The Rangers are finally going to get their shot at a franchise-changer

Rejoice, Rangers fans: for the first time in franchise history, the Blueshirts have a top-two pick

The New York Rangers have been in existence since 1926. For perspective, gas was $0.23; Babe Ruth was completing his seventh season with the Yankees; the NBA wouldn’t exist for another 20 years. In all this time, the Rangers have never had a top-three draft pick. To be frank, that’s fucking insane. The commissioners should be embarrassed that the draft/lottery was never fixed in favor of the Rangers; if David Stern did it for the Knicks, someone should have done it for the Rangers.

But all that is ancient history. The New York Rangers will be picking second (2nd) in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. The past two years of misery have led to something meaningful. For the first time in god knows how long, the Rangers will have the chance at a homegrown franchise-changer. Whether it’s Jack Hughes or Kaapo Kakko, they’ll have an impact player in the NHL next season.

Hughes, the presumptive number-one pick, is probably headed down the turnpike to New Jersey, so that leaves the Rangers staring at Kakko. Kakko, a 6'2", 180-pound Finnish forward, is 18-years-old and had 35 points playing against grown-ass men in the Finnish Liga. As many internet comparisons go, Kappo has drawn comparisons to his countryman and fellow young star, Patrik Laine.

I’ve only watched one game of Kakko thus far and plan on doing something on him later in the week, but here’s a quick snippet of things I’ve liked so far:

Obviously, the kid has some outrageous skill, but one of the things that stood out the most to me is how he fore checks; he’s an absolute bull in the offensive zone when trying to get the puck and uses his big frame to shield against defenders. Same goes for his back-checking and defensive play as well. In this clip, he uses his stick to steal the puck from a defenseman. After he loses the puck, he hustles back and impedes the puck carrier from getting a clean zone entry by using his strength and stick. Pretty impressive stuff from an 18-year-old.

One thing I always like to see young players do is move without the puck in the offensive zone to try and create lanes. When you watch hockey on TV or around some other coaches/players, they’ll refer to this as “finding soft spots in the defense.” This is something Kakko does spectacularly. Here, he reads the defense — which has three guys below the goal line staring at the puck with the weak-side winger not picking him up either — and drifts toward the slot, then cuts to the back post and pots a one-timer.

Ditto for this clip too, where he opens himself up for a clean entry off a pass from a defenseman by finding a lane through the opponent’s neutral zone defense. He seamlessly stick-handles through three defenders and dishes to a teammate, who gets a shot on net.

Here’s another instance of Kakko using his big frame, as he pulls a Rick Nash-esque move to the net from below the goal line. Kakko has 11 in yellow fishing like Isabelle in Super Smash Bros and eats a crosscheck like it’s a punch from your four-year-old nephew.

Oh I mentioned Kakko is pretty skilled as well, right? Because this shot — low, far-side wrister — encapsulates that pretty well. He kicks the puck (at least I think, I can’t see too well these days) from his skate to his stick and rifles a shot past the goalie. This is also another example of him finding those soft areas and getting behind the defense.

Again: these are only five clips from one game, and I could probably post like 20 more in here. Listen, I don’t want to be telling tales out of school here, but I’ll say it: I think Kaapo Kakko is going to be really fucking good. I know, I know, Fitz burning the world on fire with his usual hot takes.

For the first time in my life — and probably the lives of many other Rangers fans my age — the Rangers are going to get a stud; no ifs, ands or buts about it. Buckle up Rangers fans, because shit is about to get real.