Bad news for Jesperi Kotkaniemi and good news for the Carolina Hurricanes
In the last few minutes, the Carolina Hurricanes organization just announced the signing of veteran center Paul Stastny to a one-season, $1.5 million contract.
Stastny, 36, has played 1,072 NHL games to date, including stints with the Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets and Vegas Golden Knights.
He produced a solid 52 points/82 games last season (70 points in 2019).
This is certainly bad news for Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who seemed to have secured the role of second center, but now Stastny could very well take that job from him. (which many say he's not ready to take)
On the other hand, the young Kotkaniemi will have a good mentor and will be able to have less responsibility. With the arrival of Stastny, his role (KK) will decrease.
Either way, this is a great signing for the Canes, and here are their likely new lines:
Teravainen - Aho - Jarvis
Svechnikov - Stastny - Necas
Fast - J. Staal - Kase
Martinook - Kotkaniemi - Drury
The former third overall pick would move from the top-6 to the fourth line. Do you agree with this prediction from dailyfaceoff.com?
| POLL | ||
Where do you see KK play this season? | ||
| 2nd line | 117 | 15.6 % |
| 3rd line | 213 | 28.3 % |
| 4th line | 422 | 56.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
