Confirmed with Link: Habs Sign Jesperi Kotkaniemi to 3-Year ELC ($925K)

[Nordiques1979]

Hope he will go back to Liiga, but I must say give him a 9 games shot would be interesting to watch.

 

[sheed36]

I hope this pick really works out great for the Habs in the not to distant future. I won't lie I preferred taking Zadina @ 3 but I have very high hopes for Kotkaniemi.

 

[CHarlie]

Hope he will go back to Liiga, but I must say give him a 9 games shot would be interesting to watch.

i hope he stays and destroys the league.....why hope for anything less???

 

[loudi94]

Hope he will go back to Liiga, but I must say give him a 9 games shot would be interesting to watch.

I'd rather he stay in Laval and get acclimated to the NHL style.

 

[LaP]

Can he still go to Finland?

I might be wrong since i don't know what i'm talking about to be honest but maybe they signed him so he doesn't sign a 2-3 years contract in Europe. They'll lend him to his European team for the season and i don't think the year will count toward the number of years played to get his UFA status.

 

[G0bias]

"Sign you initial MS here."

-Marc Bergevin

*Kot...ka...niemi* - "sign your initials here, KN."

 

[sandviper]

Great signing. Get Kotkaniemi now before he realizes what he just did.

 

[LaP]

Why not give him a chance? Play him between byron and Gallagher. You can’t go wrong Centring these 2.
They show up every game. Great role models

u20 is great experience and he'll more than likely represent Finland with Ikonen anf Ylonen.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Can someone explain what the point of this signing is? I get that he can play in Finland, but shouldn't we have waited until he was ready to come over? Doesn't this mean he will play in the NHL/AHL next year? He should play 1 more full year in Finland.

He gets his signing bonus right away. Most 1st rounders get signed right away even if they're not playing in the NHL following year.

Kid knows what he's going to get once he does make it - so a financial incentive - and gets his signing bonus. In this case, $92,500. Some nice cash for the summer.

I don't want to see him in North America for another year. Needs to work on getting stronger.

 

[G0bias]

u20 is great experience and he'll more than likely represent Finland with Ikonen anf Ylonen.

Pretty stoked we'll possibly have three prospects in Finland's top 6 next WJCs.

Best thing for him right now is a full season as the go-to center in Pori. He gets plenty of ice and some downtime to add strength and work on his stride.

 

[Brownies]

Did he need a contract to attend training camp ? I like the idea of him playing there and getting a look during preseason before going to Finland.

 

[Adam Michaels]

Did he need a contract to attend training camp ? I like the idea of him playing there and getting a look during preseason before going to Finland.

No he didn't need a contract. But having it now or in a year (if he goes back to Finland) makes zero difference.

 

[BB88]

Did he need a contract to attend training camp ? I like the idea of him playing there and getting a look during preseason before going to Finland.

Liiga pre season starts in August and regular season in September.

Going to camp is going to mess up with his preparation to Liiga season, which is the #1 thing now.
Jets/HPK left Vesalainen to Finland for example to prepare, and damm did he explode last season.

 

[Saxon]

*Kot...ka...niemi* - "sign your initials here, KN."

Any realtion to Antti?

 

[Saxon]

Liiga pre season starts in August and regular season in September.

Going to camp is going to mess up with his preparation to Liiga season, which is the #1 thing now.
Jets/HPK left Vesalainen to Finland for example to prepare, and damm did he explode last season.

Yup, just send him to liiga.

 

[GHJimmy]

For non French you don't mind translating that? Thx

 

[Adam Michaels]

For non French you don't mind translating that? Thx

Sorry about that.

He said that he's not closing the door on playing in North America next year. But he know he has to mature physically if he wants to win a spot. So he has to hit the gym.

 

[GHJimmy]

Sorry about that.

He said that he's not closing the door on playing in North America next year. But he know he has to mature physically if he wants to win a spot. So he has to hit the gym.

Awesome thanks. Hopefully he'll develop in Liiga this year and come big in NHL

 

[Adam Michaels]

Awesome thanks. Hopefully he'll develop in Liiga this year and come big in NHL

In my perfect world, 1 year of Liiga and 1 year in Laval.

 

[Adam Michaels]

 

[montreal]

I don't see them rushing him to the AHL and I don't expect him at camp, let him go home and train and get ready for Liiga and later the WJC's. Depending on how the year goes for him, we can see better where he should be the following season.

 

[HOPE]

kids need to go to the liiga straight up, i don't even want to see him waste his 9 games stint! im fan of picking this kid since april! but he's definitely not strong enough to play in the NHL right now, just send him home now, Work out, practice, get better balance, 1 year of developpement at that age is crucial! if his developpement curve stays the same, he won't even look like the same player next year!

 

[NotProkofievian]

I gotta be honest, I'm not super crazy about his plan for the summer. It's my understanding that he doesn't even have access to ice currently. At least in one of his latest interviews with Porin Ässät you could clearly see that Isomäki arena melted their ice for the summer, and Jesperi said he hadn't been on skates for 3 weeks before development camp. Is that it? He's just going to get swole all summer and hit the ice in august for training camp in Pori? I would say that he should stay in Montreal for the summer and work with our skating coach, but Montreal doesn't even have one listed on their website.

 

[Qurpiz]

I gotta be honest, I'm not super crazy about his plan for the summer. It's my understanding that he doesn't even have access to ice currently. At least in one of his latest interviews with Porin Ässät you could clearly see that Isomäki arena melted their ice for the summer, and Jesperi said he hadn't been on skates for 3 weeks before development camp. Is that it? He's just going to get swole all summer and hit the ice in august for training camp in Pori? I would say that he should stay in Montreal for the summer and work with our skating coach, but Montreal doesn't even have one listed on their website.

Ässät have a practice rink less than 100 meters from Isomäki Areena that has ice year-round

 

[NotProkofievian]

Ässät have a practice rink less than 100 meters from Isomäki Areena that has ice year-round

Well I hope he makes use of it, because he's got work to do. As a comparison, another one of our draftees with skating issues, Cam Hillis, is working out with Barb Underhill 2-3 times per week this off-season. Jesperi just said he needs to ''get in the gym'' in his interview with the local media. Mmmm nope, that's not going to do it. He might have to learn the lesson the Leon Draisaitl way.