The 2019-20 season was a difficult one for Jesperi Kotkaniemi, as the 19-year-old dealt with big expectations after a very good rookie season as the youngest player in the NHL. His second season saw him fall into the ever-present danger of the sophomore slump. With eight points in 36 games, along with a handful as a healthy scratch, Kotkaniemi was sent to the Laval Rocket.
His first game in the AHL mirrored many of his NHL ones, with the Rocket jumping out to a 4-1 lead, before crumbling in the final five minutes and losing in overtime. Kotkaniemi immediately made his own presence felt, adding an assist on a Charles Hudon power-play goal, a trend that continued during his stretch with Laval. In his next two games, however, Kotkaniemi began to show why he might not stay long in Laval, compiling five assists in two games, including three power-play helpers in a 5-4 win over Utica.
After his quiet showing in the NHL, his breakout against Utica showed the fans what a confident Kotkaniemi is capable of, using misdirection and slick passing to help free up space for Hudon. The duo meshed quite well, with Hudon’s fantastic shot complimenting the silky passing from the young Finn.
What a feed from Jesperi Kotkaniemi to Charles Hudon for another power play goal.
Rocket lead 2-1! pic.twitter.com/XkXfT96xCY
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) February 6, 2020
That win over Utica was something of a turning point for Kotkaniemi’s season. In the games that followed there was a lot more fullness to his game that had been lacking in the NHL. With the AHL being that half-second slower in regards to play, Kotkaniemi used that split second to read opposing defenders, and found seams he wasn’t finding in Montreal.
His ability to use that time to find his teammates helped to reinvigorate the Laval power play, and helped to replace the offence that was shipped out with the trade of Phil Varone and Riley Barber. It wasn’t an easy task, something was very off in Laval just prior to his arrival, and it wasn’t long before Kotkaniemi’s buy-in to Joel Bouchard’s mentality paid off. Unfortunately for Kotkaniemi, after a two-point night, including his first AHL goal, his season came to a premature end.
He took a big hit against the Cleveland Monsters and stayed in the game for a bit before sitting out for the remainder of the game. Just a few days later, a diagnosed spleen injury ended his season and as he was recovering from surgery, the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the remainder of the AHL season. For Kotkaniemi, it’s a bitter pill to swallow as he battled through a severe concussion at the NHL level thanks to a dirty slewfoot from Nikita Zadorov then, after finding his confidence in the AHL, a spleen injury put the kibosh on that.
While it is very easy to dwell on the negatives of what was a trying season for the young Finn, there is a lot of context needed for that. Kotkaniemi still hasn’t even hit his 20th birthday, making him one of the youngest players still in the NHL this past season, and there is still learning to be done at the professional level. Factor in that his struggles were not an isolated thing in Montreal as well, the team as a whole had a rough go in terms of finishing plays in the offensive zone this year.
The positives are still there in the young centre, and they began to shine much brighter once he arrived in the AHL. As stated above, the little extra split-second he took on plays around the net showed that he was learning in that regard. Plays at the NHL level that were low-percentage, low-quality and forced by Kotkaniemi became less and less frequent with Laval.
A lot of fans took his demotion as a sign of stagnant development but, in reality, it was potentially just what Kotkaniemi needed. Unfortunately, due to injuries and unforeseen global pandemics, we won’t see how much it actually helped until next season. Laval’s roster and coaching mentality are focused on putting these players in spots to work on their biggest flaws and put them in the best spots to succeed. For Kotkaniemi, he didn’t have to shoulder the load alone at even strength but more than held his own in that regard.
Where he shined the most was as a pivot on the power play, often operating as the go-between for Xavier Ouellet and Hudon, Kotkaniemi’s slick passing allowed the Rocket power play to reach lethal levels of effectiveness. His ability to thread passes into the right spots for Laval’s star sniper was a big reason why the Rocket were able to (no pun intended) launch themselves into a playoff chase after a long losing streak.
So, where does that leave Kotkaniemi now?
In just 13 AHL games, he managed 13 points and looked like an entirely new player before his injury ended his season. He was also arguably the most skilled player Bouchard had to work with in his two seasons in the AHL. Without changing his coaching style, he started to see immediate results with Kotkaniemi. I personally find it hard to believe that we’ll see the Finn in the AHL next season barring extraordinary circumstances, and more than believe he’ll be a breakout player in Montreal instead. With the lessons learned under Bouchard, it’s entirely possible we see Kotkaniemi surpass his rookie year, with the caveat being he spends some time on the power play to help make use of his offensive talents.
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He’s young and still developing, but also extremely talented. Far too talented to spend a long time in the AHL, and he proved that in his 13-game stint this season. It was brief, it was better than many fans could have hoped and it showed that Kotkaniemi has plenty more to show at the NHL level. It was a rough season for Kotkaniemi, but it doesn’t mean that he didn’t improve and grow as a player, regardless of what the stat sheet shows right now.
