Scout Analysis: What the Rangers and Kraken are getting in the Kakko-Borgen trade

The NHL’s roster freeze begins at midnight on Thursday and will last for a week over the holidays. Teams cannot make trades during this time. So it seems that certain GMs are in a hurry to get their Christmas shopping done before this deadline.

Three deals were completed on Wednesday evening. The latter two involved the acquisition of Pierre-Olivier Joseph by the Pittsburgh Penguins and the acquisition of Alexandre Carrier by the Montreal Canadiens.

The first deal of the night involved the New York Rangers, who are still in limbo after a report last month leaked the names of Jacob Trouba and Chris Kreider as potential trade candidates. Trouba has since been dealt, but New York has won just three of its last 14 games and is now out of a playoff spot, sitting three points behind the East’s second wild-card spot.

Things are getting desperate. Coach Peter Laviolette is firmly in the hot seat and rumors continue to circulate that GM Chris Drury is also considering a roster move. Meanwhile, Mika Zibanejad’s ice time and role have fluctuated recently, which has led to further speculation. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported this week that Rangers players held a closed-door meeting after Monday’s loss to the Blues and that some of them were “super frustrated with Chris Drury, the current GM, and the way how he has done business in the last few months.”

Among the frustrated players was Kaapo Kakko, New York’s second overall pick five years ago, who was a healthy scratch for his game against the St. Louis Blues. Despite scoring one of the team’s better on-ice percentage goals at 5-on-5, Kakko was made an example of and expressed surprise and frustration at Laviolette’s decision.

“I know as a coach you have to do something when you lose games, but I think it’s easy to pick a young guy and throw him out,” Kakko said, according to the New York Post. “That’s how I feel, to be honest. I wasn’t on the ice too often when (the opponent) scored… I wasn’t the worst guy, but that was me out of the lineup.

“The whole team is playing kind of badly and I understand that you have to do something. I don’t know. If I were a coach, I would do something too. I was surprised at that point that it was me.”

It turns out that the day after that quote, Kakko was sent in a trade with Seattle that brought back Rangers defenseman Will Borgen as well as third- and sixth-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft.

To be fair, it wasn’t the most surprising player move, as rumors about Kakko existed before he signed his current one-year deal in June. Kakko was unable to build on his 18-goal, 40-point season from two years ago or break into the top six for the Rangers. He didn’t show enough to the team during two “show me” contracts and a trade seemed inevitable for his future. Perhaps this was precipitated by New York’s struggles and Kakko’s expressed displeasure.

In return, the Rangers bring in Borgen, who will look to bolster the blue line of a team that has a heck of a time taking shots from high-danger areas. It’s the most concerning part of the Rangers’ play on the ice, although Borgen alone probably isn’t the answer.

The Kraken are now four points out of a wild-card spot in the Western Conference and still need more goals, a problem that has dogged the team every year it hasn’t made the playoffs. Kakko currently ranks 21st in goals per game and 23rd in power play percentage. The opportunity could arise for Kakko – at this point, he’s certainly needed more in Seattle’s lineup than New York’s.

Since there’s more on both sides of this trade, we turn to our scout Jason Bukala.

The Rangers trading Kakko to the Kraken for Borgen and two draft picks in 2025 shows the value Kakko represents on the open market. Kakko was the second overall pick in the 2019 draft, and while it’s rare for such a high-quality pick to be traded for mid-tier assets at 23, the Rangers are clearly frustrated with the direction of their group and are heading toward one Restart the composition of your team.

If Kakko wants to increase his production and overall impact in Seattle, he will need to improve his level of competition in all three zones.

The 1.90 meter tall and 100 kilogram striker knows how to get around the goal area. He has the speed and strength to outbox opponents, create screens and dive for rebounds. The problem for me is that he doesn’t hit back consistently enough. In his final 10-game stretch with the Rangers, Kakko recorded just one goal and one assist while averaging 13:07 minutes of ice time, almost always at the same strength. He played a part-time role on one of the Rangers’ power play units and still only managed 13 shots on goal during that time.

Kakko doesn’t kill penalties and ranks in the bottom 50th percentile in all skill categories (per NHL Edge), including speed and dangerous shot creation.

The Kraken have a history of acquiring players who were selected in the first round as draft picks. They acquired forward Eeli Tolvanen (30th overall, 2017) off waivers from Nashville and watched him immediately increase his offensive output. Although Tolvanen’s point total has dipped slightly so far this season, he is on pace to surpass the 16 goals he scored for Seattle last season.

But it remains to be seen whether Kakko can pull off the same turnaround. I have to be honest: He’s never really made a difference for me at the NHL level. He was selected behind only New Jersey forward Jack Hughes and ahead of players such as Moritz Seider, Dylan Cozens, Matthew Boldy and Cole Caufield. He’s not broke yet, but he certainly hasn’t lived up to expectations.

Kakko has played the second-most games among players in his draft class (330), behind only Hughes, and has totaled 131 points (61 goals, 70 assists), which ranks seventh in his class. Maybe he has more to give and a change of scenery might suit his game. However, he needs to make a positive impression in Seattle from the start. Kakko is a pending RFA with arbitration rights and is just one season away from being UFA eligible.

To the NY Rangers: Will Borgen

Borgen, 28, is in the final year of a contract that counts $2.7 million against the cap and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year.

The right-shot defender won’t do much offensively. He is generally a reliable late-game defender who averaged about 15 minutes per game for the Kraken. He completed all of his ice time at even strength and on the penalty kill. However, Borgen will retaliate physically. He was credited with 48 goals in Seattle, second on the team behind Ryker Evans.