Jesperi Kotkaniemi is not doing well in Carolina and is the talk of the town

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Jeff Drouin
October 27, 2022 (9:35)

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On TVA Sports yesterday, journalist Renaud Lavoie discussed the difficult start to the season of forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi. He was very clear and direct.

"It's extremely difficult for Kotkaniemi." - Renaud Lavoie

It's not going well for him and he's not playing well.

Remember that Kotkaniemi got a great opportunity, and he started the season as the Hurricanes' second center, under the center of two completely on fire players (Andrei Svechnikov - 9 points in 7 games and Martin Necas - 8 points in 6 games)

A huge vote of confidence in KK from his head coach, but unfortunately he's not getting the job done:

"It's extremely difficult," said Renaud Lavoie on Wednesday. I can't wait to see tomorrow if he'll still be the second line in practice. Don't forget that Paul Stastny is now with the organization and is on the fourth trio.

If you include playoff games, in his last 40 games he has only one goal. One goal, 10 assists. We must admit that offensively, the problems are major in his case.

Last year he told us it was because of injuries, this year he has only two assists since the beginning of the season, in short, it's really difficult."

- Renaud Lavoie

One really wonders what more it will take for Kotkaniemi to produce properly, especially with the salary he's making.

As Renaud mentions, if he was still with the Montreal Canadiens, where would he be? Maybe it's not a bad thing that he left in the end.

Kotkaniemi is making $4.820M per year, until 2029-2030, and this contract is looking worse and worse for the Canes, who were so proud of their move.

He has two small assists, in six games, and is not creating anything for his teammates.

Credit: TVA Sports