Tribute Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Goodbye and Good Luck part II
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Censored Toad
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First thing first, for the record, I loved KK as a rookie, his first season blew me away and I was certain we hit the jack pot with the pick. We all know his development kind of stalled for various reasons over the next two seasons, culminating with getting benched in the playoffs despite his pretty good offensive contribution.
That said, potential aside, one thing that makes me feel okay about KK leaving is the following : KK is *currently* really subpar at making high percentage plays. While he has good vision and positioning, he takes way too long to make decisions with the puck. This is compounded by the fact that he infamously falls down a lot. This means that a way too many plays die whenever KK touches the puck (or is about to get control of the puck).
This means that current KK is subpar at driving the play, he is subpar at puck transition from the d zone to the o zone. He is subpar at distributing the puck in an offensive setting (PP for example).
While his tool kit allows him to still get points, these short comings will most definitely get a young player to the doghouse fast. A lot of posters that are focused on potential will not like it, but coaches and GMs consider players that are consistently good at high percentage plays somewhat more valuable than players that struggle at these high percentage plays, even if they can manage to get more points. As someone who played hockey all my life, I kind of agree with this philosophy.
Obviously this wouldn't apply to a very high output offensive guy like say, Hoffman, Galchenyuk or Ryder back in the days, but even then, as we know, these kind of players can eventually wear out their welcomes when they break up too many plays with their bad decisions. On the other hand, the higher the offensive output, the higher is the chance that a player is smart with the puck, but there are still "one trick ponies" that only have amazing shots or are only good at PP puck distribution.
Hockey is a game of bounces and solid transitioning and low turnover count is crucial especially at the NHL level. Smart players that can make efficient plays despite not being the most skilled guy in the world will just add up to a smoother overall puck control for the whole team. You don't necessarily need a team full of Datsyuk, Crosby ect. to have good puck control if your bottom 9 is full of guys that are good at high percentage plays.
As for KK, can he improve this side of his game?I was getting worried myself last season. This was a part of his game that did not improve at all during his first 3 seasons. Again, when you add this to his propensity to fall over, then it gets pretty worrying in my humble opinion. I thought that the falling over thing, he could eventually fix it. But his "puck smarts" just seemed worryingly close to his ceiling. Again, this is my personal non educated guess of course. I view these things with the lenses of a someone that plays hockey... I am not a coach nor a scout!
That said, potential aside, one thing that makes me feel okay about KK leaving is the following : KK is *currently* really subpar at making high percentage plays. While he has good vision and positioning, he takes way too long to make decisions with the puck. This is compounded by the fact that he infamously falls down a lot. This means that a way too many plays die whenever KK touches the puck (or is about to get control of the puck).
This means that current KK is subpar at driving the play, he is subpar at puck transition from the d zone to the o zone. He is subpar at distributing the puck in an offensive setting (PP for example).
While his tool kit allows him to still get points, these short comings will most definitely get a young player to the doghouse fast. A lot of posters that are focused on potential will not like it, but coaches and GMs consider players that are consistently good at high percentage plays somewhat more valuable than players that struggle at these high percentage plays, even if they can manage to get more points. As someone who played hockey all my life, I kind of agree with this philosophy.
Obviously this wouldn't apply to a very high output offensive guy like say, Hoffman, Galchenyuk or Ryder back in the days, but even then, as we know, these kind of players can eventually wear out their welcomes when they break up too many plays with their bad decisions. On the other hand, the higher the offensive output, the higher is the chance that a player is smart with the puck, but there are still "one trick ponies" that only have amazing shots or are only good at PP puck distribution.
Hockey is a game of bounces and solid transitioning and low turnover count is crucial especially at the NHL level. Smart players that can make efficient plays despite not being the most skilled guy in the world will just add up to a smoother overall puck control for the whole team. You don't necessarily need a team full of Datsyuk, Crosby ect. to have good puck control if your bottom 9 is full of guys that are good at high percentage plays.
As for KK, can he improve this side of his game?I was getting worried myself last season. This was a part of his game that did not improve at all during his first 3 seasons. Again, when you add this to his propensity to fall over, then it gets pretty worrying in my humble opinion. I thought that the falling over thing, he could eventually fix it. But his "puck smarts" just seemed worryingly close to his ceiling. Again, this is my personal non educated guess of course. I view these things with the lenses of a someone that plays hockey... I am not a coach nor a scout!
Goodbye, KK! I really liked you but I hope Romanov puts you on your can this coming season - multiple times. LOL
Le Tricolore
Boo! BOOOO!
I remeber being so pumped watching him score in his first preseason game vs devils... Thought he was going to be good for the habs Seems like forever ago now
didimentionlarseller
Snipers are a dying bread in the NHL
Yes I thought we had a gem in his first year. The wheels fell off after. I think it’s a mistake KK signed. He’s still young. He will make his money but now he’s got more pressure with that contract.
BenchBrawl
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- Jul 26, 2010
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So Stephen Waite claims KK was an arrogant know-it-all. Some people are like that. Such people must be broken one way or another in order for them to become great leaders, which they can be, but only after life humbles them to some extent. I still say good riddance, signing the Canes' offer sheet was proof enough that he's still swimming in arrogance and know-it-all-ism. This is a bad kind of arrogance, which leads to suffocating your own talent by thinking you're hot shit and know all and refuse to get input. I prefer the kind of arrogance displayed by someone like Cole Caufield, which is just deep confidence, and don't rub anyone the wrong way and au contraire spread a contagious enthusiasm around the team and the fans.
Archijerej
Registered User
Very well. But it is THEM who invested a 3OA pick to select him and decided to put this awkward kid right into the NHL at 18, while at the same time anouncing publicly that he's a project.
I mean, what the f***?!
Can't argue with that.
I think drafting/development has a lot of luck involved but there is also something wrong with the way our current administration does it.
Kotkaniemi made bad decisions listening to his dad as his dad trained him. He should have hired professional trainers like Gary Roberts.
Now he listened to his agent.
personally I think he made bad decisions signing he could have been part of the young core Suzuki Caufield Kotkaniemi Romanov. Now he’s just another NHL player.
one day he’ll look back and realize he had sometime here. He needed time to develop. He’s still young 21.
Now he listened to his agent.
personally I think he made bad decisions signing he could have been part of the young core Suzuki Caufield Kotkaniemi Romanov. Now he’s just another NHL player.
one day he’ll look back and realize he had sometime here. He needed time to develop. He’s still young 21.
salbutera
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- Sep 10, 2019
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Gord Miller put it best, KK was a “reach” as a 3OA pick, and playing him in the NHL @ 18 was also a “reach”
Honestly, I am disappointed the way it went down, but kudos to Kk for taking an offer more than 6X his current salary....a serious no brainer....can he live up to it? I would think not.....but no one absolutely no one would turn this down....All of this is on Bergevin, not KK.
Meanwhile, I do think the habs did well, getting Dvorak so one of those win win for everyone...
Totally agree... But now, we're back to square one at C. Let's say Dvorak is a Danault with a "certain" offensive side. Which puts him at 2C... Big question mark for 3C. Lots of pressure on Evans who has some talent but is fragile. Maybe Poehling will emerge as a solution... A big maybe.
As opposed to many people who have wished the best to KK, personally I wish him the worst. I hope that Canes will miss playoffs, so Habs can have a high draft pick. If KK performing badly, then Canes won't qualify him, nor offering him new multi-years contract. Hence, Habs will have a chance to re-sign him as UFA.
Yoor
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- Mar 17, 2015
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Why is there a part 2 for this?
edit: I know "why" technically, what I mean is I don't understand why there is a part 2 to this.
edit: I know "why" technically, what I mean is I don't understand why there is a part 2 to this.
le_sean
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- Oct 21, 2006
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I’m a huge KK fan and am still disappointed hes no longer a Hab. That being said, his post about it being hard to say good bye after he signed that offer sheet…
I can be sad to leave my current colleagues and move cities despite getting a great job elsewhere.
MTL Dirty Birdy
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- Aug 29, 2021
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I agree Dvorak is good replacement for Danault( I actually prefer it). As for the 3 hole? Evans has proven he’s a solid checking center and Poehling showed great progress last year. I really do t think it will take long for us to forget about KK in that spot. At least those last two can skate and as for evans at least, doesn’t go unnoticed throughout a game.
Habs Halifax
Loyal Habs Fan
1,000,000%!
* Drafted him as a long term project at center
* Was meh in rookie camp against players similar age to him
* Habs centers were Danault, Over the hill Pleky, Peca, DLR. We didn't know how well Domi would do and this came right after Drouin as a failure at center the year before.
Both Bergevin and Julien are guilty on this! You don't rush a guy like that. They were asking for development trouble IMO.
Will KK bust out? I believe he improves but it won't be a rocket upwards. He's coming into this season with more energy with a new team and he already knows he's playing wing so that's his stable mentality heading in. He's going to get stronger as he moves through his early 20's but the major question remains... how can he improve his skating and edge work where he can use his frame to move around guys. Cause right now, he is forced to make passes when contact comes cause he knows he's going to get smothered by faster players checking him.
While I know you are no fan of KK, I am with you here....
Kid is gone so best of luck and hope things work out for you in Carolina.
Catanddogguitarrr
Registered User
Ppl says constantly Dvo is Danault's replacement. I don't think so. Evans is Danault's replacement and Dvorak replace the player Kotkaniemi was supposed to become in 3 years. If Evans or the other centers (Poeh, Paqu and Perreault) does not fill the shut down role, Habs are in trouble because the lines of Suzuki and Dvo will have to take that role. It might make them tired at the end of the season and their offensive game will suffer. The D will suffer too if none of the Ev, Poe, Paq or Per can play the shut down role Dano was doing.
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