During a TV timeout in the New York Rangers’ preseason opener against the host Boston Bruins, Riley Tufte skated up to Kaapo Kakko. The two had never met, but they had something in common.
“You have it, too?” the Bruins forward asked.
Kakko and Tufte are part of a small circle of NHLers with Type 1 diabetes. They shared a brief in-game chat about their experiences and wished each other luck while waiting for the faceoff. Kakko had already known Tufte was diabetic going into the game, and he had planned to say hello even before Boston’s 6-foot-6 wing approached him. The Finn is used to these types of interactions with his fellow diabetic players.
“Usually on the ice if you play against them, they’re going to say something,” the 23-year-old Kakko said. “I feel like I know who’s got it.”
At this point, diabetes is nothing new for Kakko. He’s been navigating the disease for a decade.
At around 13 years old, Kakko began feeling abnormally tired. He was peeing more than usual and drinking lots of water, both symptoms of diabetes, which impacts how the body uses blood sugar. His aunt had diabetes, and she gave him a finger-prick test. Sure enough, his blood sugar levels were high. Kakko went straight to the hospital. Tests showed he had both diabetes and celiac disease, meaning his body also has an intolerance to gluten.
Thanks to his aunt, Kakko had some familiarity with diabetes and its effects. Still, he had to adjust to the reality that it would be with him for the rest of his life.
“It’s not easy, but I knew I could still play hockey — I can still live with it,” he said. “I feel there’s way (worse) things that can happen.”
Initially, Kakko tested his blood sugar the same way as his aunt. He’d prick his finger, then put the blood on a strip in a glucometer, which told him his blood sugar level. If a diabetic person’s blood sugar is too high, they can inject insulin to lower it. If it’s too low, they can eat foods with carbohydrates and sugar to raise it.
Kakko’s life didn’t change dramatically after his diabetes diagnosis. The biggest difference was needing to be ready at all times, which meant carrying insulin and all the tools needed to measure blood sugar.
The process became a little easier six or seven years ago when Kakko got a glucose-monitoring patch to wear. The device measures his blood sugar levels at all times, meaning he no longer has to do the finger-prick test. He can just check his phone to see his levels, then inject insulin or eat as needed.
“At the start, you have to think about what you’re going to eat, do the math (on) how much you (have) to put insulin in and those things,” he said. “But that was just at the start. When you’ve been living with it, you know what you’re going to eat. You know what you need to do.”
Diabetes hasn’t interfered with Kakko’s hockey career. He emerged as a top prospect ahead of the 2019 draft, and the Rangers selected him with the No. 2 pick. He has been a consistent part of the team’s lineup since. Though the wing hasn’t developed into a superstar as New York might have hoped, he’s proven himself a capable middle-six player and is off to a good start in 2024-25. He has a goal and four assists through six games, and he, Filip Chytil and Will Cuylle have teamed up to create one of New York’s most effective lines early on.
Though Rangers players know Kakko has diabetes, defenseman Braden Schneider doesn’t observe it impacting his day-to-day routine. Schneider said that if he wasn’t already aware of the situation, he wouldn’t be able to tell. “He does a great job at handling it,” he said.
Back when he was first diagnosed, Kakko remembers searching the internet for hockey players with diabetes from the hospital. Now-Maple Leafs forward Max Domi was one of them. Five years later, when the Rangers drafted Kakko, Domi sent him a text.
“That was so nice,” Kakko said. “Even still when we play against each other, he’s usually going to say something.”
Rangers staffers know about Kakko’s diabetes in case he needs help, but he’s got a routine that he finds easy to follow on his own. He usually eats rice and chicken as a pregame meal, then checks his blood sugar at the start and end of every intermission. Normally he doesn’t eat too much during games. If he needs to raise his blood sugar levels, he turns to Gatorade, Red Bull or whatever the team has available.
“The main thing I notice is his diet; he really has to take care of himself that way,” Schneider said. “It’s something that’s pretty spectacular that he has to play through.”
“I feel like I know what to do,” Kakko said. “The game days are usually the same. … You can be sick a little bit, and that’s something you have to think about and the levels are going to be a little higher, but it’s usually the same.”
Occasionally, Kakko meets fans who know about his diabetes. He knows it can be hard, so he always tries to offer encouragement.
“I don’t know how much I can help,” he said, “but hopefully they fight a little more because they know you can play hockey with it.”
(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
