The floundering New York Rangers are spiraling out of control, and they've already traded captain Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Duck while longtime forward Chris Kreider was also rumored to be on the trading block.

They also recently traded disgruntled forward Kaapo Kakko to the Seattle Kraken, just days after he called out head coach Peter Laviolette for designating him a healthy scratch.

After the trade to Seattle, Kakko said that he doesn't think his public callout of Laviolette led to his being moved, but he could sense that a move was in the works, via The New York Post.

“I don’t think it’s because of that,” Kakko said. “The team was playing not well enough. A lot of good players over there. Need to do something over there. I was kind of [thinking] something is going to happen, and then I knew also it might be me. Kind of was waiting. Something is going to happen. It’s kind of a surprise when it’s going to be you and happens fast.

“Those comments, I was kind of frustrated. I was honest, and that’s what I thought at the time. Lot of great players over there. It’s a hard decision who is going to be out. There’s guys playing PK and PP, and I wasn’t in both of those, so I kind of get it also. But everyone wants to play. That’s what I wanted also.”

In his first game with the Kraken, Kakko rang a shot off the post against the Chicago Blackhawks; he and his new teammates lost 3-1.

Kaapo Kakko was traded by the Rangers to the Kraken

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Kakko openly expressed his frustration with being scratched by Laviolette, noting that several other of his now-former teammates had worse plus-minus ratings.

“I was surprised, yeah,” he said. “I know you got to do something as a coach when you’re losing games, but I think it’s just easy to pick a young guy and boot him out. That’s how I feel, to be honest.”

“Haven’t been on the ice too much when [opponents] score a goal. I have not been the worst guy, but that was me out of the lineup,” he said.

Kakko has four goals and 10 assists in 31 games played in 2024-25.