Heading into the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the New York Rangers decided to use a third line of young players making their playoff debut, including Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil, and Kaapo Kakko. During the playoffs, they were the Rangers’ best line and were soon named ‘The Kid Line’ since they were all 22 or younger. They dominated, and even though they might not have scored tons of goals, they did the little things that helped the team win games and take them to the Eastern Conference Final.
Here’s a look at how their careers have progressed in the two seasons since that line was formed and what their futures might look like with the Rangers.
Alexis Lafreniere
Lafreniere has had an up-and-down career so far. The 2020 first-overall pick was drafted by a team that already had Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider as their top two left-wingers. From the start, it seemed unlikely he would get a chance to play in the top six.
Following the 2022 Playoffs, he played 81 games during the 2022-23 season, scoring 16 goals and 39 points. The one game he missed was when head coach Gerard Gallant made him a healthy scratch. It was a disappointing season for Lafreniere, and his playoff performance wasn’t much better, with zero points in a seven-game first-round loss to the New Jersey Devils. During the offseason, he was caught up in trade rumors, but the Rangers ultimately gave him a two-year contract to prove his worth to the club.
In 2023-24, Lafreniere was moved to the right wing and played on a line with Panarin and Vincent Trocheck, which sparked the breakout season everyone had been waiting for. In 82 games, he scored 28 goals and 57 points, and he followed that up with an incredible playoff performance, scoring eight goals and 14 points in 16 games before the Rangers fell short in the Eastern Conference Final.
Lafreniere finally showed why he was the unanimous choice to go first overall in 2020, and the Rangers now have a great piece to build around going forward. He will be the team’s next star, and they should lock him up to a new deal as soon as possible – he is eligible to sign an extension this summer.
Filip Chytil
Chytil was the breakout star of ‘The Kid Line’ during the 2022 Playoffs. He scored seven goals and nine points in 20 games, and he continued his great play in 2022-23 with the best season of his career, scoring 22 goals and 45 points in 74 games. That campaign earned him a four-year deal with the Rangers and although the team lost to the Devils in the first round of the 2023 Playoffs, Chytil still managed four points.
Heading into 2023-24, Chytil earned the spot as the second-line center, playing with Panarin and Lafreniere. He had six assists in the team’s first ten games before his regular season was cut short after suffering a concussion.
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He tried to come back in January but suffered a setback and was ruled out for the campaign. He has suffered multiple concussions throughout his young career, and this one seemed like it could be career-ending for the 24-year-old. However, Chytil was skating with the team by the end of the regular season. He finally made his return for Game 3 of the second round against the Carolina Hurricanes. He played six postseason games, with zero points. Hopefully, he can bounce back from this injury and be an impactful player once again.
Kaapo Kakko
In the final game of the Rangers’ 2022 playoff run, Gallant made Kakko a healthy scratch, and entering the offseason, questions surrounded his future with the Rangers. However, he signed a two-year deal and entered the 2022-23 season with a chip on his shoulder. He had a career year, playing in all 82 games, scoring 18 goals and 40 points – a huge improvement over his previous career highs of 10 goals and 23 points from his rookie season.
He has just two points in the first-round loss to the Devils, and entering the 2023-24 season, Kakko was given a chance to play top-six minutes alongside Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad. This was his chance to prove that he could build off his previous career-best campaign.
That didn’t happen. Kakko only scored one goal on that line before it was broken up due to a lack of offense from all three players. He had two goals before getting injured and missing 21 games. He finished the season with 13 goals and 19 points in 61 games, and his playoff performance was not great, either, with just one goal and two points in 15 games.
Like in 2022, Kakko was a healthy scratch in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final, but it did not motivate him. Now, he will be a restricted free agent this offseason, and the Rangers have to make a choice. Do they give him a cheap short-term deal and give him another chance or do they decide it’s time to move on and trade him? A change of scenery might be best for the 2019 second-overall pick because he won’t get the chance to show his skills playing in New York.
‘The Kid Line’ has had a series of ups and downs following their formation in the 2022 Playoffs. Two players have broken out and proven their worth, while one has shown it might be time for both parties to move on. They were an exciting line to watch while it lasted, and we’ll find out what the future holds for these players this summer.
