Kotkaniemi finishes the playoffs with 1 point in 11 games.

[innitfam]

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

Only if the Canucks immediately buy him out for the cap savings... that ~4M to re-sign other players will be more valuable.

 

[Magicman]

4.8 million cap hit. Carolina made a mistake.

"Hold my beer"

Sincerely,
Lucas Brutas Robitaille and Baghdad Rob Blake

 

[VanOriginal]

Only if the Canucks immediately buy him out for the cap savings... that ~4M to re-sign other players will be more valuable.

I'd give him two years to see if he couldn't turn it around, if not then buy him out.

 

[innitfam]

I'd give him two years to see if he couldn't turn it around, if not then buy him out.

No way. That space to sign our free agents is much more valuable. Could be the difference between keeping 2 really valuable guys. Trading for KK in your scenario loses the Canucks cap space.

 

[Esq]

Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of jerks.

 

[Garbageyuk]

Options left to defend KK:

• “Yeah, but his hfb7%#!/60 is great, and this matches the eye test. CAR coaches are dumb for not playing him more.”

• “Yeah bro, he makes millions of dollars to play hockey. He’s doing better in life than you bro .”

• “Yeah, but he played 11 mins/game this year in the playoffs bro, how many playoff games did the Habs play bro.”

• “lolz Habs fans are so obsessed and salty bro.”

 

[benedictTavares]

Habs fans not salty they just petty. I can live with petty. I can respect petty.

To sit back and just wait for the opportunity to pounce.

 

[dukeofjive]

The only good thing about this for the habs was finaly getting rid of bargain bin.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

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

If a player cannot thrive in the Brindamour system, the odds seem low they would thrive elsewhere.

 

[VanOriginal]

No way. That space to sign our free agents is much more valuable. Could be the difference between keeping 2 really valuable guys. Trading for KK in your scenario loses the Canucks cap space.

It's the same cap space to sign those guys whether it's Mikheyev as a 2nd or 3rd line winger for 2 years or KK as a 3rd line C for 2 years. They both have same cap hit.

If a player cannot thrive in the Brindamour system, the odds seem low they would thrive elsewhere.

That's true, I'm sure there is a reason KK is stapled to the 4th line

 

[innitfam]

It's the same cap space to sign those guys whether it's Mikheyev as a 2nd or 3rd line winger for 2 years or KK as a 3rd line C for 2 years. They both have same cap hit.


That's true, I'm sure there is a reason KK is stapled to the 4th line

Trading Mikheyev for KK and then buying KK out gives approximately 4M in capspace that wasn't available before

edit: 3.665M to be exact - Mik earns 4.5M, KK's buyout cost is 835k

 

[VanOriginal]

Trading Mikheyev for KK and then buying KK out gives approximately 4M in capspace that wasn't available before

edit: 3.665M to be exact - Mik earns 4.5M, KK's buyout cost is 835k

Sure you could do that and have that KK buyout on the books for 12 years or just buy out Mik have a similar savings well slightly less and only for 4 yrs. If its a buyout it's really a mooooo point of trade as Joe would say just handcuffs the team for 3 times longer

 

[innitfam]

Sure you could do that and have that KK buyout on the books for 12 years or just buy out Mik have a similar savings well slightly less and only for 4 yrs. If its a buyout it's really a mooooo point of trade as Joe would say just handcuffs the team for 3 times longer

I suppose that's true. However, with KK being bought out in that scenario instead of Mik, there's less dead cap on the books from 2025-2027 when the OEL buyout cost is at its highest.

 

[Killer Orcas]

They're just lucky it's a cheap buyout cost of 835,000 a year for the next 12 except 3 years where it's even less at 455,000 a year. Habs dodged a bullet there and Canes got jerked around.

 

[Artemi Panarin]

Kotka lowkey sucks

Maybe even highkey

 

[D1az]

They're just lucky it's a cheap buyout cost of 835,000 a year for the next 12 except 3 years where it's even less at 455,000 a year. Habs dodged a bullet there and Canes got jerked around.

When. I read about the buyout rules it almost sounds like they gave him such a contract deliberately.

Buyout FAQ - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

NHL player contract buyouts, frequently asked questions and answers

www.capfriendly.com

Especially this part caught my eye:

"The player must have a cap hit of at least $4,000,000 for the 2023 offseason"

 

[Osakahaus]

Options left to defend KK:

• “Yeah, but his hfb7%#!/60 is great, and this matches the eye test. CAR coaches are dumb for not playing him more.”

• “Yeah bro, he makes millions of dollars to play hockey. He’s doing better in life than you bro .”

• “Yeah, but he played 11 mins/game this year in the playoffs bro, how many playoff games did the Habs play bro.”

• “lolz Habs fans are so obsessed and salty bro.”

KK is a player who would look a lot nicer if I could actually see him on the ice and not when he's just doing cardio. His #1 flaw is that I barely notice him on the ice. Whenever he does show up is when there's a penalty drawn by him, or he's floating near the crease. He's actually what you'd consider a floater.

 

[Hoochi Papa]

Options left to defend KK:

• “Yeah, but his hfb7%#!/60 is great, and this matches the eye test. CAR coaches are dumb for not playing him more.”

• “Yeah bro, he makes millions of dollars to play hockey. He’s doing better in life than you bro .”

• “Yeah, but he played 11 mins/game this year in the playoffs bro, how many playoff games did the Habs play bro.”

• “lolz Habs fans are so obsessed and salty bro.”

- He's only 24/25/28/31...

- Rare example of a player who got it all together in their 30s.

- Canes really wanted him. He was always part of the plan.

- Could be decent if he becomes 40 point player again (that was understoodable ten years ago, when league was heading back to dead puck numbers).

As a Habs fan I am delighted to see others are now running around the Kotkaniemi circle of excuses. Nothing in his game has changed. God forbid how many years people were seeing improvements in his skating. You can't really blame a player for being what he is, Kotkaniemi was rewarded very early on for showing very little. He didn't become worse, he just is what he has always been.

 

[Canovin]

Buy him out and teams will sign him

 

[Joe Rogan]

Habs fans can get their shots in, but at the end of the day they had a 3rd overall pick with Tkachuk, Quinn Hughes (this year's likely norris winner) and Dobson all there for the taking. All they have to show for that now is a crap, injury prone Dvorak.

 

[EpochLink]

Is he ready to take over the 2nd line centre? Does he need better teammates?
What's his ceiling?

 

[Osakahaus]

Habs fans can get their shots in, but at the end of the day they had a 3rd overall pick with Tkachuk, Quinn Hughes (this year's likely norris winner) and Dobson all there for the taking. All they have to show for that now is a crap, injury prone Dvorak.

Lets be brutally honest the right pick was always Tkachuk

 

[NyQuil]

Habs fans can get their shots in, but at the end of the day they had a 3rd overall pick with Tkachuk, Quinn Hughes (this year's likely norris winner) and Dobson all there for the taking. All they have to show for that now is a crap, injury prone Dvorak.

They always leave the comedy club before the punchline of the joke is delivered.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

how many Kotkaniemi threads is too much?
there are tons of players worse than Jesperi playing in the NHL.

 

[Garbageyuk]

Habs fans can get their shots in, but at the end of the day they had a 3rd overall pick with Tkachuk, Quinn Hughes (this year's likely norris winner) and Dobson all there for the taking. All they have to show for that now is a crap, injury prone Dvorak.

And PHX took Barrett Hayton, and DET took Filip Zadina. That kind of thing happens every year. What doesn’t happen every year is signing a 4th liner to an 8 year offer sheet and gloating about it like it was the 4D chess move of the decade, only to have it immediately blow up in your face. The $20 signing bonus and the Twitter antics by the actual NHL team are just icing on the cake. CAR fans on here were trying dunk all over Habs fans too lol. They should just take their licks at this point lmao, nothing else they can do.