It was after the 2021 Stanley Cup Final that Jesperi Kotkaniemi accepted an offer sheet from the Carolina Hurricanes. With an offer of over 6 million, Marc Bergevin decided not to match it and let him go.
Since then, he has faced various challenges, but things have turned around remarkably. This season, he has accumulated 12 points in as many games. While his consistency was once criticized, he is now proving that he can maintain this level of performance over the long term.
Another truly impressive fact is that Kotkaniemi has obtained 48 points in his last 63 games. On the Canadiens' side, the best performer is Nick Suzuki, with 46 points in the same number of games.
Of course, it should be taken into consideration that the captain didn't have top-quality players to work with last year due to injuries, but we can still tip our hats to KK. He is demonstrating that being patient with a young player is essential and that his third overall draft pick in 2018 might have been justified.
