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Jesperi Kotkaniemi

Trade Rumors: Dubois, Byron, Dumba

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The Pierre-Luc Dubois saga in Columbus took a another turn on Wednesday, as always-candid head coach John Tortorella appeared in an interview on 97.1 The Fan and did not hold back in his commentary on the situation surrounding his young forward. While he has not officially requested a trade from the Blue Jackets, contract negotiations with Dubois did not go well and the team has been led to believe that he would prefer a change of scenery. Tortorella took a more direct approach, outright confirming that this is the case:

Yeah, he wants out. He spoke to the team, as we do here. It’s a little bit different than (departed 2019 free agents Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky) were. This is a 22-year-old kid. It doesn’t happen that often, so he has been honest with the group.

Yet, Tortorella is not content with the explanations (or lack thereof) that Dubois has provided he and others. He remains unclear as to what has changed in the talented center, who looked like a budding superstar and long-term cornerstone in Columbus just months ago in the postseason. And if the coach himself is to blame, it doesn’t seem like Tortorella is willing to let that change his style or impact his locker room.

 I wish he was a little bit more honest as far as reasons why. I still haven’t really gotten to that, but I think he needs to speak on that… I think that (conflict) is a really good thing in developing a hockey player.  Now ’Luc’ may not think that. Sometimes these players, especially today’s athletes, think, ’You’re too hard on me, you’re picking on me’ and this and that. Maybe it’s too hard for him. I don’t know. I haven’t been given a reason why he wants to leave. He certainly hasn’t said it to me that ’I don’t want to play for you.’ I think if that’s the reason he should tell me, and he should really basically get in front of it and get up out of here. That’s just the way I think you should do business in this stuff here. There’s no sense of people trying to figure out what’s going on. Let’s get in front of it here and get about our business and try to be the best team we can be… It’s a short leash with me as far as this is concerned. He needs to continue to do the things to help this team win and be the best teammate he can be, or I’m not sure where it goes. It’s a situation and we’ll go to it day by day.

Tortorella’s very public and very honest take on Dubois is not going to make the situation any better, even if the coach is not to blame for the trade request. Initial reports stated that the Blue Jackets may take their time to deal Dubois, waiting to maximize the return as best they can while he hopefully continues to contribute on the ice. However, if the locker room becomes too toxic with a top player at odds with the head coach and openly opposed to any future with the organization, this situation may need a resolution sooner rather than later. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that suitors are already serious about adding Dubois, so if the Blue Jackets need to make a quick trade, they will still have plenty of offers to choose from.

  • The Montreal Canadiens were able to get under the salary cap ceiling, but it was a tight fit. CapFriendly shows the club with only $708K in space for just a 21-man roster. If the Habs want the flexibility to even field a full roster never mind make a trade addition this season, someone has to go. Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette writes that the name being whispered is that of Paul Byron. Byron has been a loyal soldier for Montreal over the past five years and has developed into one of the club’s locker room leaders. However, the Canadiens’ off-season additions of Josh Anderson and Tyler Toffoli and the emergence of youngsters Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi have pushed Byron into a seemingly permanent bottom-six role. In fact, Byron played on the team’s fourth line throughout training camp and in Wednesday’s season opener. At a $3.4MM AAV through 2022-23, Byron is an expensive piece to be playing a checking role. The 31-year-old winger has not been durable either over the past couple of seasons either and may be ill-suited for his new position. Byron has scored at nearly a half-point per-game pace over the past four seasons combined and would be more valuable to another team that is able and willing to keep him in a scoring role. The question is whether that destination exists and, if so, will the Habs ultimately pull the trigger on dealing away a respected veteran.
  • One player enjoying the spotlight of rumor mill being off him for now is Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba. Dumba has heard the noise for more than a year now, but remains with the Wild; and the talented blue liner is happy about that, he tells TwinCities.com’s Dane Mizutani. Mizutani is not the only one that Dumba has confided in, either. He has also gone directly to GM Bill Guerin and stated that he would like to remain with the team. Guerin will certainly listen to one of his best players, but he has to listen to offers as well with the threat of the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft looming. With fellow top-four defenders Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, and Jonas Brodin all holding No-Movement Clauses in their current contracts and requiring protection from the expansion draft, Dumba would be the odd man out in the standard 7-3 protection scheme. Minnesota will definitely not allow the Seattle Kraken to acquire Dumba for free though, which has prompted his placement on the trade block. However, if Dumba can back up his desire to remain with the Wild with a strong 2020-21 campaign, Guerin may decide to go with the 8-skater protection scheme and expose three forwards rather than the skilled defenseman.

Canadiens Notes: Churla, Kotkaniemi, WJC

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The Montreal Canadiens have lost one of the key members of their scouting department as Shane Churla was hired today by the Florida Panthers. Churla will serve as director of amateur scouting for the Panthers, after serving in a similar role with Montreal.

As Eric Engels of Sportsnet points out, Churla will likely have more autonomy in Florida than he did in Montreal, where Trevor Timmins still runs most of the scouting operations from his role as assistant GM. Engels also tweets that he does not believe the Canadiens will rush to find a replacement for Churla, because of the presence of Timmins.

  • Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s loan has been terminated and Arpon Basu of The Athletic reports it is to be ready for a potential training camp should the NHL actually achieve its goal of a January 1 start. Kotkaniemi would need to serve out a quarantine when he returns to Montreal. The young forward scored eight points in ten games for Assat Pori in Finland during his time overseas, turning on the production after a slow start. The 20-year-old center played very well in the NHL postseason after an up-and-down season and should be a regular in the lineup this year. The Canadiens moved on from Max Domi, opening up more minutes for young players like Kotkaniemi and Nick Suzuki.
  • While Montreal draft pick Kaiden Guhle works to make the Canadian World Junior team, a few of their other prospects will be soon battling for their own spots at the tournament. Mike Morreale of NHL.com reports that USA Hockey will hold their selection camp from December 10-13, where several Canadiens prospects will likely be taking part. Cole Caufield obviously leads that group as one of the returning players, but Jayden Struble, Sean Farrell, and Luke Tuch were all also on the WJC Summer Showcase roster before it was canceled.

Atlantic Notes: Johnson, Fabbri, Kotkaniemi

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While news out of Tampa Bay has been extremely quiet, many fans are waiting for the Lightning to get their offseason underway. The team has three key restricted free agents, including Mikhail Sergachev, Anthony Cirelli and Erik Cernak, that it must deal with and little to no cap room with which to work with.

In his most recent mailbag, The Athletic’s Joe Smith (subscription required) writes that with no confirmation yet on when the season will start, most teams have taken a break, leaving the Lightning with moves to make and no one to turn to until training camps get underway at some point. Much of that speculation points to whether Tampa Bay can find a taker for forward Tyler Johnson and the four years at $5MM AAV. The team was not able to find a trade partner at the start of the offseason and no team attempted to claim him when the Lightning put Johnson on waivers.

With rumors that teams are demanding a first-round pick to take Johnson off their hands, Smith writes that the Lightning have little interest in doing that considering they already traded away their 2021 second-rounder. It is possible if the Lightning can’t find an alternative solution, that they might have to retain some salary in order to trade him. Johnson, who has a full no-trade clause, has given the team eight or nine teams he’s willing to go to, but so far the team has had no luck finding a taker. Even if the Lightning can find a trade partner to take all of Johnson’s $5MM AAV, the team is also likely to make other moves to get all three RFA’s under contract.

  • In a Q&A with Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill, The Athletic’s Max Bultman (subscription required) gets the head coach to comment on the team’s potential lineup when the 2020-21 season starts. One interesting nugget in the interview is that Blashill said he wants to take a look at Robby Fabbri at the center position. “I’m intrigued by giving Robby Fabbri an opportunity to play center too. So we’ll see, we’ll see where the best fit is. But the fact he can do it, I think is a real positive to have on your roster,” said Blashill. Although more roster moves are possible, it is believed that there are a number of players who will vie for the second-line center position. Fabbri had a solid campaign last year with 14 goals and 31 points in 52 games and could be ready to return to the center position where he played before injury history began.
  • The Athletic’s Arpon Basu (subscription required) looks at the play of 20-year-old Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who is currently playing for his hometown team of Assat in Finland’s Liiga. The forward went scoreless in his first four games before getting his first point. He now has three assists in seven games, but is still looking for his first goal. While the numbers aren’t there, Basu writes that Kotkaniemi is still trying to adjust to Finland’s top league where every team they play is completely focused on him, something he hasn’t had to deal with in his two years in the NHL. Adjusting back to the Liiga after two years on North America’s smaller rinks also has been an adjustments for a player who was enjoying doling out hits in the NHL. That’s much harder to do in the larger rinks where a hit could take him out of the play too, meaning he can’t really work on that part of his game much.

Canadiens To Loan Jesperi Kotkaniemi To Finland

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Oct 16: The Canadiens have made it official, announcing the loan for the start of the 2020-21 season. In the release, it explains that Kotkaniemi is expected back at the start of training camp.

Oct 15: The Canadiens are working on a loan agreement to loan Jesperi Kotkaniemi to Assat Pori of the SM-liiga, GM Marc Bergevin confirmed to reporters, including Sportsnet’s Eric Engels (Twitter link), on a media call earlier today.  The agreement is expected to be finalized over the next few days.

The 20-year-old struggled considerably in his sophomore campaign, collecting just six goals and two assists in 36 games with Montreal before being sent to AHL Laval in early February.  He was more productive there, picking up a goal and 12 assists in 13 games before suffering a splenic injury that would have ended his season had it been a normal year.  But with the pandemic delaying the start of the playoffs, Kotkaniemi was available to play and suited up in all 10 games, picking up four goals.

Assuming the loan is completed, Kotkaniemi will be returning to a program that he’s familiar with having played in Assat’s system before being drafted with the number three pick back in 2018.  After the tough season he had, he’ll now have an opportunity to suit up at home before returning to North America where he will enter the final year of his entry-level contract in the hopes of securing a big raise on his next deal.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi Cleared To Return

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Canadiens center Jesperi Kotkaniemi has been cleared to play in their upcoming play-in series against Pittsburgh, reports Arpon Basu of The Athletic (subscription required).  His availability had been in question after he suffered a splenic injury while on assignment with AHL Laval.

The third pick back in 2018 had a difficult sophomore campaign.  After putting up a respectable 34 points in 79 games as the youngest player in the NHL in 2018-19, things went in the opposite direction this season.  His ice time and role dipped as did his production; injuries and general struggles limited him to just 36 games where he had only six goals and two assists.

Kotkaniemi was sent to the AHL in late January where he fared much better, averaging a point per game (1-12-13) in 13 contests before being injured in early March.  He had been ruled out for the year at the time but the extra three-plus months between the scheduled end of the regular season and the planned start of the play-in round have given him enough time to recover.

How Montreal decides to use Kotkaniemi remains to be seen, if he’s high enough on the depth chart to be used at all.  Phillip Danault, Nick Suzuki, and Max Domi are their current top three centers and while Domi could move to the wing, he hasn’t fared as well there which means shifting him over to play the 19-year-old may not make sense.  A fourth line role likely doesn’t make much sense either.  With a three-week training camp on the horizon, there’s still plenty of time for head coach Claude Julien to decide whether or not to use Kotkaniemi against the Penguins but it’s fair to wonder if there will be a spot for him.

East Notes: Chara, Devils GM Position, Kotkaniemi, Meyer

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Almost a year ago, Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara signed a one-year extension (on Mar. 23) as he made it quite clear he wanted to return for another season in Boston. While the league remains suspended, it should be noted that the 43-year-old has not shown the same enthusiasm of signing a contract. Could that signal the end of his career is coming?

When interviewed recently, Chara’s agent Matt Keator, was quite vague about negotiations on a new contract.

“Not thinking about it right now,” said Keator. “Something we’ll all sit down with at the end of the year — Z, me, [Bruins GM] Don Sweeney — and figure out what’s next.”

The Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont writes that if the season doesn’t resume, there is a good chance that Chara may have played his last game as a Boston Bruin. While there remains a good chance that the league resumes eventually, which would allow Boston to fight for a Stanley Cup, including Chara, there is a chance that the season gets cancelled and Chara chooses to retire.

Chara still is a solid top pairing defenseman for the Bruins. He averages 21:01 of ATOI, while putting up five goals, 14 points, 60 penalty minutes, 101 hits and has blocked 78 shots in 68 games.

  • The New Jersey Devils might find themselves in bind when it comes to interviewing candidates for their open general manager and coaching positions, according to The Athletic’s Corey Masisak (subscription required). While the team did already interview former Vancouver Canucks GM Mike Gillis two weeks ago, the Devils were hoping to wait until the season was over to interview candidates that are currently employed. With a delay until the season ends, New Jersey could find itself without a permanent GM in place for quite a while, something the team wanted to avoid. Interim general manager Tom Fitzgerald remains a candidate, which could increase the chances of him getting the permanent job. Another option, according to Masisak would be if the NHL allowed teams to interview candidates during the break.
  • The Athletic’s Arpon Basu (subscription required) breaks down the stock of Montreal Canadiens 2018 first-round pick Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who was lost for the season last week with an injured spleen with little fanfare for a top prospect. The scribe looks at what has happened to the team’s view on the highly regarded rookie last season and how the 19-year-old had lost his confidence during that season and how it hadn’t returned this season, which includes how the centerman was sent to Laval after struggling in his sophomore campaign with just six goals and eight points in 36 games.
  • The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reports that Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Carson Meyer, who completed his senior year at Ohio State University, has signed with an agent, Jeff Boston of Roy Sports Group. Unfortunately, his next step is unclear with the suspension of play at both the NHL or AHL level. Meyer wrapped up his senior year with a career-high 17 goals and although he could wait until August to become an unrestricted free agent, he is an Ohio native, suggesting he might prefer to sign with the team that drafted him.

 

Jesperi Kotkaniemi Out For Rest Of Season

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It certainly hasn’t the sophomore campaign that Jesperi Kotkaniemi or the Montreal Canadiens were hoping for. Now, after struggling to maintain any sort of production in the NHL and spending time in the minor leagues, Kotkaniemi will miss the remainder of the season thanks to a splenic injury. Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports that the young forward will not require surgery, but no recovery timeline has been determined.

There’s no way to describe Kotkaniemi’s 2019-20 season other than disappointing, especially given the flashes of brilliance he showed as a rookie. In 36 games with the Canadiens he scored just eight points, never seeing more than 16 minutes of ice time in a single game. While he has been a point-per-game player at the AHL level, that includes just a single goal in 13 games.

It’s obviously not the end of the world for the 19-year old forward, but when players selected after him in the 2018 draft are already in starring roles—namely Brady Tkachuk and Quinn Hughes, selected at fourth and seventh respectively—it’s a bit frustrating to see the Montreal youngster struggling.

Now that his season is over, Kotkaniemi will have several months to work on his game and come back ready to take a full-time spot in the Canadiens’ lineup. He still has one year remaining on his entry-level contract and a lot to accomplish if he wants a big extension like some of his draft contemporaries will be getting.

Atlantic Notes: Kotkaniemi, Zadina, Sabres

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Jesperi Kotkaniemi hasn’t had the sophomore campaign that he had hoped for. After an impressive rookie season in which the Montreal Candaien scored 11 goals and 34 points, the 19-year-old was hoping to improve on those numbers. Instead it’s been one disappointment after another, which includes a slow start, demotion to the AHL and now a spleen injury.

The Laval Rocket, the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate, announced (translation required) that Kotkaniemi suffered a spleen injury and spent Friday night in the hospital. He has been released, but there is no word on how long the young center will be out.

Kotkaniemi started the 2019-20 season with just six goals and eight points in 36 games, prompting the team to send him to Laval in hopes of getting increased playing time there as well as to find his confidence. So far through 13 games, Kotkaniemi has one goals and 13 points.

  • While the playoffs are out of reach for the Detroit Red Wings, the team’s main focus will be on developing their youth. That’s expected to include forward Filip Zadina, who has been out since Feb. 1 with a fractured ankle. MLive’s Ansar Khan reports that Zadina returned to practice Saturday and should be ready to return soon. “I just want to get stronger and get better and get back in the lineup,” Zadina said. “I just need to be a little more patient and get healthy 100 percent, get myself in shape and feel ready to go. Right now, I just want to (spend) most of the time on the ice and in the gym to get stronger.” Head coach Jeff Blashill said it won’t be Sunday, however.
  • The Athletic’s John Vogl (subscription required) looks into the future possibilities this summer when the Buffalo Sabres hit free agency. The scribe breaks down the team’s potential salary cap situation, cautiously estimating that Buffalo should have $21.5MM in available cap room. The team is in need of a second-line center, two right wingers and a left wing. With the right wing market likely to be the strongest at free agency, the team could focus on a player like Mike Hoffman or Tyler Toffoli to fill a need, but the team is unlikely to find help at the other two positions without making trades.

Canadiens To Recommend Cole Caufield Stay At Wisconsin

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One of the most hyped players coming out of the 2019 NHL Draft, it was almost a foregone conclusion that the Montreal Canadiens’ Cole Caufield would be in the NHL as soon as possible. A record-breaking goal-scorer for the U.S. National Team Development Program, Caufield had committed to the University of Wisconsin, but most believed that the 15th overall pick would be one-and-done after his freshman campaign. In fact, it was not outside the realm of possibility that Caufield could have made his NHL debut later this season had the Canadiens made the playoffs.

However, things have not gone according to plan for any of the parties involved. Montreal is not a playoff team, the Wisconsin Badgers are not the national contender that many expected them to be, and Caufield is not ready for the NHL, reports Mathias Brunet of La Presse. Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin tells Brunet that he will recommend that Caufield remain at Wisconsin for another year:

Cole Caufield is having a good year. But, in our eyes, he is not ready. We will make a decision at the end of the year. If he really wants to leave college, we won’t force him, but we’ll recommend that he stay [at Wisconsin]. That doesn’t mean it’s a disappointment. We aim for the best in long-term development.

Bergevin would go on to say that playing for the AHL’s Laval Rocket next season would also be a possibility for Caufield next season, but he feels that even that would be a challenge. While Caufield’s offensive ability is apparent, Bergevin notes that the young sniper’s play without the puck has a long way to go, and that is a crucial part of competing at the pro level. He adds that over-inflated media expectations for the likes of Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Ryan Poehling have hurt those players’ development in the eyes of the team and they hope to prevent the same fate for Caufield. While the slow play could be disappointing to Montreal fans, especially as they look to the future during another disappointing season, is it always better not to rush a young player, especially if the team honestly feels that he is not ready to make the jump.

This news will be received much differently in Madison than it is in Montreal. Assuming Caufield stays at Wisconsin, Badgers fans can hold out hope that an NCAA title run may still be possible. This season has been disappointing from a team perspective, but Caufield has been stellar in his freshman season, leading the team with 19 goals and 35 points in 33 games. Fellow freshman standout Alex Turcotte, selected fifth overall by the Los Angeles Kings last year, is not confirmed to be returning next season, nor is sophomore defenseman and 2018 first-rounder K’Andre Miller (NYR). However, if the trio stays put, the likes of Dylan Holloway (2020), Owen Lindmark (FLA), Ty Emberson (ARI), and Ryder Donovan (VGK) take a step forward, and incoming recruit Cameron Rowe (2020) helps to repair the poor results in net, then the Badgers could do a better job of meeting expectations in the 2020-21 season.

 

Canadiens Assign Jesperi Kotkaniemi To The AHL

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For the first time in his career, Jesperi Kotkaniemi will be playing in the minors as the Canadiens announced that they’ve assigned the 19-year-old to Laval of the AHL.  TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie notes (Twitter link) that this isn’t just a quick demotion to keep him in game shape but that he’ll be down there indefinitely.  Kotkaniemi is eligible to play at 19 in the minors since he wasn’t drafted out of the CHL.

The number three pick in 2018 has struggled considerably in his sophomore NHL season.  He has just eight points (6-2-8) through 36 games this year while his average ice time has dipped to just 13 minutes a night.  That production is well off the pace of his rookie campaign where he picked up 34 points (11-23-34) as the youngest player in the league.

This is the second straight day that Montreal, a team that appears all but destined to be a seller, has sent a young player to the minors as defenseman Cale Fleury was demoted on Friday.  Considering both players were healthy scratches on Thursday, it’s an opportunity for more ice time in the short-term but if the Canadiens move out some of their expiring contracts, both Fleury and Kotkaniemi’s AHL time may be short-lived.

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