Things are really not going well at the New York Rangers, and, more and more, tongues seem to be loosening regarding the critical situation the club is facing.
With three small victories in their last 10 matches, several players suffered. Defender Jacob Trouba has changed addresses, while forward Kaapo Kakko, also affected by several trade rumors, was left out against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.
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And by his own admission, Kakko didn’t think he should have been the one sent to the bridge.
“I haven’t been on the ice much since [les adversaires] scored a goal… I wasn’t the worst guy, but it was me outside of training,” he explained to journalists on Monday.
According to him, head coach Peter Laviolette took a dislike to him, because he is still one of the young players on the team.
“I was surprised, yes,” continued the Finn. I know that as a coach you have to do something when you lose matches, but I think it’s easy to choose a young player and exclude him. That’s how I feel, to be honest.”
At least Kakko will have a chance to get his act together, as he will play in Tuesday’s game against the poor Nashville Predators. At the Blueshirts’ morning practice, Kakko played on the team’s third line with Mika Zibanejad and Reilly Smith.
This season, the second overall pick in the 2019 draft has four goals and 10 assists for 14 points in 29 games.
