Kraken acquire Kaapo Kakko from Rangers for Will Borgen and picks

Tim Booth, The Seattle Times on Dec 18, 2024

Published in Hockey

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SEATTLE — In need of an additional offensive spark, the Kraken are taking a big swing at a former No. 2 overall pick who had fallen out of favor in New York.

The Kraken sent defenseman Will Borgen plus two draft picks in 2025 to the Rangers in exchange for forward Kaapo Kakko on Wednesday looking for a spark following a tough homestand where they dropped three of four games and scored one goal or less in all three setbacks.

The Kraken are sending a third- and fifth-round pick to the Rangers as part of the trade in the hope that a new environment can spark Kakko.

The Finnish winger was drafted second overall by the Rangers in the 2019 draft in Vancouver, B.C. He played 66 games for the Rangers that season as an 18-year-old and his best season for New York came in 2022-23 when he scored 18 goals and had 22 assists.

But Kakko was a healthy scratch from the Rangers lineup last Sunday by coach Peter LaViolette for the first time in his career. He returned to the lineup on Tuesday against Nashville but registered barely 10 minutes of ice time.

Kakko has four goals and 10 assists in 30 games this season for the free-falling Rangers.

Borgen was viewed as a potential trade target around the league as he was in the final year of his contract with the Kraken. He primarily played on the third defensive pairing and this season was mostly matched up with either Ryker Evans or Josh Mahura.

Borgen was a Kraken original, selected from Buffalo during the 2021 expansion draft. He scored nine goals and had 46 assists in 233 regular season games with Seattle.