The 2nd overall pick in 2019 Kaapo Kakko, who was recently traded to the Seattle Kraken, took a shot at his former team, the New York Rangers, in a recent interview.

Amid a brutal stretch of play, the New York Rangers shook up their roster in December with a pair of major trades. The Rangers dealt their captain, defenseman Jacob Trouba, to the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 6 for defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

One theory behind the first-half freefall: the roster-wide dulling effect of the perceived indignancy around general manager Chris Drury ultimately trading captain Jacob Trouba to the Ducks on Dec. 6.