Toronto Maple Leafs Miss Out On Kaapo Kakko: Former Second-Overall Pick Traded
The Toronto Maple Leafs missed out on adding a big piece to their forward depth, as well as their defense as Kaapo Kakko was traded to the Seattle Kraken.
If the Leafs wanted to shore up their offensive depth, they will have to look past Kaapo Kakko as the disgruntled New York Rangers forward was traded to the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday night.
The return package for the former 2nd overall pick is defenseman Will Borgen, and two draft picks.
This trade ends the saga of Kakko in New York and is another signal that GM Chris Drury is looking to make some serious moves to shake up his roster amidst a struggling stretch of the season.
Kaapo Kakko Gets A Fresh Start Out West
Kakko recently spoke about how he felt that he was a scapegoat in the Rangers season drama, and it was made none clearer than when they shipped him out West.
It's a fresh start that was desperately needed for the former second overall pick, and while he is still young and has flashes of brilliance, he's been struggling since arriving in the league.
Never hitting twenty 20 goals and only having a career-high of 40 points, it's a far cry from the offensive superstar New York envisioned when they drafted him ahead of names such as Kirby Dach, Trevor Zegras, and Mo Seider.
He'll get a brand new change of scenery in Seattle where he will no doubt enjoy top line minutes and could easily slot in for Brandon Tanev, a player who the Leafs could end up looking to bring home.
Toronto also misses out on adding some forward depth to their team and the possibility of having Matthew Knies, Kakko and John Tavares on a second line could have brought tons of success.
However it's not the case, and the team also misses out on adding Will Borgen, the other player traded. The team needs a replacement for Jani Hakanpaa, and also a solid defender alongside Morgan Rielly, so they lost out on two possible key pieces.
Brad Treliving will need to go back to the drawing board now and re-assess who he can pick up now that Kakko and Borgen have found new teams.
