Former Rangers forward scratched by Finland for 4 Nations Face-Off opener against United States
Former New York Rangers forward Kaapo Kakko celebrates his 24th birthday on Thursday, but will do so up in the press box at Bell Centre in Montreal. He’ll be the healthy scratch for Finland when they play the United States in the 4 Nations Face-Off.
It appears New Jersey Devils center Erik Haula landed the final lineup spot over Kakko, who has played some of his best hockey since being traded by New York to the Seattle Kraken on Dec. 18. Kakko has five goals and 17 points in 24 games with the Kraken after scoring just four goals and totaling 14 points in 30 games with the Rangers this season.
Even so, he’ll be sitting out for Finland’s first game of the tournament against the United States.
Joining Kakko in the press box will be current Rangers forward Chris Kreider, who’s being scratched by the United States in their tournament opener.
Earlier in the week, Kreider praised his former teammate.
“I really enjoyed playing with (Kakko),” Kreider said Wednesday. “The more he opened up, I realized just what a funny guy he was. When he came over as an 18-year-old, came over as a kid, I feel like he’s just grown up so much. The way he went about he business every single day, he was a pro right from the get-go.”
Kreider and Kakko played together with the Rangers for each of Kakko’s five-plus seasons in New York, and on multiple occasions were paired on the same line. Despite being a healthy scratch in the first game of the tournament, Kreider knows that Kakko can provide a lot to the Finnish squad.
“What can he bring to a tournament like this? I mean I think the skill kind of speaks for itself,” Kreider stated. “When he’s got the puck, you can’t take it off of him. He’s a bull, he can create offense by himself, he can beat guys by himself. He’s a heck of a player.”
Related: Grading Rangers forwards at 4 Nations break in NHL schedule
Ex-Rangers forward Kaapo Kakko scratched for Finland at 4 Nations Face-Off
Yet Kakko, who railed against the Rangers after he was a healthy scratch for one game shortly before he was traded, will sit and watch Thursday. Kaako has represented Finland with honors previously on the international level, including 2019 when he scored the Golden Goal in a 3-2 win against the United States at the World Junior Championship.
Kakko then helped Finland capture the gold medal at the 2019 World Championships, when he scored six goals in 10 games at just 18 years old.
So impressive was Kakko that the Rangers selected him with the No. 2 overall selection in the 2019 NHL Draft after the Devils chose Jack Hughes. Kakko never scored more than 18 goals or 40 points with the Rangers.
Even with Kakko, Finland has a formidable lineup.
Here’s the projected lineup for Finland against the United States:
Artturi Lehkonen – Aleksander Barkov – Mikko Rantanen
Roope Hintz – Senastian Aho – Patrik Laine
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Mikael Granlund
Teuvo Teravainen – Erik Haula – Joel Armia
Niko Mikkola – Esa Lindell
Urho Vaakanainen – Nikolas Matinpalo
Olli Maatta – Henri Jokiharju
Juuse Saros
Kevin Lankinen
Rangers’ defenseman Urho Vaakanainen will slot in on the second defense pair for Finland, and former Rangers defenseman Niko Mikkola will play on the top pair. Jusse Saros gets the nod in goal.
While it seems like a tall task at hand, Finland should draw inspiration from the performance put up by Sweden on Wednesday night against Canada. Sweden rallied from two goals down twice to force overtime, though they lost 4-3.
Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad nearly cashed in the overtime winner for Sweden, but it was Mitch Marner of Canada who eventually scored the winner at 6:06 of OT.
Other Rangers in action Thursday night for the United States are defenseman Adam Fox, and forwards Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller.
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