Nothing is going right for Jesperi Kotkaniemi, even in his redemption year

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MarcO
October 27, 2022 (10:29)

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This season was supposed to be Jesperi Kotkaniemi's redemption year, according to many analysts.

After three bumpy seasons in Montreal, a rough first year in Carolina due to the Hurricanes' roster depth, and a significant wrist injury that bothered him for much of the end of the year, the Finn was supposed to come back strong this year.

Vincent Trocheck's departure for New York opened the door for KK to fill the second center spot on the roster behind Sebastian Aho. Now being paired with the two best wingers he has ever had since the beginning of his career in Andrei Svechnikov and Martin Necas, everything indicated that he would finally explode this season.

Well, after six games, it's not what we expected. Despite having the fourth highest total minutes on the team, a regular presence on the power play and high level wingers, the 22 year old center still can't get into second gear in his development.

Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports had a lot to say about the Hurricanes' number 82.

« It's extremely difficult. I'm looking forward to seeing tomorrow if he's still going to be the second trio center in practice. Don't forget that Paul Stastny is now with the organization and is on the fourth trio.

If you include playoff games, in his last 40 games he has only one goal. One goal, 10 assists and a record of more or less 0. We must admit that offensively, the problems are major in his case.

Last year, he told us it was because of injuries, this year he has only two assists since the beginning of the season, in short, it's really difficult. For those who were wondering if it was a bad thing that he left the Canadiens... I would wonder where he would be playing right now with the Canadiens." - Renaud Lavoie

Even though Lavoie is not unanimous in the journalistic world, you have to admit that he is right on this one. Kotkaniemi is in the first year of an eight-year contract at $4.82 million per season.

Right now, with two points so far this campaign, KK is 11th in scoring on his roster, which is far too low for a player who has so much opportunity to produce offensively.

Let's just say that if he doesn't come out of his shell in the next few months, this contract could become a real nightmare for his organization and his GM, Don Waddell.