Kakko is angry after being left out: “I wasn’t the worst player on the team.”

Have you heard that things are going badly in New York?

Nothing is going well for the Rangers, who have only scraped together three small wins in their last thirteen outings.

For a talented team like the Blue Shirts, this is unacceptable.

Kaapo Kakko was left out of his team’s last match by Peter Laviolette because he has been inconsistent since the start of the season.

But Kakko has really not taken his coach’s decision well.

The forward faced reporters today with one goal in mind: to make his coach look bad with criticism.

Kakko does not understand why he was left out since he believes he is not “the worst” player on the team… And he says that leaving a young player like him out is much easier than making a decision regarding a veteran:

#NYR Kaapo Kakko: “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.”

— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) December 17, 2024

Kaapo Kakko did not hide his frustration about being scratched.

“I was surprised. I know we’re losing games, but I think it’s just easy to take the young guy and put him out. That’s how I feel.”

Said there hasn’t been much communication beyond Lavi telling he had to make a…

— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) December 17, 2024

Ish…

Kakko not only disrespected his coach: he also openly said that he thinks some of his teammates are not as good as him.

And comments like that are never well-received in a hockey locker room. I tend to believe that it’s not good for his image… 

It’s really chaotic within the Rangers organization, and it’s starting to look ugly.

After all, when a player takes the time to criticize his coach and teammates after being left out, it’s never a good sign.

And it won’t help the situation in my eyes. All it does is add frustration within the group…

The Rangers need to find a way to regroup because there will inevitably be changes otherwise. The timing is strange, though, because goalie Igor Shesterkin just signed a contract extension worth 92 million dollars…

In Brief

– The CH prospect didn’t break any ice in front of Kent Hughes and Vincent Lecavalier.

Ivan Demidov finished the game with 10:56 of TOI.

He was also able to register 3 shots, he was easily the best player on his line.

Rotenberg used him when SKA was trailing which is good but most likely due to the fact Kent Hughes and Vincent Lecavalier were there.

SKA is now… pic.twitter.com/6JBQNfKMJz

— Alex Jodoin (@colegoalfield) December 17, 2024

– Good news.

The Trois-Rivières Lions organization is very proud to host the World Junior A Challenge in December 2025!

This will be the very first time this event takes place on Quebec soil! https://t.co/AL9isEoYCh

— Lions de Trois-Rivières (@Lions3r) December 17, 2024

– That’s a good one.

Sources say that the Oilers will loan Jeff Skinner to the Sabres tonight just so he can score his customary goal against the Habs

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) December 17, 2024

– Today’s waivers activities:

Devin Shore clears. Chris Wagner (COL) & Justin Dowling (NJ) on waivers

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) December 17, 2024