When the New York Rangers selected Kaapo Kakko with the 2nd pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, it was supposed to be a watershed moment in the Rangers rebuild. Kakko was expected to be a first line winger who would be a high scorer for years to come. Of course that didn’t happen, but to the degree it didn’t work out in New York was unexpected. Kakko received healthy scratches in the playoffs, failed to make much of a difference at all, and was the key piece in the Will Borgen trade that gave the Rangers a surprisingly effective second pair defenseman.
At the time of the Will Borgen trade, I was happy to see Kakko go anywhere else. While some still had hope for the Finnish winger, at a certain point there was no longer any reason to believe he was going to reach his supposed potential, and even less reason to believe it would happen while being a member of the Rangers organization. Featuring Kakko in the Will Borgen trade was also some addition by subtraction.
Still, the Will Borgen trade was centered around a defenseman on the outs with his current team and a couple of minor draft picks. It was not a good look for Chris Drury at the time of the Will Borgen trade, as many around the league were surprised he went for so little. The value may have been fair on paper, but the probability of the Will Borgen trade working out long term for the Rangers was a long shot.
In hindsight, this was a masterclass by Drury. While most, including myself, expected the Rangers to trade Kakko for a reclamation forward or some mediocre draft picks, Drury traded for Borgen and after a solid beginning to his Rangers career, re-signed the defenseman for five years at a manageable cap hit that will age pretty well as long as the cap ceiling continues to rise at the same rate as it did last year.
Kakko ended up getting off to a decent start with the Kraken, but not one that caused the Rangers to have serious seller’s remorse. With Borgen’s decent play for the Rangers and Kakko’s fine play for the Kraken, the trade appeared to be a win-win.
However, this season Borgen has completely taken off as a strong defensive defenseman, showing he’s a great fit in Mike Sullivan’s system and worth the contract the Rangers locked him up on for the long haul. Kakko has struggled with injuries and poor play, showing the decent play for the Kraken last season may have been his ceiling. Though to be fair, his injuries may be impacting his play this year.
The key to the Will Borgen trade was never going to be replacing the player Kaapo Kakko was expected to be. Rather, it was replacing the player Kaapo Kakko was. And if you ask me, trading a mediocre third line winger for a solid defensive defenseman who has been a terrific fit thus far and could be for the foreseeable future was a huge win.
Chris Drury hasn’t made many moves that have impressed me in his Rangers tenure, but the Will Borgen trade and utilizing Kakko in a refreshingly bold approach to a trade was one of his finest moves. The Rangers are a better off team for having Borgen on board and Kakko elsewhere. It’s not like Kakko would have helped with these offensive woes anyway.
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