DALLAS – The New York Rangers traded Kaapo Kakko to the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday, getting back defenseman Will Borgen, a 2025 third-round pick and a 2025 sixth-round pick. Kakko finishes his Rangers career with 61 goals and 131 points in 330 games.

New York took Kakko with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. He has four goals and 14 points in 30 games this season. The 23-year-old started the year strongly alongside Will Cuylle and Filip Chytil, but his performance – as well as the team’s – declined during a recent disastrous spell. Coach Peter Laviolette gave him a healthy scratch against the Blues on Sunday, which frustrated the winger.

“I was surprised,” he said after the scratch. “I know as a coach you have to do something when you lose games, but it’s easy to pick the young man and throw him out. That’s how I feel.”

According to a league source, Kakko’s comments did not play a role in the team’s decision to move him. The Kraken began discussions with the Rangers over the weekend and negotiated other offers for the winger. Unwilling to commit long-term to Kakko, a restricted free agent, the Rangers had their sights set on Borgen for a while.

Kakko hasn’t developed into the star teams envision with such a high draft pick, but he’s a solid two-way player who has spent most of his time on the third line. Seattle knows it will at least get that level of player, and perhaps someone with more room to grow. His best NHL season was 2022–23, when he scored 18 goals and 40 points.

Kakko’s first two NHL seasons were shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Rangers had no other Finnish starters on the team as he adjusted to life in North America. Aside from Tarmo Reunanen, who appeared in four games in 2021, Kakko did not have a Finnish teammate until Niko Mikkola joined the team at the 2023 trade deadline.

Kakko played under three NHL coaches during his six years with the Rangers: David Quinn, Gerard Gallant and Laviolette. All three scratched him at some point during their tenures, with Gallant and Laviolette both doing so in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Blues’ game this season marked the first time Laviolette Kakko was scratched since Game 2 of the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals. Kakko said afterward, “I wasn’t the worst Rangers player during the team’s doldrums.” In his next game, a 2-0 loss to Nashville, he played just 10:14, fewer than any other Rangers skater.

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The Rangers were open to a move for Kakko last summer but failed to reach a deal. The speculation died down when he started 2024-25 strong, but the team’s recent struggles and his healthy scratch opened the door again. Given his open frustration, Kakko seemed like a player who could use a fresh start. Now he’s getting one in Seattle.

Borgen, a 6-foot-3 right back, has two points in 33 games this season but has scored 20 or more in the previous two seasons, including a career-high 25 in the 2023-24 season. He also played every game on Seattle’s path to the second round in 2023. According to a league source who was considered in the decision to move him, the Kraken assumed he was likely to leave when he did became a free agent in the summer.

Borgen is expected to join the team in Dallas. He fills a void in the Rangers’ defense group that is without Jacob Trouba (traded to the Anaheim Ducks) and K’Andre Miller (upper-body injury). It could also give New York the opportunity to send rookie Victor Mancini back to AHL Hartford for further development. The Rangers also have few draft picks left after playing many away games as contenders in recent seasons. Now they’re getting something in return as they try to reshape their team.

(Photo: Bob Frid / Imagn Images)