Rangers, Kaapo Kakko reach quick $2.4 million contract resolution in win-win deal
NY Post
This was no fuss, no muss and it bodes well for the futures of both parties regardless of where their respective futures may play out.
But the Rangers’ signing of impending restricted free agent Kaapo Kakko to a one-year deal for his $2.4 million qualifying offer as first reported by The Post, represents a win-win deal for both the team and the 23-year-old Finn, who sacrificed his arbitration rights ahead of July 1.
If Kakko — whose difficult, injury-interrupted season that was punctuated by his Game 2 healthy scratch against the Panthers in the conference final — remains with the club entering next season, general manager Chris Drury, head coach Peter Laviolette and the staff will have at the very least a dependable checking wing with an eminently cost-effective contract.
On the other hand, Kakko’s contract is also eminently tradeable. The decision to forego arbitration following a 13-16-29 season in 61 games with average ice time of 13:17 will be a benefit to clubs who might inquire about acquiring the winger proximate to the June 29-30 entry draft that will be held at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
Kakko, the second-overall selection of the 2019 draft behind the Devils’ selection of Jack Hughes after the pingpong balls and champagne corks popped on Broadway, has not fulfilled his potential here, certainly not until this point, for a variety of reasons shared mutually.
The Rangers have been to the conference finals twice in the past three years and two different head coaches — Gerard Gallant in 2022 and Laviolette this year — chose to make Kakko a healthy scratch. This is not what anyone envisioned.
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