Another Donut Performance From A Top Line Player
The former No. 2 pick of the 2019 NHL draft, Kaapo Kakko, produced another donut on the score sheet in last night's 5-4 shootout loss against the Minnesota Wild.
Essentially what that means is, zeros across the board.
Last time Kakko scored a point? October 21st, when he scored a goal in the 4-1 win over the Seattle Kraken to kick start a six game winning streak.
That was his second point of the season. Since then? Zero points, zero assists, only four shots on goal, TOTAL!
Did I mention Kakko is the Rangers top line right winger? Call me crazy, but is it too much to ask for him to step it up when the teams ace defenseman and second line center are both out due to injury?
He is on pace for, wait for it, 17 points for the season.
Fans on social media is also calling him out for his recent play.
Here he is struggling handling the puck and continuing play when the opposition gets physical on him:
Another play when Jake Middleton just blasts Kakko to another dimension:
To be fair, the entire top line has been struggling with even strength offense.
The team is tied for 21st in the league in even strength goals, and it doesn't help the line of Kreider-Zibanejad-Kakko only produce four even strength goals all season.
It seems like the Rangers lives, or dies by the power-play goals.
It's not too late for Kakko to turn things around and step up big time, especially with the injuries to Adam Fox and Filip Chytil.
He has a lot of potential, and fundamentally, he's a solid player. But production needs to start soon, otherwise, he might find himself dropping out of the line real quick and the team will struggle to hang on.
| POLL | ||
Have you been impressed with Kaapo Kakko's performance this season? | ||
| Yes | 11 | 10 % |
| No | 99 | 90 % |
| List of polls | ||
