Kotkaniemi finishes the playoffs with 1 point in 11 games.

[Prairie Habs]

She was right all along

She was like zadinas billet mom or something and wanted the habs to take zadina. Tough to say she was particularly right.

 

[kp61c]

Montreal fans were right

a lot of them wanted to match the offer sheet

 

[Frank Drebin]

a lot of them wanted to match the offer sheet

I would say maybe 10%.

Most of us were praying that Bergevin didn't match.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

His contract was a classic bet that could've lookeed really bad or genius in a few years. Looking real bad rn.

 

[viceroy]

Some Habs fans still defend Trevor Timmins

Sheepishly raises hand.

Lord knows both fanbases need a reason to keep going after the past 30+ years

Well we were in the Stanley Cup finals just shy of three years ago sunshine.

 

[Canadienna]

She was like zadinas billet mom or something and wanted the habs to take zadina. Tough to say she was particularly right.

This is just a random social media rumour that people keep repeating. She's actually been interviewed. Not a billet mom just a fan.

 

[innitfam]

$50M in the bag.

Dude must be the luckiest player in NHL history when you look at his career earnings compared to how much of it was deserved.

Won't be 50M after he's bought out this summer. Still quite the bag though.

 

[Sam de Mtl]

I think he may have become a better player than what we are seeing today if he didn't get all this free money handed to him.

Sadly, it appears he is not the hardest working player out there. Not super determined and focused on growing his game at all costs, like youngsters need to be to establish themselves in the NHL. Going straight to the NHL at 18 was the wrong path for him as it inflated his ego and made him believe he had 'made it'. In turn, it made him feel entitled and get pissed at Montreal management for benching him a few times in the playoffs. It was a normal thing for a youngster who was still inconsistent.

Instead of working harder and having to fight through his difficulties, he was offered an offer sheet of 6M (along with a rumored hush hush deal to go long term after) to jump ship, which he was happy to do, not only for the money, but because he was unhappy.

Then, without even having a good season, he was offered an 8 year deal that basically sealed in most of his career earnings without ever becoming a good NHL player. He is a unique case and I have to say good for him, even though it feels quite unfair for him to have earned so much and learned so little. His incentive to actually work on himself and on his game to earn his money was gone way too early. Sadly, I don't think he has the innate desire to improve which would have been necessary for a player who received all his money without deserving it.

It is a sad case study to look at, but a good cautionary tale.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

@WhiskeyYerTheDevils thoughts

He's not going to respond. KK isn't a hab anymore and isn't doing well, so no reason for him to Comment.

Imagine drafting this guy 3rd overall.

Could be worse. Could be celebrating a summer of moves that ended up all being bad, minus the Norris extension which is teetering, but gotta get the small victories when you can.

 

[WayTooCold]

Just look at him. Like wombat having a baby with a squirrel.
$5M for 1 point. Money well spent. If you want to win you gotta get a royal Swedish.

 

[FlyguyOX]

He had higher ixG/60 than Teraveinen, Kuz, and Drury even when you take into account powerplay time where teraveinen had a lot of.

Matches the eye test. He made things happen when he was out there. He should’ve been played more IMO.

How did Dvorak do in the playoffs this year

 

[Hoochi Papa]

He had higher ixG/60 than Teraveinen, Kuz, and Drury even when you take into account powerplay time where teraveinen had a lot of.

Matches the eye test. He made things happen when he was out there. He should’ve been played more IMO.

How did Dvorak do in the playoffs this year

Dvorak stinks. But he's a great addition to Canadiens' tank. This way his contribution is actually positive. Kotkaniemi on the other hand handicapped Canes that had a major need for a goaltender upgrade or a decent 2C.

I wouldn't be surprised if he comes back to Habs after buyout so we can start seeing details in his game that do not actually exist.

 

[bobholly39]

I feel bad how everyone is always hating on this guy. What did he ever do? lol

Not his fault they offered him a good contract - what was he supposed to do, say "no thank you, I think I deserve less"?

He's still young.

 

[HockeyVirus]

Dude got to play hundreds of NHL games and make tens of millions of dollars. I ain't about to wipe the dorito dust off and call him a failure.

 

[Bradely]

We'll take him for league min on the Avs next year as a 4th liner.

I could see it.... and he would look fine over there. Every one moving to the Av's begins a second life... Lehkonen and Drouin for example.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Dude got to play hundreds of NHL games and make tens of millions of dollars. I ain't about to wipe the dorito dust off and call him a failure.

He obviously won in the game of life, but it's about comparing him in relation to his 700+ peers in the industry.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Odd. Seems like last season would've been good to build on to at least become a good 3rd line C/decent middle 6 C.

 

[Dirty Dog]

in 2033 you’re still going to have montreal fans itching to say “haha” over this one. Like, no one win from this. You both lost. Move on

 

[HabzSauce]

 

[DaPhazz]

OP sat silently for a month, just waiting to make this thread

 

[De Montreal]

As a Habs fans I was sorry to see us lose him. I was seeing a nice growth in the guy and predicted he would be possbly a second line center the year he signed with the Canes. Just that his signing was a huge disrespect and that 6 million per was too nuts to match.

But what happened next I had no idea he would fell this hard. He's a complete black hole. I wonder if that whole thing including going to another team(and frankly going to a much more skilled team) f***ed him up and damaged his growth. The first year of Covid, in those playoffs, he was our best forward, he was like a bat out of Hell, like a power forward, hitting everybody and scoring important goals. I was like wow it's nice to see a prospect coming into his own like that(that was the year I believe where he man-handled Petterson?). But since leaving Montreal, he fell hard.

Yes, i would have never predicted such a downfall

I thought he was a sure bet to be a physical 20 goals 50 points guy

 

[Legend123]

I was told kotka was a surprising playoff performer. I laughed at those comments.

Thanks kk for proving me once again ur as worthless and useless anyone can be.

Pointless, invisible and (rightfully) playing less than 10min per game.

Stay Out of montreal u worthless clown

 

[VanOriginal]

I think on different team as a 3rd line C he'd be good. The Canucks offer Mikheyev and next year's 2nd round pick for KK and Carolinas 1st this year

 

[NyQuil]

Could be worse. Could be celebrating a summer of moves that ended up all being bad, minus the Norris extension which is teetering, but gotta get the small victories when you can.

Sure, but why would I do that in a thread about Kotkaniemi?

Wouldn’t make a lot of sense.

 

[Funkygroove]

He's just not very good. He's never been very good.

drafted too high because the Habs wanted a C
rushed into the league because the Habs needed a C
offer sheeted by the Canes because they wanted a C(and of course pettiness)
signed to a ridiculous deal by the Canes because they needed a C


If he was drafted 23rd overall instead of 3rd he'd be back in Finland.

i just wanna chip in to say he was offer sheeted primarily because of pettiness and the long contract was just doubling down on that mistake..