Montreal Canadiens: Jesperi Kotkaniemi and the Four Nations Tournament
Jesperi Kotkaniemi will be the sole Montreal Canadiens prospect taking part at the Four Nations Tournament in Sweden this weekend.
The realm of hockey is going back to the U20s for Jesperi Kotkaniemi. The Montreal Canadiens third-overall pick was named to Team Finland to take part in the Four Nations Tournament taking part this weekend. It’s a three-day event where teams from Finland, Sweden, Russia, and the Czech Republic square off against each other.
Kotkaniemi is the only Habs prospect at the tournament as Jesse Ylönen, Jacob Olofsson, and Alexander Romanov are playing preseason games for their respective teams. Ylönen, in particular, is going to be in his second match for the Pelicans Friday morning after notching a secondary assist in his debut game against JYP.
This is going to be the second set of games Kotkaniemi will be playing this summer in preparation for the World Juniors in December. He’s done enough to be a virtual lock to make Team Finland, but extra time on ice doesn’t hurt anyone.
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Each team has three games to play. Finland is the first nation to get going:
- Game One: Finland vs. the Czech Republic (August 24th)
- Game Two: Finland vs. Sweden (August 25th)
- Game Three: Finland vs. Russia (August 26th)
Odds are Kotkaniemi is the first line centre and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him reunite with Ässät linemate Otto Kivenmäki who he’s been having success with during the preseason. Kotkaniemi has stood out in the majority of the games played this offseason. The vision and hockey IQ have led to countless scoring chances for himself and his linemates. That could make the decision to have him and Kivemäki play together a good one as there would be a clear sense of familiarity between the two players.
After the Four Nations Tournament, Kotkaniemi will be off to Montreal to take part in the Rookie Showdown in Brossard.
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Considering how strong of a positive trajectory he’s been on since being drafted, there should be nothing but good things coming for him at this tournament. And the same thing should occur for the Rookie Tournament.