The Curious Case of Jesperi Kotkaniemi
· Yahoo Sports
Just a couple of years ago, Jesperi Kotkaniemi was a promising prospect who was on the rise.
Now? He is a regular healthy scratch who is currently the 14th forward on the Hurricanes, one spot behind the newly acquired Nicolas Deslauriers who is best known for being a pugilist.
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There is talk around the team about trying to find playing time for the newbie, but nothing is mentioned about finding playing time for the Finn.
Has the coaching staff totally given up on him? It seems so.
Kotkaniemi has an interesting history with the Hurricanes.
Three years after Montreal selected the center with their third overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft, Carolina signed him to an offer sheet worth $6.1 million. Montreal refused to match the offer, so the Canes sent them their first and third round picks in the 2022 entry draft as compensation.
This was the first offer sheet in the NHL that was not matched by the affected team since 2007, so these are rare.
Montreal had tried to offer sheet Sebastian Aho two years previous, but the Canes easily matched that offer. It seemed that the offer sheet for Kotkaniemi might have been in retaliation for the Habs attempt previously. The most recent offer sheet included a $20 dollar signing bonus, which of course is Aho’s number.
Carolina owner Tom Dundon was quoted afterward saying that it was “entertainment”.
Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon told Sportsnet radio in Toronto this month that it was “silly” to assume the offer sheet was tendered for revenge. But he defended Carolina poking fun at the move through social media, including references to the $20 signing bonus.
“We’re all in the entertainment business, and we don’t have a league if people aren’t entertained by it,” Dundon said. “So when it worked out the way it did, our philosophy organizationally on the business side is have as much fun, get as much attention as you can.“
Aho also agreed.
To be honest, it’s pretty funny to see a $20 signing bonus,” Aho told ESPN on Thursday, at the NHL Player Media Tour. “All jokes aside, we got a pretty good player.”
The first year, the newly acquired center had a so-so season. He played in 66 games and averaged 12 minutes a game. He scored 12 goals, 17 assists and won 51% of his faceoffs.
In March of 2022, the Canes signed him to a long term 8 year contract worth over $4.8 million per year.
The following season was his best. He had 18 goals, 25 assists and averaged 14:44 of ice time, his highest with the team.
The next two seasons his ice time went down as well as his production. He had 12 goals and 27 points in 2024 and 12 goals and 33 points in 2025.
Up to this season, he has had a steady 51% faceoff percentage. This season he is at 49%.
It would seem the center is physical enough. In 2023, he had 105 hits, the highest of his career. In his five seasons with the Hurricanes, he has a total of 359 hits.
Compare this to Mark Jankowski’s total over the same time frame of 117 hits.
He also is lifetime “plus 20” (+/-) with Carolina. It seems lack of defense is not a problem.
Obviously, hits are not the entire story and neither are goals and/or assists. But something has happened with this player. Why has his production dropped off a cliff?
He might be the most expensive healthy scratch in the NHL right now and it is a waste of assets to allow this to keep going on.
Does he not fit in Brind’Amour’s system? He would not be the first.
Does he not work out enough? Does he not practice well? He obviously had some skills at one point, but it seems his confidence is gone, perhaps understandably so.
When a player regresses like this, the brunt of the blame should fall on the player. He needs to figure it out.
But the coaching staff should take some responsibility as well. It is their job to get the most out their players, and for whatever reasons they certainly failed in this case.
Kotkaniemi is definitely not a Carolina success story. Not yet, anyway.
The end of last season finished on a downer and many thought the forward would be traded during the offseason. For whatever reasons, that never happened.
This season has been a disaster. First of all, he was injured to begin with. But he has never been able to get his game going. He has 2 goals and 7 assists in 36 games with a career low 10:50 a game of average ice time.
Everyone thought that he would be traded during this most recent trade deadline, but again, for whatever reason that never happened. It seems that the front office feels that the player could be used as insurance in case of an injury going forward and has some value.
But is the coaching staff in line with the front office on this?
It would also seem that Kotkaniemi would need to play a bit in order to find his game, so that he could provide that insurance, if needed. He has not played since March 4th and before that it was February 5th.
On March 7th, the day after the trade deadline, Brind’Amour gave him an “honorary” T shirt and said the following.
“Hey we’re going to need you Buddy, I know it hasn’t been the greatest year, but starting today, starting today.”
The final push starts now 👊 pic.twitter.com/gQkjU1FY0s
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) March 7, 2026
This outreach from the head coach seems like it would be a good motivational start for Kotkaniemi, especially with his teammates loud reaction, but the forward has yet to play in a single game since this moment.
“Starting today” has yet to take affect.
To an outsider, it seems like another somewhat confusing and weird interaction with the player.
What will happen in the future? Your humble narrator has no clue, but it is certainly a waste of cap space to continue things as they are on to next season. There are less expensive insurance policies out there.
Does he still have any trade value on the open market?
Here is at least one analyst who feels the center could be a good gamble.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi (25YO, 4x$4.8M left) might be one of the best buy-low C options in a rising cap environment.
— Jack Han (@JhanHky) March 24, 2026
May well turn into a productive 2C with either a two-way or playmaking bent. Tracks similarly to Danault and Dylan Strome at the same age. pic.twitter.com/YmYnfJ0hjW
Will he return to the lineup and find his game? We will be watching.