Rangers winger Kaapo Kakko will sign his one-year, $2.4MM qualifying offer and avoid restricted free agency, reports the New York Post’s Larry Brooks. The deal will yield a $300K increase over his previous $2.1MM cap hit but will pay him the same salary he earned in the 2023-24 season. The Rangers later made the signing official but did not confirm financial details.
Kakko, 23, did reach RFA status briefly after his entry-level deal expired in 2022 but agreed to a two-year, $4.2MM pact in late July. He would have been arbitration-eligible this summer if he remained unsigned.
Coming off a career-high 40 points in 2022-23, Kakko was expected to build on his offensive showing and play closer to the potential indicated by his second-overall billing in the 2019 draft. It didn’t go as planned, however, as he dropped firmly back into a bottom-six role under head coach Peter Laviolette, managing 13 goals and 19 points in 61 games while averaging a career-low 13:17.
While he still managed to score 13 goals and shoot 14.3%, north of his career average, his normally high-end even-strength possession impacts dipped, making it harder to justify giving him fringe top-six minutes with his otherwise limited offensive production. His 49.4 xGF% was his worst since his rookie season, per Hockey Reference.
Kakko’s offensive struggles continued in the playoffs, as he scored just one goal and one assist and had a -4 rating in 15 games. He was a healthy scratch for Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Final loss to the Panthers, a move that some speculated may lead to a trade request. The Rangers were fielding trade interest in Kakko as far back as January, but general manager Chris Drury publically reaffirmed his belief in his potential earlier this month.
No matter what, getting an extension done a couple of weeks in advance of the draft helps the Rangers. It either provides them with more cost certainty heading into free agency next month or makes it easier to put together a trade by providing any potential acquiring teams with cost certainty.
For now, Kakko’s signing brings the Rangers’ projected cap hit next season to $78.8MM, $9.2MM short of the $88MM upper limit. They still have two RFAs to re-sign in defensemen Ryan Lindgren and Braden Schneider, and have multiple notable pending UFAs, including Erik Gustafsson, Jack Roslovic and Alexander Wennberg.
Kakko will be in the same situation when his new deal expires next summer as an arbitration-eligible RFA with a $2.4MM qualifying offer.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
$2.4 million overpaid.
This just proves that Drury is in over his head. They needed to trade Kakko for whatever they could get for him. Laviolette has no faith in Kakko, and will bury him in the bottom six. That’s why the Rangers will never win a Stanley Cup. They’ve had too many GM’s that are former players that don’t know what it takes to win. Keeping the streak alive. Rangers have won ONE, count them One Stanley Cup since 1940. For those who can’t do the math that’s 84 going on 85 years.
Uh, the GM before Drury wasn’t a player – Gorton. Sather played, but also won how many cups as a GM? Smith never made it to the NHL, but won a cup with the Rangers.
Can’t take your comment seriously based on your assessment of the Rangers GM history.
Thank you for strengthening my point. Sather played for the Rangers and won cups in Edmonton with Gretzky , and Messier. But what did he win here? Nothing . The only reason the Rangers won in ’94 was because Smith brought in half the old Oilers team with Messier. They never won when they brought Gretzky here. Stop making out like the Rangers are a great team. They have one cup in 84 years. Toronto is almost as bad. Poor management.
Ur not an intelligent Human Being…
I feel like Kakko is a dark horse candidate to score 50 points next year. Sometimes there’s a glimmer where he is a possession monster and snipes… toward the end of the year, he was potting goals pretty regularly, passing the eye test along with his always pretty great underlying stats. Olli Jokinen’s first four year point totals were 21, 21, 16, 29 before turning into a 60 – 90 point guy. Blake Wheeler took some time to develop and had a great career with some 90 point seasons. Not saying Kakko will get there but I wouldn’t write him completely off.
Agreed. They need time. Folks forget that he’s still a kid and playing in NY with the pressure can slow progress. Laffy looks like he cracked the code and I’m sure Kakko will as well. Those moments as you described are amazing with what he can do with a puck.
If he was drafted in a later round, he would be making $1 million dollars now based on his production. Instead he is still getting paid based on his potential from 5 years ago. The great Montreal GM Sam Pollack once said he never gives up on a young prospect until he’s reached his 23rd birthday. Bye. If I can get a second round pick for him, he’d be gone.
I disagree. He’s one year removed from a 40-point season, and this year he had injury troubles. Jake DeBrusk, a 40-point guy last year, makes $4m AAV, and no one calls that an albatross. At least he’s not Pierre-Luc Dubois, who put up 40 points at $8.5m last year.
Kakko’s had major injuries in 3 of his 5 years. He averages 11 goals and 24 points per year. Overall #2 pick in the draft. He’s a good defensive forward but obviously has no scoring touch. Took Laffy 4 years to get to his breakout year, but you can see improvement each year. And Debrusk only had 40 points last year, but he has had three 25 goal seasons. Debrusk has 47 points in 86 playoff games. Kakko has 9 points in 44 playoff games. I agree with you about Dubois. But he’s had some decent years, but horribly overpaid.
It’s minutes played and the line he’s on. Put him with Panarin and Trocheck and I’m sure he has a solid season.