The Rangers are making moves.
The struggling Blueshirts traded RW Kaapo Kakko to the Seattle Kraken for defenseman Will Borgena third- and sixth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Kakko, 23, was the Rangers’ second overall pick in the 2019 draft. However, the Finland native did not live up to his draft selection.
After scoring 23 points (10 goals) in his rookie season in 66 games, he has had fewer than 20 points in four of his last five seasons, including just 14 (four goals) in 30 goals this year.
Kakko’s high mark came during the 2022-2023 season, when he scored 40 points (18 goals, 22 assists) and played all 82 games.
Borgen, 27, has played 33 games this season and has two points (one goal) but is minus-13 on the ice. He is also an unrestricted free agent after this season.
Tensions between Kakko and the team have been running high in recent days following his healthy scratch against the St. Louis Blues this weekend.
“I was surprised, yes,” Kakko said. “I know as a coach you have to do something when you lose games, but I think it’s just easy to pick a young guy and take him out. That’s how I think about it, to be honest.”
This is the second big move the Rangers (15-15-1) have made this season after moving Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks earlier this month.
After the Trouba trade, GM Chris Drury indicated that more moves could be made.
“I’m not opposed to making more changes,” he said during a Dec. 9 phone call. “But the big picture is that the team has been through a lot in recent weeks. We would like to let the dust settle a bit. Let some of the new players we acquired from Anaheim [Brett] Berend, [Victor] Mancinidifferent pieces. We would like to let the team work on this.”
At the time, reports indicated that Kakko, Chris Kreider, Reilly Smith And Ryan Lindgren were discussed during trade negotiations.
