The rollercoaster season for Jesperi Kotkaniemi reaches a new chapter as the Montreal Canadiens send the centre down to the Laval Rocket.
The sophomore slump has come at multiple angles and levels for Jesperi Kotkaniemi. He was playing the right way to start the season in hopes of building off a decent rookie year with the Montreal Canadiens. Unfortunately, the production wasn’t there despite playing with Joel Armia and Artturi Lehkonen, who were finding their ways to score.
Injuries were starting to get in the way, including a concussion that kept Kotkaniemi off the team when they were already ridden with absences. His return was electric scoring goals in back-to-back games against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers. That would be it aside from a goal against the Edmonton Oilers. In total, those three goals would be the only points Kotkaniemi would add to his season.
Claude Julien chose to scratch Kotkaniemi with Brendan Gallagher returning, which speaks to the need to get Max Domi going and the performance of both Nick Suzuki and Ilya Kovalchuk. Considering how well the Habs played against the Buffalo Sabres, changing the roster around to insert Kotkaniemi wouldn’t make sense. At the same time, it doesn’t make sense to keep Kotkaniemi in the press box while the team plays.
Sending Kotkaniemi to the AHL was the right move. Fans sometimes forget that the 2018 third-overall pick is only 19. The path for a young player isn’t always a smooth incline. It has high points and low points, and it seems like Kotkaniemi needs to time to build his confidence back. Games in the AHL will give him the ice time and support to do that.
The Montreal Canadiens did that with Victor Mete last season, giving him some time with the Laval Rocket, and it helped. At the same time, it’s not as if Kotkaniemi will be in the AHL for the remainder of the season. The Trade Deadline may bring vacancies in the forward corps and hopefully, Kotkaniemi will be ready to return in the event of that happening.
Some may see Kotkaniemi’s play this season and say it’s a knock on the Habs organization for developing prospects. However, I’d argue this decision is in favour of that development.