Prospect Info: Jesperi Kotkaniemi

[HisIceness]

Alright so all your Finns are belong to us.

But for real, what are our expectations/hopes for the young man we just picked up? Whats his ceiling, what line/line-mates works best for him? Etc.

Let's discuss!

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[Doc5]

Going to miss you KK. Hope he becomes a 1C for you guys like I believe he will be!

Also, he’s not a prospect, he’s a playa.

 

[HisIceness]

Going to miss you KK. Hope he becomes a 1C for you guys like I believe he will be!

Also, he’s not a prospect, he’s a playa.

Unfortunately we don't have a player discussion prefix here. @DaveG you gotta help a brotha out.

 

[Tryamw]

Alright so all your Finns are belong to us.

But for real, what are our expectations/hopes for the young man we just picked up? Whats his ceiling, what line/line-mates works best for him? Etc.

Let's discuss!

Chopped liver is his ceiling hope you like

 

[DaveG]

Alright so all your Finns are belong to us.

But for real, what are our expectations/hopes for the young man we just picked up? Whats his ceiling, what line/line-mates works best for him? Etc.

Let's discuss!

I expect this year he'll be around 45-50 points as a second line wing getting looks at C as needed since injuries happen. Long term he moves to 2C following Trochek having another big year and cashing in for something unpalatable for us long term like Dougie did this off-season. Following that he rounds out to be a 60-70 point 2C with say Necas and Jarvis on his wing being the kids line here.

 

[Tryamw]

I expect this year he'll be around 45-50 points as a second line wing getting looks at C as needed since injuries happen. Long term he moves to 2C following Trochek having another big year and cashing in for something unpalatable for us long term like Dougie did this off-season. Following that he rounds out to be a 60-70 point 2C with say Necas and Jarvis on his wing being the kids line here.

You and you serious replys

 

[tarheelhockey]

Excited to see what this kid can do for the Canes. I think this was an excellent move that will pay big dividends in the future.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Not a smart move. This kid is overpaid isn’t worth what they gave up to get him. Strongly disagree with this move.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

This could be another Teuvo. Could also be a 3rd line center. Either way, happy to have the player.

 

[the halleJOKEL]

who?

 

[CauZuki]

Take care of him, he's a good kid and once he figures out what type of player he wants to be (with proper guidance), he'll be a force to be wreckin with...

I can see him as a 60-70 pts guy with strong 2-way game and solid physicality (he enjoys the big hits).

He needs to work on his balance , his skating in general and his release but he's only just turned 21 and the potential is there (imo). Hope it works out for him moving forward!

 

[HisIceness]

who?

Some stickpuck player or something. I'm not even sure what stickpuck is cuz here in the South we only care about car racing and high school throwing egg-shaped ball.

 

[Tryamw]

Not a smart move. This kid is overpaid isn’t worth what they gave up to get him. Strongly disagree with this move.

Ok @HisIceness . Did you see @tarheelhockey bad take

 

[Canes]

Excited to see what this kid can do for the Canes. I think this was an excellent move that will pay big dividends in the future.

I agree.

 

[Canes]

Not a smart move. This kid is overpaid isn’t worth what they gave up to get him. Strongly disagree with this move.

I agree.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Chopped liver is his ceiling hope you like

Chopped liver is amazing btw.

 

[Svechhammer]

I would hate to be a Montreal fan who changed their username to something around Kotkaniemi during the playoff run

Also can we just move over their prospect thread from 2018 and merge it into here?

 

[Canes]

To be real, his draft season and subsequent NHL career reminds me a lot of Lindholm. Both put up extremely respectable stats for draft eligible players playing professionally in Europe, then both proceeded to put up pretty underwhelming numbers their first few years in the NHL while still showing some promise. Do I necessarily think Kotkaniemi will be another Lindholm? Truthfully not really, but I still there's a lot more Kotkaniemi can give as he gets older and gains more experience.

 

[Finnish Jerk Train]

Excited to see what this kid can do for the Canes. I think this was an excellent move that will pay big dividends in the future.

You're an idiot. You know nothing about hockey.

 

[Finnish Jerk Train]

Not a smart move. This kid is overpaid isn’t worth what they gave up to get him. Strongly disagree with this move.

You're an idiot. You know nothing about hockey.

 

[HisIceness]

Excited to see what this kid can do for the Canes. I think this was an excellent move that will pay big dividends in the future.

You are 100% correct and your opinions are 100% true and accurate every single time. Everyone should have to pay to read your thoughts. I cannot believe The Athletic haven't picked you up yet. Better yet, Dundon needs to give you a front office job.

Not a smart move. This kid is overpaid isn’t worth what they gave up to get him. Strongly disagree with this move.

Unbelievable, once again your negativity reeks into a serious debate thread and causes nothing but bitterness, friction, anger, and just flat out dumbassery. You should be ashamed of yourself and I for one want you forever banned from HfCanes. You can go hang out in the BoH and main board instead, they'll like your scorching hot-takes.

 

[Daeavorn]

We paid 6 mil for a 1st round pick before, I dont get why people are so shocked wed do it again.

 

[OnceWasNot]

His ceiling is probably serviceable 2C. Much of the Habs fanbase overrates him due to his draft pedigree (should have gone more like 10 even then but Habs drafted for organizational need) but if you watch him play with a critical eye over 3 years as I did you know the only way he becomes a 60-70 point player is if he ends up on a line with McDavid or plays very sheltered minutes. His greatest issue is his balance and his skating overall is middling. His passing skills are good but his hockey IQ is far from exceptional so his playmaking is frustratingly inconsistent. His shot is heavy and quite accurate but his release is slow and therefore he has difficultly beating goalies in games. Hence his goal totals over the past 2 seasons. Overall I think he's a $2.5-3M player right now and when the offer sheet was announced I was hoping the Habs would not match because he's now going to be overpaid by a factor of at least 2. I wanted to be wrong about him while he was a Hab but had a large degree of confidence in my evaluation, now I'm happy to see him go for a couple picks. Good luck with him in any case, he seems like a decent person and I'd like to see him succeed.

 

[mikeyfan]

If this kid comes through and proves he should be playing Center, would the Canes even entertain, moving Jordon Staal, either at the trade deadline, or after the season, especially if he slides back to a 20 to low 30 point player this year?

It would put the "C" on Aho which he would carry 2 years before he becomes eligible to be an unrestricted FA

 

[spockBokk]

If this kid comes through and proves he should be playing Center, would the Canes even entertain, moving Jordon Staal, either at the trade deadline, or after the season, especially if he slides back to a 20 to low 30 point player this year?

It would put the "C" on Aho which he would carry 2 years before he becomes eligible to be an unrestricted FA

No, that’s dumb.