The Seattle Kraken made a blockbuster trade on Wednesday, sending defenseman Will Borgen, a third-round pick, and a sixth-round pick in this summer’s NHL Draft to the New York Rangers for 23-year-old forward Kaapo Kakko.
Hailing from Turku, Finland, Kakko is already in his sixth NHL season, having tallied 61 goals and 70 assists in 330 games—all with the Rangers. He has four goals and 10 assists this season. The best output of his career to date came in the 2022-23 season when he played all 82 games for the Rangers and posted 40 points (18-22=40).
Borgen, meanwhile, heads to Broadway where the Rangers hope he will help them shore up a leaky defense corps that has contributed to New York’s slide in the Metropolitan Division standings.
“Kaapo is a young, dynamic forward who brings skill and offense to our club,” Kraken general manager Ron Francis said. “We’re excited to have him join us. I also want to thank Will for everything he’s done for our franchise. As an original member of the Kraken, we wish him all the best in New York.”
What the Kakko Kaapo trade brings to the Kraken
Kakko was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 draft, and in the lead-up to that draft, there was even some discussion from pundits that he could end up supplanting Jack Hughes at No. 1. At the time, Kakko was seen as a developed skater with size and hockey IQ, ready to make an immediate NHL impact.
He hasn’t lived up to the sky-high expectations in New York, though, and with Rangers GM Chris Drury desperate to shake things up for his club, Kakko went the way of captain Jacob Trouba, who was dealt to Anaheim last week.
This trade for Kakko should help Seattle both now and in the future. He still has plenty of upside and a reasonable salary cap hit of just $2.4 million for this season. He will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights in the summer, meaning he will only be able to sign with Seattle but has some leverage in potentially incorporating a neutral party to determine a fair contract extension. We will talk more about that at a later date, but the point is that Kakko is likely to remain with the Kraken beyond this season.
This past week, Kakko found himself in headlines after he was surprisingly made a healthy scratch by Rangers coach Peter Laviolette on Sunday in what would turn out to be a 3-2 loss at the St. Louis Blues.
He publicly voiced displeasure with the decision, telling Mollie Walker of the New York Post, “I 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.”
Interestingly, if you scour reactions from Rangers reporters, they seemed to agree that Kakko had not been the problem for New York. Vince Mercogliano of the USA Today tweeted, “Just my opinion, but this is a peculiar choice. If you’re going down the list of guys who have disappointed with their effort lately, I’d name at least a half dozen before I got to Kakko,” and Larry Brooks wrote on the same platform, “I don’t think Kakko has been at his best recently, but come on, he is the one singled out? Can’t be. This cannot simply be a run-of-the-mill healthy scratch.”
Our belief is that Francis made this trade looking for a player that can get to the inside to help create more dangerous chances for a team that has been starved for offense and looked incapable of generating chances the last two games. At first glance, this Kakko trade appears to be a win for Seattle, both for immediate impact and long-term potential, especially if he finds his footing in a new environment.
Best of luck, Will Borgen
It was fascinating to watch Will Borgen blossom from an unknown, oft-scratched blueliner in Seattle’s inaugural season to third-pair stalwart by the end of his tenure in Seattle. He played with an edge that few others on the Kraken carry and became a reliable player in all three zones.
During Vince Dunn’s extended absence, though, Josh Mahura filled in admirably and arguably performed better than Borgen during that time. With Borgen becoming a desirable asset around the league and playing on an expiring contract, packaging him now—well ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline—with a couple draft picks for a player of Kakko’s caliber and potential is a no-brainer.
We will remain big Borgen fans and wish him the best of luck in the Big Apple. We also worry for Matty Beniers, who will certainly be devastated to see his buddy and roommate moved on.
Sound Of Hockey will surely have more Kakko-related content in the coming days, so stay tuned. In the meantime, what do you think of this deal? Let us know in the comments.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
Reminds me a little bit of when the Vancouver Canucks acquired Markus Naslund, who was being underutilized by a stacked Penguins team, then blossomed into a highly skilled forward in a new environment. With good underlying metrics, this seems to make plenty of sense.
Completely agree, very little risk tons of potential upside.
Love it.
Although “blockbuster” seems like an exaggeration.
I agree, “blockbuster” seems a bit much… but is this the biggest player for player trade in Kraken history?
Yes was thinking the same thing… blockbuster? Although I have to say this article is 10x better than what Davey Jones put out on short notice. I appreciate both objective reporting pages but feel that SOH has the best hockey writers in Seattle, even if I don’t always agree with them.
It’s a blockbuster by Ron Francis standards!
I think we just got lucky. More skill and youth to go with some more skill and youth. speed kills
Great we have another underperforming forward!!!!!
I’m just joking, this is a good trade and very low risk, we were not going to keep Borgen past this season so anything we got for him is gravy. If Kakko doesn’t work out we lost a 3rd round pick, good chance he will develop further with the kraken and become an upgrade to our forwards.
Time to send Burky out of town, Kakko can surely take over his underperforming roll at half the cap 😂
I was wondering if we were going to make a trade like this. The outlook for this season was coming into focus that we were not making the playoffs so hanging on to players that we aren’t planning to keep next year seems foolish and Iexpect at least 1 more player to move although maybe not until the deadline. Hopefully Kakko likes to shoot. Lord knows we have too many passers on this team already 🙄.
Darren, didn’t you guys just have a Will Borgen buy/sell?
Already looking forward to next pod.
Love this trade!!!!!
I think it was pretty obvious the Kraken had to do something. They couldn’t just keep trotting out the same lineup and expecting different results. I had Kakko circled as a potential trade target for the Kraken. From what I’ve read he’s a strong defensive forward whose offense never quite reached the heights expected of a 2nd overall pick. However, he’s apparently a strong finisher despite his shortcomings in the playmaking department. That should fit well with the Kraken, who in my opinion have plenty of playmakers but not enough goal scorers. If Kakko is put in a position to finish off the chances others create (similar to what they did with Tolvanen), he could help boost Seattle’s offense and unlock his own latent offensive potential.
I will miss Borgen, though. I didn’t realize how much of a step back he had taken until Curtis laid it out last week. With him being stuck behind Larsson and Montour long-term, it was starting to look more and more like Borgen would leave in search of a greater opportunity. If that’s the case, I’m glad the Kraken were able to flip him in an upside play. If Borgen can rediscover that second-pairing form, he could be replace much of what Trouba did for the Rangers at a lower price. I sincerely hope he’s able to rebound, much in the same way I sincerely hope Kakko can reach new heights in a Kraken uniform.
I like the observations.
I was wondering about Kakko last year when the Rangers were looking for a center and a right wing and we had Wennberg and Eberle expiring. His name was coming up then too.
I don’t know that they “had to do something”. I would think given where they are in Borgen’s contract Francis must already know he plans on going to free agency. As much as I like this trade, I don’t think this really changes much this season, but I do think swapping him now rather than maximizing at the trade deadline indicates what good deal this is for Seattle. From what I’ve read already, pretty much everyone in New York agrees.
If I’m remembering correctly – and that’s a big if – this is Francis’s first player for player trade in Seattle and I’d like to think he did it because it was a good deal, not because he had to. I think there are lots of folks who will disagree with that.
I love the potential here, as many have already pointed out. Not much risk for the salary cap hit.
Two wonders/questions: Borgen seemed willing to mix it up a bit with physical play. Will the Kraken miss that physicality?
and
Trading a defender for a forward…we’ve got the extra defender with Mahura. But…what happens to the forward lines? Where does he fit in?
Thanks for the work reporting this, Darren. As always, love the content on the website and podcast.
#StickTapsForAndy
Love that he is a little on the beefy side. Hopefully he plays tough D and is a pain in the ass in front of the net.
I love this move and wish for great results for both players.
Great example of how a team can acquire players outside the entry draft. People who have had the constitution to suffer through my comments will know I like this move. You get a 6’2, 216lbs 23 year old winger drafted #2 overall at a pretty good price. It’s widely known Kakko wasn’t able to get any traction in NY with the players they already had. This is the kind of trade where the Vegas brass might be asking “how did Seattle get Kakko and we didn’t?” Seems like their kind of trade.
Regarding Borgen…been fun having him in Seattle! Seems like a great guy. But when you have Josh Mahura and Cale Fleury as immediate replacements, and in the wings you have Tyson Jugnauth, Caden Price (made Team Canada Junior WC team), Ty Nelson and Ville Ottovainen, this is a no-brainer. There also seem to be a lot of big D-men coming up in the next draft.
Seattle G although I like the trade I feel like you read the blockbuster line and took it to heart. Yes this could be a great opportunity for him to find new ground but seriously he was traded for cheap for a reason and Vegas probably had as good as an opportunity as we did. I like the trade because we didn’t risk much but he’s a project that could work or maybe it won’t. Hopefully it’s works well but you won’t be at games anyway so why do you care?
There’s no downside from what I can tell. I’m on the 7-year plan from franchise inception so I will still be going to games. I can still go without season tickets. Probably cheaper.
Yeah and that’s what I’ve been saying to my season ticket rep. Seriously they need to give better benefits to season tickets holders especially the long term plans like you and me. I’m still going to renew my tickets but I just hate seeing cheap offers from the team for random tickets and just about zero incentives for their (what should be) most valued customers. Maybe I’m a fool but I’ll still get my tickets but I can definitely understand why people back out. Time for them to but valued customers first.
Maybe I’m a little confused here.
I gathered from what Seattle G said he wasn’t interested in purchasing season tickets to “watch a bunch of kids struggle for the next eight years”.
I infer from that he’s talking about not wanting to suffer through a teardown.
As much as some folks think that’s the way to go, I don’t see any indication that’s the route the Kraken are going to go… and today’s trade certainly isn’t a move in that direction.
So… why would Seattle G not be at the games?
Goes back to a former articles message board, he’ll be at games don’t worry. 😉
Nobody posts that much without being a serious fan.
Correct…in the event of a teardown, attempted rebuild ala Chicago/San Jose…not interested in paying for season tickets to finance a team that maybe-possibly-could potentially be good 8 years from now be they decided to role the dice on getting one or two maybe elite players. I would still go to games when I felt like it.
If you own and run a business, you have to find a way to perform now and everyday, while still paying attention to the future, of course. You have to do it all. Life is hard.
Wow! My words are not good in the morning!
beCAUSE they decided to ROLL the dice on getting one or two maybe elite players.
I know everyone here is smart enough to know what I meant. Go Kraken!
@ Nino: You’re just a complete fucking asshole
Easy TFL… you’re talking to a child. I also find Nino frustrating, but I also appreciate the passion of young fans.
From Dictionary.com
NINO
noun
Spanish.
plural niños [nee, -nyaws, neen, -yohz].
boy; child.
Thanks for the context. Apologies to Nino for my overreaction.
This site is unique in that the writers are great and posters are mostly passionate, knowledgeable and for the most part humble – something that’s rare in today’s world. Would hate to lose that…..
Anyone who would make a statement like that truly is… wow.
Off topic but just got finished watching the Utah Canucks game on the Utah feed. Wow talk about a horrible broadcast. I grew up watching Canadian broadcasts and was never all that impressed with the kraken broadcast (although they have grown on me) but watching the Utah feed was painful. I’ll never complain about Enzo saying “they should have shot the puck” after every play except the one the score on when he says “what a great play” 😂 ok maybe I will. Highlight of the broadcast was Eddie broadcasting from NY, play by play almost put me to sleep.
I’m shocked at the broadcasting of many of the other teams. We are so lucky.
I had expected Francis to get a 2R pick for Borgen. Instead, they got Kakko and gave up a 3R and 6R in this year’s draft. I think that comes out similar. Given he was being traded sometime in the next three months, seems about right.
I assume this means Fleury for the remainder of the season with Ottavainen the injury call-up. And bye-bye DDDS.
A little bit of cap relief this season, which may help when Eberle returns. He is though an RFA with arb rights, so that next contract could be an issue.
Now I really wonder what Francis will come up with for his Gourde and Tanev trades.
Not only arbitration eligible but also just one year away from UFA. Because he went straight to the NHL he’ll have his seven seasons after next year. Could make for a dicey negotiation.
It’s time to start looking beyond Drury. Kaapo wasn’t every going to be what they thought they wre getting when they drafted him, but Rangers essentially added a potential 3rd line defensemen that could’t crack the lineup on a bad Kraken team and a couple of future Hartford Wolfpack draftpicks for a guy that at least played both ways. Now the Rangers can bring up the “kids” in Hartford that are only a year younger than Kaapo, don’t play defense, and aren’t all that great at scoring in Hartord.
Looking forward to see if Kakko is in tonight’s lineup. This should help spark the team to play an over all (That’s Kraken Hockey) team game.
Go Kraken!!!
I was originally thinking after the break, but with a back-to-back over the weekend, maybe earlier. I still believe McCann is playing hurt, so maybe let him start his time off a day early.
Super interested to see where he ends up in the lineup both short and long term.
Feels like the dragging anchor that is Burakovsky just became heavier because Seattle has essentially lost a roster spot which could be used to flex lower-cost waiver-exempt players into and out of CV.
Also interested to see how the third pair defense is handled. Does Mahura go in full-time? Does Fleury finally get a chance to be a regular? Do they platoon as long as there is cap/roster space? Or does one of the younger prospects get a chance?
I love that they traded for a guy who’s ( hopefully) going to have a chip on his shoulder. Go ahead Kokko, show those Rangers what they’re missing. This is a great low risk bump and I’m excited to watch his first game.
I’ll miss Will Borgen, he’s going to do well in NY’s physical line up.
Kraken now have a player headed to the 4 Nations Face-off!
Solid trade that could end up being much more than that. Let’s hope the narrative ends up becoming something like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUwSxqnRW-8
🙂
Hello everyone – new member and Rangers fan but 100% KK24 (not sure what number he will get there). Here is the good and bad.
Have fun cheering for Belligerant Bill. You will love how much other teams hate him. He is probably not going to be a first-pairing guy, but he is solid on the second line. He also has a surprisingly good slapshot.
This trade is a win for all parties involved. Will Borgen gets an inside track to the top-four minutes that he deserves. Kaapo Kakko gets a fresh start on a team that will likely be willing to give him a fair contract in a year or so. The Kraken get a big net-crashing, goalie-screening right wing who looks like the theoretical perfect player to make Stephenson’s and McCann’s line work. The Rangers get the tough, troublemaking fan-friendly kind of 2RD who will stablize the top-four.
There’s a decent article about Kappo and the Rangers on What Chaos! podcast.
Kaapo… oops