Since being traded away by the New York Rangers, forward Kaapo Kakko has found a new home with the Seattle Kraken. Amid a hot streak, the 23-year-old Finn dropped a bold message, aiming at Peter Laviolette and his former team.

The Rangers have been consistently getting the results they want since the calendar flipped to 2025. The point streak began Jan. 5 with a 6-2 win at the Chicago Blackhawks. In the past 10 days, they're 4-0-1 with victories against the Devils, Vegas Golden Knights, Utah Hockey Club and Columbus Blue Jackets.

Artemi Panarin scored twice, Chris Kreider got the go-ahead goal with 9:38 left and the New York Rangers rallied for a 5-3 victory over the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday night. Reilly Smith tied it 3-all with a short-handed goal 28 seconds into the third period for the Rangers,

The Rangers complete their three game road trip in Utah tonight. It’s the team’s first trip to the Delta Center after playing Arizona on a, now Utah, in Mullet Arena last season. New York heads home to take on a resurgent Columbus team in Saturday followed by a road contest the next day in Montreal.

Utah (19-23-3) has also hit the skids since a strong start to the season. Its win against the Rangers was the third straight for Utah to open 2024-25. Heading into the rematch, Utah has lost four of five (1-3-1) and is 2-7-2 in its past 11 games.

Let’s look at potential deadline rental candidates, plus how much the Rangers could expect in return.

New York Rangers forward Blake Wheeler was moved to the team's top line alongside Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider in Thursday's practice. The veteran has largely skated in a bottom-six role this season,

Dylan Cozens and Tage Thompson also scored and Jason Zucker had two assists for the Sabres, who won for the third time in four games. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 35 saves. Jaccob Slavin and Martin Necas scored and Brent Burns had two assists in the Hurricanes’ second straight loss. Dustin Tokarski made 20 saves.

Heading into a Thursday night matchup, the New York Rangers are in a similar boat as the Utah Hockey Club: on the outside of the playoffs, looking in, hoping there’s still a chance for them. Both teams have 43 points. The Rangers are five points out of an NHL playoff spot, while Utah HC needs six more.

For all of the calamity and the disaster that greeted the New York Rangers at nearly every turn during the first half of the 2024-25 season, they somehow, almost unbelievably, are still very much in the thick of a playoff hunt.

The New York Rangers have mulled trading veterans like Chris Kreider. They're mired in a disastrous start to the year, sitting at 20-20-2 and seventh in the Metropolitan Division.

NHLs team must make adjustments, some more extreme than others. The difference between years of winning and losing may come down to branding.