In his fifth season in the National Hockey League, Jesperi Kotkaniemi finally showed all the potential the Canadians saw in him by drafting him third overall in the first round in 2018.
Kotkaniemi of course had a very respectable first season with 11 goals and 23 assists for 34 points on 18, but things got difficult the following year when he only had 6 goals and 2 assists in 36 games and even made a detour to Laval Rocket where he did 1 goal and 12 assists in 13 games.
We know the rest, he competed on Epic until the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals, then he accepted a hostile offer from the Carolina Hurricanes when he was a restricted free agent. The Canes then signed an eight-year contract worth $38.5 million, while the Canadiens received first- and third-round picks in compensation for the loss of KK.
In his second season in Carolina, the 22-year-old Finn is really picking up speed. He is having his best season in the NHL with a record 15 goals and 22 assists for 37 points in 76 games.
awakening
Kotkaniemi’s start to the season didn’t portend his emergence, as he only picked up 7 points in his first 31 games for the Canes this year.
But it clicked and he amassed 29 points in his last 44 games since December 20.
During that span, he averaged 2.72 points per 60 minutes played, which puts him in the 89th percentile of players who played at least 200 minutes, according to naturalstattrick.com.
By his own admission, the Finn has matured since arriving in North Carolina.
“I’m starting to feel comfortable in this league,” he admitted to The Hockey News.
Difficult
Without spitting on Montreal, he admits that his first three years in the metropolis weren’t easy.
The second was particularly tough with his suspense in the American League. He had to withstand media pressure, which isn’t easy for a teenager.
“The media takes up a lot of space in Montreal and it can play in your head pretty quickly if you read everything that’s written about you,” he admitted to The Hockey News.
So he tried not to read too much about him, but he received messages from his Finnish friends with links to articles. It is not easy to isolate yourself in these conditions.
defense game
Kotkaniemi is therefore producing more consistently, but it is primarily his defensive play that appeals to his coach Rob Brind’Amour.
“I can make him play against the opponent’s best players and he keeps collecting points,” said the former player.
Brind’Amour also believes that Kotkaniemi still has good potential for improvement.
“We’re just scratching the surface of his case.”