Value of: Jesperi Kotkaniemi

[Frank Drebin]

i think most habs and canes fans have moved on from the childish slap fight that the offer sheet brought on. Kotkaniemi looking like he’ll neither be an allstar nor a bust probably helps that out a lot.

I still look at the offer sheet as somewhat mutually destructive, habs lost a player that they had penciled in for the future 2c role and then panicked with the os compensation to fill that spot with one of the only available options at that time. Positives were that was the final nail in the coffin for mb and that season kickstarted the full rebuild for montreal.

Canes made a fairly low risk high reward play with the offersheet, issue was at the time they were in good shape at center and possibly the assets/cap space used on the offersheet could have been used to address team weaknesses better. But if the kid continues to grow into his game they developed a real replacement for jordan staal at a fair cap hit

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

i think most habs and canes fans have moved on from the childish slap fight that the offer sheet brought on. Kotkaniemi looking like he’ll neither be an allstar nor a bust probably helps that out a lot.

I still look at the offer sheet as somewhat mutually destructive, habs lost a player that they had penciled in for the future 2c role and then panicked with the os compensation to fill that spot with one of the only available options at that time. Positives were that was the final nail in the coffin for mb and that season kickstarted the full rebuild for montreal.

Canes made a fairly low risk high reward play with the offersheet, issue was at the time they were in good shape at center and possibly the assets/cap space used on the offersheet could have been used to address team weaknesses better. But if the kid continues to grow into his game they developed a real replacement for jordan staal at a fair cap hit

The biggest thing about getting Koko is that it essentially spelled the end for Trochek in Carolina. He signed for a very reasonable contract in NYC and has been nothing short of excellent the past two seasons even surpassing his play and production in Carolina. Now at a certain point Trochek is going to fall off and the contract might not be as favourable (he's not having a great season this year but it's still early).

Could having Trochek on the roster the past two years made a difference for the Canes in the playoffs? Maybe, but it's unlikely that it would have gotten them the cup but who knows.

 

[the halleJOKEL]

The biggest thing about getting Koko is that it essentially spelled the end for Trochek in Carolina. He signed for a very reasonable contract in NYC and has been nothing short of excellent the past two seasons even surpassing his play and production in Carolina. Now at a certain point Trochek is going to fall off and the contract might not be as favourable (he's not having a great season this year but it's still early).

Could having Trochek on the roster the past two years made a difference for the Canes in the playoffs? Maybe, but it's unlikely that it would have gotten them the cup but who knows.

the rumor was that trocheck had no interest in re-signing here and had already made up his mind on going to NY when he hit UFA, so signing him to that same reasonable contract here was a non-starter

 

[Svechhammer]

the rumor was that trocheck had no interest in re-signing here and had already made up his mind on going to NY when he hit UFA, so signing him to that same reasonable contract here was a non-starter

Yeah I was gonna say, its not like we had a choice with Tro, he was never coming back

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

the rumor was that trocheck had no interest in re-signing here and had already made up his mind on going to NY when he hit UFA, so signing him to that same reasonable contract here was a non-starter

Yeah I was gonna say, its not like we had a choice with Tro, he was never coming back

Ah, OK, I didn't realize we were 100% out of the running on him. Maybe that's that pre-emptively led to acquiring Koko in the first place.

 

[bleedgreen]

One thing I’ve noticed about Kotkaniemi this season is that he’s really simplified his game offensively. He’s not out there trying to “make plays”, he’s just making the simple conservative pass to the next guy in the sequence. And when he plays that way, he’s really consistently good at succeeding at those simple plays.

That doesn’t sound like much, but the league is absolutely full of guys who want to make everything a no-look saucer pass, or fake a pass and try to cut into the slot, or whatever. You get a lot of situations where an easy play turns into a broken play. Kotkaniemi is playing within his abilities and willingly acting as a cog in the system.

The results speak for themselves. His line with Necas and Robinson has absolutely blown up. The Canes as a whole are putting up monster xGF/xGA to suggest that while a Necas hot streak is part of it, the underlying numbers are also really good. It comes down to Brind’Amour having installed a specific game plan, the front office having Moneyballed a roster that can execute that game plan, and the players having bought into the idea that they just need to follow the plan and good things will happen. Well, here we are, good things are happening. Kotkaniemi is one of the key parts of that success in that he’s not attempting to be some hot shot, he’s just maintaining his role to the benefit of his team.

You mention what I like about his game this year with his passing. He’s actually a very skilled and creative passer, and he’s always loved to try the hard pass because he’s someone that can pull it off from time to time. This year he’s finally let go (so far), like you say he’s taking the easy play which is a pretty huge maturity step for players - especially creative and skilled types. I think he felt the pressure of his draft spot and had trouble letting go of being that guy, the one who pulls off the tough pass. After last seasons disaster it’s like he’s taken some Crash Davis style advice….”Don’t think, it can only hurt the team”. Just accept the play right in front of you.

As far as Tro, there’s been a narrative that Tro wouldn’t stay anyways. Sounds like wishful thinking from our board as I’ve never heard anything concrete that way? I watched an interview that summer with him and he said the Canes never really made him an offer. I’d love to hear something that counters that.