Jesperi Kotkaniemi was the player to watch for the Montreal Canadiens at training camp and he’s surely earned a look in the regular season.
When the Montreal Canadiens went on stage in Dallas and selected Jesperi Kotkaniemi third-overall, the first question asked was, is he ready? The 18-year-old was one of the better players at development camp and played very well over the summer for Finland (U20s) and Ässät (Liiga), and we asked the same question. Now with two preseason games left against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, we may be getting closer to that answer.
Kotkaniemi has made it to the final waves of training camp. And although it may appear at first that his draft position has a lot to do with it, he’s earned the right to remain. It’s just as Marc Bergevin said over the summer. The Habs are going to take to the time to watch and evaluate Kotkaniemi and determine whether he can handle the mental and physical load of playing in the NHL.
The Rookie Tournament was a rollercoaster. It didn’t start off too well as Kotkaniemi was seeing games on the smaller ice surface for the first time. One of his top skills is his vision and awareness, and those neede to be improved for him to keep that up in North America.
That came about in the second game against the Toronto Maple Leafs where Kotkaniemi made a handful of dangerous (but in a good way) plays on the man advantage.
Then the preseason started, and the Finland native showed Montreal Canadiens fans and coaching staff what he excels at.