Boldy (12th overall, Minnesota Wild) racked up 39 points in 47 games in 2021-22, and Caufield (15th, Montreal Canadiens) had 23 goals and 20 assists in 67 contests a season ago. There are others – Bowen Byram (fourth) and Alex Newhook (16th) played important roles for the Colorado Avalanche in their run to the 2022 Stanley Cup, and Dylan Cozens (seventh, Buffalo Sabres) and Vasily Podkolzin (10th, Vancouver Canucks) have also shown signs that their games are trending upward.
Kakko, by contrast, had seven goals and 11 assists in 43 games.
The Rangers aren’t going to judge Kakko against the development arcs of other players. The fact is, though, that 2022-23 represents a big season for him, one in which another halting performance will likely raise the concern level more significantly than in previous seasons.
Perhaps that concern, however, actually started ratcheting up in June, when the 21-year-old found himself out of the lineup for what turned out to be the Rangers’ season-ender.
“I don’t think we’ve ever wavered from our stance of, he’s an all-world talent. He does a lot of things on the ice that a lot of people can’t,” Rangers general manager Chris Drury said in June, before signing the restricted free agent for two years and $4.2 million the following month. “Like everyone else, your play dictates where you end up. But we’re certainly glad to have him back in the mix.”
The scratch, though, still says plenty – and will likely hang over Kakko until, or if, he establishes himself as an up-and-coming young star.
Kakko, Hughes Were Viewed as Nearly the Same Going Into Draft
Waiting for that to happen hasn’t been easy for the fan base, which hoped for an instant high-draft pick force and instead got what can probably now be described as a project. Making that increasingly difficult to deal with – perhaps at least somewhat for the front office, as well as the faithful – is the clear evidence that Kakko’s draft class appears to be full of dynamic kids who represent the future of the NHL.
Kakko was supposed to be one of those, in fact better than all except perhaps the guy who went before him. His drive toward the top of the pre-draft rankings in 2019 was so impressive that…
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