At midnight on Thursday, the NHL’s roster freeze will begin and run for one week over the holiday season. During that time, teams won’t be able to make trades. So, it seems certain GMs are rushing to get their holiday shopping in before that deadline.
Three deals were made on Wednesday night. The latter two were with the Pittsburgh Penguins acquiring Pierre-Olivier Joseph and the Montreal Canadiens bringing in Alexandre Carrier.
The first deal of the night involved the New York Rangers, who are still reeling after a report last month leaked the names of Jacob Trouba and Chris Kreider as potential trade candidates. Trouba has since been dealt, but New York has won just three of its last 14 games and is now out of a playoff spot, trailing the East’s second wild card position by three points.
Things are getting desperate. Coach Peter Laviolette is firmly on the hot seat and rumours continue to swirl that GM Chris Drury is also thinking more about turning over the roster. Meanwhile, Mika Zibanejad’s ice time and role has fluctuated lately which has led to more speculation. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported this week that Rangers players had a closed-door meeting after Monday’s loss to the Blues and that some of them were “super frustrated with Chris Drury, the GM right now, and the way he’s done business over the last several months.”
Among the frustrated players was Kaapo Kakko, New York’s second overall pick five years ago, who was made a healthy scratch for their game against the St. Louis Blues. Despite having one of the better on-ice goals for percentages on the team at 5-on-5, Kakko was made an example of, and he voiced his surprise and frustration over Laviolette’s decision.
“I know you got to do something as a coach when you’re losing games, but I think it’s just easy to pick a young guy and boot him out,” Kakko said, per Mollie Walker of the New York Post. “That’s how I feel, to be honest. Haven’t been on the ice too much when [opponents] score a goal … I have not been the worst guy, but that was me out of the lineup.
“The whole team is playing kind of bad and I get that you got to do something. I don’t know. If I were coach, I would do something also. I was surprised it was me at that point.”
It turned out that one day after that quote, Kakko was sent packing in a trade with Seattle that brought the Rangers back defenceman Will Borgen plus third- and sixth-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft.
To be fair, it wasn’t the most surprising player to trade away, as Kakko has been in rumours dating back to before he signed his current one-year contract in June. Kakko had been unable to build on an 18-goal, 40-point season from two years ago, or break into a top six role on the Rangers. He didn’t show the team enough throughout two “show me” contracts and a trade seemed inevitable in his future. Perhaps that was expedited by New York’s struggles and Kakko’s voiced displeasure.
In return, the Rangers get Borgen, who will look to shore up the blue line of a team that is having a heck of a time limiting shots against from high-danger areas. It’s the most concerning underlying part of the Rangers’ on-ice play, though Borgen alone is likely not the answer.
The Kraken, meantime, are four points out of a Western Conference wild card position and are still in need of more goal scoring, an issue that has dogged the team in each year it hasn’t made the playoffs. Currently 21st in goals per game and 23rd in power play percentage, the opportunity could be there for Kakko — at this point, he’s certainly more needed in Seattle’s lineup than New York’s.
With more on both sides of this trade, we turn to our scout Jason Bukala.
The Rangers trading Kakko to the Kraken for Borgen and two draft picks in 2025 shows the value Kakko presented on the open market. Kakko was the second overall pick in the 2019 draft and while it’s rare to see such a high-end pick traded for mid-range assets at 23 years old, the Rangers are clearly frustrated with the direction of their group and are setting out to reset the makeup of their team.
If Kakko is going to increase his output and overall impact in Seattle he’s going to need to improve his compete level in all three zones.
The 6-foot-1, 215-pound forward knows how to finish around the crease. He has a quick release and the strength to box out opponents, create screens and pounce on rebounds. The issue for me is he doesn’t push back hard enough on a consistent basis. In his last 10-game segment with the Rangers, Kakko posted only one goal and one assist, while averaging 13:07 of ice time, almost all of which came at even strength. He had a part-time role on one of the Rangers’ power play units and yet managed just 13 shots on goal in that time.
Kakko doesn’t kill penalties and he lands in the bottom 50th percentile in all skill categories (according to NHL Edge), including speed and high-danger shot generation.
The Kraken have a history of acquiring players who were first-round draft picks. They plucked forward Eeli Tolvanen (30th overall, 2017) off waivers from Nashville and watched him immediately increase his offensive output. Though Tolvanen’s overall point production is down a bit so far this season, he is on pace to eclipse the 16 goals he scored last season for Seattle.
But it remains to be seen if Kakko can have the same kind of turnaround. I have to be honest: he has never really moved the needle for me at the NHL level. He was selected behind only New Jersey forward Jack Hughes and ahead of players like Moritz Seider, Dylan Cozens, Matthew Boldy and Cole Caufield. He isn’t a bust yet, but he certainly hasn’t lived up to expectations.
Kakko has played the second-most games among players in his draft class (330) behind only Hughes and has produced a 131-point total (61 goals, 70 assists) that ranks seventh in his class. Perhaps he has more to give and a change of scenery might agree with his game. However, he will have to make a positive impression in Seattle right out of the gate. Kakko is a pending RFA with arbitration rights and just one more season away from being UFA eligible.
To NY Rangers: Will Borgen
Borgen, 28, is in the last year of a contract that counts $2.7 million against the cap and he will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year.
The right-shot defenceman won’t move the needle much offensively. He’s a generally reliable bottom-pairing defender who was averaging around 15 minutes a game with the Kraken. All of his ice time came at even strength and the penalty kill. Borgen will push back physically, though. He was credited with 48 hits in Seattle, which was second on the team behind Ryker Evans.
