Larry Brooks
nhl
Published May 20, 2024 at 8:00 am ET
They were the favorites of the unexpected run to the 2022 conference finals, more famous as a unit than as individuals.
They were The Children.
But two years later, they are more popularly identified simply as Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko, young hockey players at different junctures in their respective careers, even as the Rangers do this again.
It is no longer a singular sensation.
They are separate and unequal.
Lafreniere is on the rise and is a dynamic player in the top six. Chytil looks to return to the lineup after suffering another physical problem. Kakko is on the third line, playing solid, responsible two-way hockey but with limited offensive production.
New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers on April 24. 2023.” srcset=”https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?quality=75&strip=all 4222w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=300,200&quality=75&strip=all 300w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=768,512&quality=75&strip=all 768w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=1024,683&quality=75&strip=all 1024w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=1536,1024&quality=75&strip=all 1536w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=2048,1365&quality=75&strip=all 2048w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=1064,709&quality=75&strip=all 1064w, 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https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=260,174&quality=75&strip=all 260w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=246,164&quality=75&strip=all 246w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=234,156&quality=75&strip=all 234w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=195,130&quality=75&strip=all 195w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=180,120&quality=75&strip=all 180w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=171,114&quality=75&strip=all 171w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=160,107&quality=75&strip=all 160w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=144,96&quality=75&strip=all 144w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=140,93&quality=75&strip=all 140w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=107,71&quality=75&strip=all 107w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=93,62&quality=75&strip=all 93w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=84,56&quality=75&strip=all 84w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=200,133&quality=75&strip=all 200w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=231,154&quality=75&strip=all 231w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=322,215&quality=75&strip=all 322w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=600,400&quality=75&strip=all 600w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=87,58&quality=75&strip=all 87w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=150,100&quality=75&strip=all 150w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1252171370.jpg?resize=50,33&quality=75&strip=all 50w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>Filip Chytil (72), Kaapo Kakko (24) and Alexis Lafreniere (13) are pictured during the third period of Game 4 of the First Round of the National Hockey League Eastern Conference between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers on April 24. 2023. Icon Sportswire via /Keynote USA/Getty Images
Kid Line was together for a total of 5:46 this season. There’s a chance head coach Peter Laviolette doesn’t even know what The Kid Line means. There was once a FLY line too.
Lafreniere has recorded four goals and 10 points in the tournament to honor his great 28-29-57 season. He has brought a consistent physical edge and nasty shine to the ice to complement his linemates Vincent Trocheck and Artemi Panarin.
“It’s cool, it’s nice to see him play like that,” Chytil said after practice. “I was with him every day on the same line, so I know what he can contribute. He is getting better every day.
“Even when I didn’t have the opportunity to watch the games as much, I only saw their highlights. When we played together she said: ‘This is coming.’ “
Chytil, of course, returned in Game 3 of the Carolina series following post-concussion issues that had sidelined him for the previous 188 days. But he woke up the morning of Game 4 not feeling well enough to skate and later reported soreness that kept him out of the rest of the series even when No. 72 returned to practicing without restrictions. It will be an option for Laviolette.
“I said it after (Game 3), I can see what the team did all season and now what they’re doing in the playoffs, but yeah, I want to play,” Chytil said. “I didn’t join just to (support) the kids in the stands and take a vacation to Carolina and Florida.
“I don’t want to create other starters like I did after (my) last game, so I’m just going to say I can bring some speed to the game, I can bring some skill, creating chances, shooting, just going.” to bring my game.”
Meanwhile, Kakko has been on a holding unit with Alex Wennberg in the middle and Will Cuylle on the left. The unit has very impressive peripherals as they combine for a shot share percentage of 59.62 and an expected goals percentage of 64.65, with two goals for and one against.
But the unit has been challenged offensively. Kakko has one goal, the first of Game 4 against the Caps, in which he converted a Nick Jensen turnover directly into his own stick. Cuylle has one goal, the escape of Game 4 against Carolina. None of the grinding and no work under the marks has produced a goal.
“I don’t expect us to score a goal every game, but it would be nice to score sometimes,” Kakko told The Post. “Our line has been playing pretty well. We have the puck on the other end and we are having opportunities.
“But the entire line has two goals and that can be much more, especially because of the number of opportunities we have in each game. “We all have the puck in the offensive zone, but it would help a little if we scored a goal.”
This is sort of the story of Kakko’s five seasons in which he’s been a possession machine working the walls, while being diligent on the defensive side of the puck and on his own side of the ice. Fundamentally, the Finn is as skilled as any second general you can identify. However, there is that disconnect between winning possession and lighting the lamp.
“I feel like I’ve been quicker and I’ve created opportunities, but I’ve had opportunities where I shoot to score a goal, and it’s also confidence, you know?” Kakko said. “I’m not saying I don’t feel good, I feel good and maybe that’s why we spend so much time in the O zone.
“But also to score goals, you get one and you feel better and you have more opportunities and they go in. Sometimes you need a little luck. I feel like we’ve been hitting posts. I always think that that is going to change and that is going to start to appear, but it is also trust.”
Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena.” srcset=”https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?quality=75&strip=all 6633w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=300,200&quality=75&strip=all 300w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=768,512&quality=75&strip=all 768w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=1024,683&quality=75&strip=all 1024w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=1536,1024&quality=75&strip=all 1536w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=2048,1366&quality=75&strip=all 2048w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=1064,709&quality=75&strip=all 1064w, 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https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=260,174&quality=75&strip=all 260w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=246,164&quality=75&strip=all 246w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=234,156&quality=75&strip=all 234w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=195,130&quality=75&strip=all 195w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=180,120&quality=75&strip=all 180w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=171,114&quality=75&strip=all 171w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=160,107&quality=75&strip=all 160w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=144,96&quality=75&strip=all 144w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=140,93&quality=75&strip=all 140w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=107,71&quality=75&strip=all 107w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=93,62&quality=75&strip=all 93w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=84,56&quality=75&strip=all 84w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=200,133&quality=75&strip=all 200w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=231,154&quality=75&strip=all 231w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=322,215&quality=75&strip=all 322w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=600,400&quality=75&strip=all 600w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=87,58&quality=75&strip=all 87w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=150,100&quality=75&strip=all 150w, https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1250563951.jpg?resize=50,33&quality=75&strip=all 50w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>Kaapo Kakko celebrates a second period goal with K’Andre Miller #79, Filip Chytil #72 and Alexis Lafrenière #13 against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena. NHLI via /Keynote USA/Getty Images
There will surely be substantial conversations this summer between Kakko’s camp and general manager Chris Drury about the Finn’s place on the team when restricted free agency arises. The 2019 runner-up longs to be in the top six. He’s never been able to nail one down here.
That, however, will be for another six weeks or so. Kakko has a role to play and she intends to do it to the best of her ability.
“When I played in Finland and was on the front line I could take risks to score goals, but I feel like my role is a little different now,” said number 24. “Our line counts as two-way. We have to play zero-zero and give our other lines the opportunity to play more offensively.
“You can’t do anything stupid on the blue line. That’s your job. That’s how I see it”.
Kakko. Remove it. Lafreniere.
One of 24, one of 23, one of 22, still kids, but The Kids no longer.
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