Go back to March of 2022, when the Carolina Hurricanes locked Jesperi Kotkaniemi into an eight-year, $38.56-million contract that looked like it could be a great bargain provided he at least somewhat fulfill the promise he possessed when the Montreal Canadiens drafted him third overall in 2018.
Kotkaniemi was merely scratching the surface of his potential when the Hurricanes signed him to a one-year, $6.1-million offer sheet the Canadiens couldn’t justify matching in 2021, and he wasn’t exactly tearing it up when Don Waddell inked him to that long-term deal less than a year later.
But there was evidence — over two playoff runs with Montreal — Kotkaniemi had the ability to elevate his game when it mattered most, and that had to count for something.
He had four goals and was physically dominant at times in the 2020 bubble run, and he followed that up with five goals and eight points — many of them notched at key moments — to help the Canadiens reach the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.
When it took Kotkaniemi 34 games to get to five goals and 10 points this season, that potential bargain-deal was starting to look like it might become an albatross. And even after he dulled a bit of that concern by producing 13 goals and 33 points over the final 48 games of the season — career-high production in both categories in 14 less games than when he had 12 goals and 29 points in 66 games during the 2021-22 season — he didn’t completely erase it through the first round of these playoffs.
The 22-year-old produced zero goals and just one point and was underwhelming at best in a six-game win for the Hurricanes over the New York Islanders.
They needed more from Kotkaniemi.
Well, now they’ve gotten it in two dominant wins over the New Jersey Devils.
On Wednesday, the Pori, Finland native scored on one of two shots, had an assist, notched three hits and made an impact through most of his 17:55 on the ice to help Carolina to a 5-1 win. And on Friday, Kotkaniemi was the best player on the ice in a 6-1 win that put the Devils on the ropes and significantly bumped his stock back up.
He helped set the tone with a monster hit on Devils captain Nico Hischier in the first period and uncorked his wicked wrister for the first two goals of the game (scored within the first four minutes of the second). The 6-foot-3, 201-pounder then finished with a game-high six shots on net, won 10 of 17 faceoffs and dominated over his 22 shifts.
To see Kotkaniemi drive the team’s most effective line, centring Jordan Martinook and Jesper Fast, was to see the kind of value he can provide this team moving forward.
That he’s doing it now, with the Hurricanes missing three of their most potent offensive weapons — Andrei Svechnikov, Teuvo Teravainen and Max Pacioretty are all out with injuries — is worth a lot more than the money on his paycheck.
Kotkaniemi’s not the only one.
Hurricanes doing it by committee
The Hurricanes are getting scoring from everywhere. Five different players hit the back of the net for them in Game 1 and they replicated that feat in Game 2.
That’s a big part of the reason they’re headed to New Jersey in full control of this series.
The rest of it is because they do everything by committee.
Their forecheck is so connected and, therefore, so stifling. Their back pressure allows their defence to be hyper-aggressive at both blue lines, making it practically impossible for their opposition to generate odd-man rushes. And they get a full commitment from every player in their lineup in their own zone.
The Devils haven’t had an answer for any of it.
When it appeared as though they might conjure something to start this game — they generated good speed through the opening shifts, earned back-to-back power plays for a 5-on-3 advantage and registered their best chances of the series — Frederik Andersen made some exceptional saves and let his team settle in.
He’s allowed just three goals on 81 shots through three starts, coming up with big saves at big moments.
But the Hurricanes haven’t forced Andersen to be anything but ordinary, and that’s because they’re playing the type of team hockey that wins championships.
They’re still a long way from hoisting the Cup this year, but they’re looking unstoppable as they inch closer.
Devils goaltending a concern moving forward
Akira Schmid is 22 and well on his way to accomplishing big things in this league, especially after stepping into Game 3 of the first-round series against the New York Rangers and backstopping the Devils to four wins in five games.
But the Hurricanes have gotten to Schmid early and often and chased him from both games of this series.
Vitek Vanecek, who was brilliant for most of the season, wasn’t able to stop the bleeding in relief. And if he’s starting for New Jersey in Game 3, he’s doing so with an .836 save percentage through five appearances in these playoffs.
It will take a massive turnaround from whomever takes the Devils' net come Sunday afternoon because, with the way the Hurricanes are playing, that goaltender is going to have to be near-perfect to give them a chance of getting back in this series.
Game 3 is set for Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sportsnet.
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