The Kaapo Kakko era is over in the Big Apple. Expectations for the Finnish winger where sky high when he arrived on Broadway as the second overall pick in the 2019 NHL draft chosen by the New York Rangers. There was considerable debate on if he or Jack Hughes should go first overall. Adding to the debate was Kakko’s showing against men in Finland’s top league.
The Rangers rebuild was kick started by the emergence of Igor Shesterkin as well as free agency signings in Artemi Panarin, drafting Alexis Lafreniere first overall a season later and trading for then prospect Adam Fox. Kakko never lived up to expectations and never found himself as one of New York’s right wingers in their top six. Thus Kakko found himself expendable and traded him to the Seattle Kraken.
Choosing first in that 2019 draft was the Rangers rival across the Hudson River the New Jersey Devils. Having a borderline one and two being chosen by two division rivals added all the more interest. There’s a now infamous clip of Rangers fans at their MSG draft party cheering at the Devils selection of Hughes dropping Kakko to a near certain selection by the blue shirts. The Devils defeated the Rangers 5-0 shortly after the trade this past Monday and played the infamous clip, immediately followed by cutting to Jack Hughes wearing his Devils sweater.
Devils fans were quick to say the Kakko trade solidifies, once and for all, the Devils won the “Hughes or Kakko” debate. Two seasons prior the Devils were in a similar situation of having to decide between Nico Hischier or Nolan Patrick first overall in the 2017 drafts. Scouts will never admit it, but Patrick being Canadian could have been a potential tiebreaker if all else was equal against the European Hischier (Hichier did play the 2016-2017 season in the QMJHL). That season also saw a division rival, this time the Philadelphia Flyers, picking second. The Devils would select now captain Nico Hischier and Patrick is unsigned and rumored to retired all together last December.
Both Devils drafts featured former general manager Ray Shero at the helm. Ray Shero will forever be remembered by Devils fans for the “trade is one for one” acquisition of Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall. Shero was let go by the Devils just a few months after the drafting of Jack Hughes after the team struggled despite its noteworthy additions that offseason, such as Hughes, P.K. Subban and Nikita Gusev.
Should Shero get credit for getting the 2017 and 2019 drafts “right” when nearly everyone in hockey media saw the top two picks as a toss-up? Early returns seem to crown Cale Makar as the best player to come out of the 2017 draft, yet Hischier has clearly emerged as having a better career than Nolan Patrick. We won’t declare Kakko a complete and total “bust” just yet, but it’s obvious Hughes has more than lived up to his own draft stock unlike Kakko.
The drafting of Hughes and Hischier are seen as a massive turning point in the Devils post 2012 Eastern Conference Championship struggles to rebuild. Granted it did take a few years until the breakout 2022-2023 campaign. Imagine how things would have been different if the Devils decided to choose either Patrick, or Kakko, or both assuming their draft positioning both years was the same. On the other side imagine how the Flyers and Rangers would have fared with Hischier and Hughes, respectively.
That’s not to say Shero didn’t have his fair share of Devils draft miscues in the first round. Pavel Zacha was good, but not spectacular, and chosen at sixth overall before the likes of Mikko Rantanen and Matt Barzal in the 2015 draft. Michael Mcleod was taken 12th overall in 2016 ahead of Charlie McAvoy. Ty Smith was taken 16th overall in 2018 and has bounced between organizations and between the NHL and AHL since a trade in the 2022 offseason.
Hindsight has, and will always be, 20/20. Ray Shero was not perfect at drafting as the Devils general manager, but he chose correctly on the two most important draft picks the franchise has ever had. Considering the implications of choosing poorly he deserves some credit for where the team is now. As for Kaapo Kakko, maybe the change of scenery in Seattle will do him good.