In Finland, the saying “Luja tahto vie läpi harmaan kiven” or “A strong will takes you through the grey stone” has the same meaning as “Where there’s a will there’s a way.” This is true for any hockey player who hits stretches when things don’t play out as they hoped. For Carolina Hurricanes forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi, the 2024-25 season will be a make-or-break campaign to see if he can be the player the team believed him to be when they gave him an eight-year, $38.56 million deal in March 2022.
While expectations were high for the third-overall pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Kotkaniemi can still carve a path to being worth that $4.82 million annual average value.
Kotkaniemi Must Push Through the Grey Stone
After signing his extension in 2022, former Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell noted Kotkaniemi’s potential/ “Jesperi has shown us just how high his ceiling can be through his skill and work ethic, and that he is a great fit with our young core,” said Waddell. “He is still just 21 years old, and we are confident his role in our organization will continue to expand in the years to come.”
He had the best season of his career in 2022-23, finishing with 18 goals and 43 points in 82 games, including two game-winning goals and three power-play markers. He averaged the second most ice time of his career with 14:44 and won 51.4% of his faceoffs, the second highest of his career following 2023-24’s 51.5%.
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While the 2023-24 season was not one to remember, the 24-year-old Pori, Finland, native knows he must be better this season. During last season’s exit interviews, he did not mince words: “Pretty sh*tty, overall. Tough year for me… I could have been a lot better. I’ll just try to forget this year now and focus on the next one.” This goes back to “Luja tahto vie läpi harmaan kiven” – he must push through the grey stone and forge a path where he can overcome seasons like those.
Last season, Kotkaniemi finished with 12 goals and 27 points – his lowest point total with the Hurricanes – after having an excellent 43-point season the year before. This season will be pivotal for him as he enters the third season of his extension. Many rumors surfaced this summer about teams being interested in the center or the possibility of a buyout. A buyout would last for 12 seasons, dating until 2035-36 at $835,000 per year. But the Hurricanes still have faith in the Finnish center, who is slated as the second-line center for head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s team.
He should be paired with winger Martin Necas once again and possibly newcomer Jack Roslovic unless a high-end prospect makes the case to jump into a top-six role.
Related: Hurricanes’ Kotkaniemi Can Be Jordan Staal 2.0
Kotkaniemi has a cavalcade of supporters who think he can be the player the Hurricanes took a chance on. Some view him as the next Jordan Staal in his defensive style of play, and he has shown flashes of being a capable center to win face-offs in different zones.
In the team’s first preseason game versus the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sept. 24, he won 72.7% of his face-offs. Furthermore, after losing offensive players like Teuvo Teräväinen and Stefan Noesen, there could be more opportunities for Kotkaniemi to gain more ice time than last season (12:59 compared to 14:44 the season before). In a transition season for the ‘Canes, some core players will be leaned on more (Seth Jarvis, Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, and Necas), and if he wants to be one of those players, he must have a huge season.
Hopeful Bounceback Season for Kotkaniemi
The sky is the limit for Kotkaniemi as he has the potential to be Staal 2.0, and many hope he will be. If he starts the 2024-25 season like he did last October when the team was struggling, he could have a huge bounce-back season and score 40-plus points for the Hurricanes again. If he has consistent linemates in Necas and whoever is on the second-line left-wing spot, he could even have a chance for a 45 to 50-point campaign. However, he cannot have another down season going into next summer, or things could get interesting for him.
