KOTKANIEMI DELIVERS FOR HABS WHEN IT COUNTS
Former No. 3 pick shows new level of maturity in post-season
There will always be a segment of Montreal Canadiens fans who question the team’s first-round pick in the 2018 entry draft.
They will say that management messed up. They got it wrong. They were guilty of overthinking.
With the No. 3 pick, the Habs had a choice between winger Brady Tkachuk and defenceman Quinn Hughes. They passed on both, mostly because GM Marc Bergevin coveted a top-line centre — something the team hasn’t had since Vincent Damphousse helped Montreal win the Stanley Cup in 1993.
Instead, the team selected a skinny kid out of Finland, who NHL Central Scouting didn’t even have among its top five Europeans skaters.
Two years later, Jesperi Kotkaniemi (42 points) ranks well below Tkachuk (89 points) and Hughes (56 points) in career scoring. He had just 11 goals last season as a rookie. This year, he managed six goals in 34 games, before getting assigned to the minors.
Forget about being the next Damphousse. After getting demoted and briefly moved over to the wing, there were fears that Montreal had another Alex Galchenyuk on its hands.
Those fears, however, have abated in the playoffs.
Kotkaniemi might not get you out of your seat like Hughes does or play as gritty a game as Tkachuk.
But with a team-leading four goals in six playoff games, he is proving that he is far from being a first-round bust.
Give him time and he might just be Montreal’s long-awaited No. 1 centre. In a 5-0 win in Game 2 over the Philadelphia Flyers, he was the Canadiens’ No. 1 offensive weapon.
“All the kudos to KK,” said assistant coach Kirk Muller, who took over head coaching duties in Game 2 from Claude Julien while he recovers from a heart condition.
“No one wants to go down, but he did and he learned from it. It’s a maturity level. This is a really tough league, and when you’re young, you have to learn some stuff. But you know what, it made him a better player, and you can see it.
“He’s faster, he’s stronger, he’s physical. His play shows itself. He took it and learned from it and got to be a better player. and he’s had a real big impact on our hockey team since we’ve come to Toronto.”
Playing on a newly formed line with Max Domi and Jonathan Drouin — together only because Muller was calling the shots — Kotkaniemi scored twice as the Canadiens evened up the best-ofseven series 1-1 on Friday.
It was a breakout performance for the 20-year-old. But it’s not only that Kotkaniemi has been finding the back of the net in the playoffs. It’s how he’s making the puck go in that has to impress Canadiens management.
While teammate Nick Suzuki’s goals have been a thing of jaw-dropping skill and beauty, Kotkaniemi’s are greasy. Some might call them garbage goals. Most of them have come from within two feet of the crease. One went in off his body. Two others were shovelled in off rebounds.
Even his flashiest goal was scored from high in the slot, with defenders all around him.
It’s a sign that Kotkaniemi’s game has matured. He’s not playing on the perimeter. He’s going into the so-called danger areas and using his lanky frame to his advantage.
He may never be an imposing No. 1 centre the way that Pierreluc Dubois in Columbus or Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele are. Then again, those players weren’t imposing at age 20.
It took time. And if fans are patient enough, they may see a similar future from Kotkaniemi.
“He’s a tough kid,” said Domi, who assisted on both of Kotkaniemi’s goals. “He’s never been scared. You can be tough by going to the hard areas and winning the puck battles. He knows where to go to score.”
Kotkaniemi certainly knew where to go in Game 2. The 20-year-old parked his six-foottwo, 198-pound frame at the side of the crease and slid in the rebound off a Drouin shot to give Montreal a 2-0 lead in the first period. With the Canadiens on the power play in the third period, Kotkaniemi gave a glimpse of the skill set that he possesses when he took a pass from Victor Mete to cut across the ice and bury a wrist shot in the top corner.
“He’s playing with a lot of confidence,” said Domi.
It’s not just Kotkaniemi that is playing like he’s been in the league for years.
These playoffs have been about Carey Price and Shea Weber trying to capitalize on the remaining prime years of productivity. But they’ve also been about getting the kids some experience.
While Kotkaniemi has four goals in six games, Suzuki has one goal and three points, and Mete has a pair of assists. With 2019 first-round pick Cole Caufield having led the Big Ten in scoring with 36 points in 36 games as a college freshman this year, there are enough reasons to believe this will be more than a one-time deal for the Canadiens.
“They’re both playing huge roles for our team right now,” said Domi. “It takes a lot of confidence. It’s a tough job to do. They showed it in the first round. And they showed again tonight. The kids have been outstanding.”