Kotkaniemi feeling good at camp
Jesperi Kotkaniemi looks — and sounds — like he's having fun again.
Three years ago, the young Finnish centre quickly became Montreal's adopted hockey son after being selected with the third overall pick at the 2018 NHL Draft. As an 18-year-old rookie, Kotkaniemi won over Canadiens fans with his play and bright smile, finishing the 2018-19 season with 11-2334 totals in 79 games.
A star was born and it was fun to watch.
But the shine came off that star last season as Kotkaniemi became a victim of the sophomore jinx. After posting 6-2-8 totals and a minus-11 in 36 games, the Canadiens sent him down to the AHL'S Laval Rocket to find his game again. He did, posting 1-12-13 totals in 13 games before being sidelined with a spleen injury.
Kotkaniemi recovered in time to join the Canadiens in the postseason bubble and played very well in Toronto, tying Nick Suzuki for the team lead in goals with four in 10 games.
Kotkaniemi, who is now 6-foot-2 and 201 pounds, is growing up in front of our eyes and he has continued to look good during training camp while skating on a line with newcomer Tyler Toffoli and fellow Finn Joel Armia. The shine seems to have returned to the young star and new backup goalie Jake Allen has been impressed.
“Kotkaniemi — I can't pronounce his name yet — but his shot is next level,” Allen said after practice Thursday. “That kid's got an absolute missile of a wrister.”
When asked about Allen's comments after practice Saturday at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard, Kotkaniemi said: “You know, I think he just said that because our first day here we did one-on-one drills on the ice. I was first guy in the line and I (was) just shooting him in the head. I don't know if I gave him a concussion or something, but it was a pretty decent shot, so that's why he probably said that.”
Kotkaniemi laughed and flashed his smile as he was saying that. It was nice to see that smile again.
When asked what's the biggest lesson he learned from his struggles last season, Kotkaniemi said: “I just think everyone's facing those tougher parts during their career and hopefully that was mine. I think it's just time to move forward from that. I think it's not too good to think (about) that too much.”
Kotkaniemi has a head start on his Canadiens teammates this season after having already played 10 games with his old team, Assat Pori, in the Finnish Elite League, posting 2-6-8 totals before returning to Montreal for training camp. Kotkaniemi also worked with his skating coach in Finland during the offseason, saying he has gained more power in his legs.
“I'm feeling pretty good, I can say,” he said. “I know everyone pretty much here pretty good. So it's a little different coming here this year than it was my first year. Everything's pretty familiar and feeling pretty comfortable.”
Claude Julien said Kotkaniemi has always had a good shot but that it has become even better as he gets bigger and stronger and it's something the Canadiens coach would like him to use more often.
“There's no doubt right now that's a real big weapon that he has in his arsenal that we hope he'll be able to use more and more as he progresses here,” Julien said. “But certainly a guy that can score a lot of goals if he uses that shot properly.”
Kotkaniemi will also get a chance to use that shot on the second power-play unit, where he is stationed on the right half-wall with his lefthanded shot, which could work to his advantage.
“It's not just necessarily (for) a one-timer,” Julien said. “He's got a real good wrist shot and a good hard shot with a quick release, so he can use both. But it puts him on his forehand to play that side on the power play, so I think we're hoping that he'll be able to utilize that shot of his and the positioning of being on his off-side, I guess — if you can put it that way — to get that shot off. But certainly that's something that we looked at and we hope he can use that shot to his advantage.”
The Canadiens are counting heavily on Kotkaniemi, 20, and Suzuki, 21, to continue the strong play at centre they showed in the bubble and it looks like Jake Evans, 24, will keep the spot he earned as a rookie during the playoffs as the fourthline centre. That means Phillip Danault, 27, is the team's most experienced centre and will be counted on heavily, especially when it comes to faceoffs.
“I think that will be really big for us,” Kotkaniemi said about Danault's experience. “He's kind of a mentor for us. He's teaching us every day those little tricks. He's been here a while, so it's really good to have a guy like that around.”
When asked if he could say what tricks Danault has taught him, Kotkaniemi said with a grin: “Sorry, I can't. We're going to use those against other teams.”
That sounded like something the rookie Kotkaniemi would have said.
That's a good sign for the Canadiens.