Kaapo Kakko was not too pleased with being a healthy scratch.
The New York Rangers are searching for answers on how to fix their current skid. But one potential solution has left Kakko wondering if it was the right choice.
After being held out of the lineup Sunday after head coach Peter Laviolette wanted "fresh legs" on the ice against the St. Louis Blues, Kakko poured out some of his frustration to the media Tuesday.
"I was suprised, yeah. I know you got to do something as a coach when you're losing games, but I think it's just easy to pick a young guy and boot him out," the 23-year-old forward said, per Mollie Walker of the New York Post. "That's how I feel, to be honest. 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."
"The whole team is playing kind of bad and I get that you got to do something. I don't know. If I were coach, I would do something also. I was surprised it was me at that point."
Sunday's loss to St. Louis was the first game the second-overall pick from 2019 has missed this season. He has four goals and 10 assists in 29 games. While his point production may not be impressive, the Rangers are winning his five-on-five minutes - hard to do when the team has lost 10 of its last 13.
At even strength, Kakko has been on the ice for 19 goals for and only nine against. His 67.86-goals-for percentage is the second-best on the team and he's a plus-10. Meanwhile, high-priced forwards Mika Zibanejad, 31, and Chris Kreider, 33, both of whom have struggled to produce at five-on-five, have remained in the lineup.
Laviolette insisted that the decision to sit Kakko was not age-based.
"There's been older players who have sat as well. The decisions that I make, they're tough decisions. Our team, Kaapo, our team — we need to play better," the coach said Tuesday. "We're 3-10 in our last 13 games and that's not good enough. We need to play a better brand of hockey, all of us."
Kakko said that all he was told was he "needs to do something." The young winger was described as "dejected" by media members, understandable considering the struggles he has faced early in his career and the lack of clarity from the coaching staff.
However, he does not intend to find out where he went wrong.
"I'm not going to do that," the Finnish forward said when asked if he would speak to the coaches about his situation. "They're going to say if they have something to say, but I'm not going there.
Kakko is expected to draw back in the lineup Tuesday against the Nashville Predators.
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