Kakko can also be effective in winning puck battles in the offensive zone, which is obviously key to maintaining possession and setting up scoring chances.

Watch as he follows his own shot attempt behind the net and then uses his body to re-gather the puck before coming to the top of the zone, calming things down and sending the puck back low to set up a goal.

Kakko is coming to Seattle with the chance to make the most out of top-six minutes – something he hasn’t consistently seen before. He brings a skill set that can feed net front offense, sustained pressure, and create scoring chances. Now, it’s up to him to show his new team what he can do.