It has been a busy day for the Kraken. After making 21 cuts from their coaching camp roster earlier Saturday, they are going to now be with no key ahead when the common season will get underway. The group introduced (Twitter link) that winger Kaapo Kakko is anticipated to overlook the subsequent six weeks on account of a damaged hand.
Kakko was acquired midseason from the Rangers final season in change for defenseman William Borgen, plus 2025 third and sixth-round picks. The transfer labored for New York as they rapidly locked up Borgen to a long-term deal whereas it additionally labored fairly nicely for the Kraken.
It is a robust blow for Kaapo Kakko
Earlier than the swap, Kakko had simply 4 targets and 10 assists in 30 video games however the change of surroundings helped him rediscover his offensive kind. He picked up 10 targets and 20 helpers in 49 video games with Seattle whereas his enjoying time went up by practically 4 minutes per recreation to just a little over 17 minutes an evening as he grew to become an everyday of their prime six. He additionally had a pair of assists in two video games on this month’s preseason motion.
Within the 2024 offseason, Kakko appeared like a attainable non-tender candidate earlier than successfully accepting his $2.4M qualifying supply earlier than it was even formally tendered. However the best way he completed up with Seattle gave him rather more leverage heading into an arbitration-eligible summer time and he was capable of ink a three-year, $13.575M pact that offers him some safety and the Kraken two further years of membership management.
It’s a troublesome blow for the 24-year-old as that second-half optimistic momentum is now on maintain since he’ll miss at the very least the primary month of the season. Whereas Seattle shouldn’t must put him on LTIR on condition that they’ve loads of cap flexibility in the mean time, Kakko will probably be eligible to go on there if essential as he’ll miss at the very least 10 video games and 24 days. From there, he’ll hope to select up the place he left off as Seattle will probably be relying on him to be a top-six piece for them upon his return.
