Is Jesperi Kotkaniemi flying a sign at him joining the Montreal Canadiens?
The Montreal Canadiens seem to already have a lineup in place for the Stanley Cup Qualifier, but if Jesperi Kotkaniemi is healthy, where does he fit?
Although the Montreal Canadiens are going to have decisions ahead of them preparing for their series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, it seems as if those initial lineup combinations are common knowledge. That top line of Philip Danault, Brendan Gallagher and Tomas Tatar will remain untouched while Jonathan Drouin will likely slide back into the top six playing with one of Max Domi or Nick Suzuki.
As for the fourth line, Jack Evans looks to be the player to be filling in for the vacant spot left by Nate Thompson. That takes care of the centre positions, and because of the health of Jesperi Kotkaniemi, it’s been easy to envision the Habs returning to complete the season without him. What if that isn’t the case anymore?
Kotkaniemi’s physical transformation has had fans talking for weeks. At the same time, news of him hiring skating coaches to improve is the recipe of him returning to the Montreal Canadiens as a better and more complete player.
There was no recovery time specified from insiders or specialists when the news initially broke. All we knew was that Kotkaniemi returned to Finland in April, didn’t require surgery for the injury, and that team doctors said there were not any setbacks. Given the effects of his training overseas, “no setbacks” is a definite impact.
Going back to that Instagram photo, it’s a very good thing if Kotkaniemi can play tennis right now. Tennis is not as physically impactful as hockey, but it’s still a positive sign of his recovery. But that’s what all these have been, only signs. That was until the latest news pertaining to the 19-year-old broke.
This comes from Finnish news outlet Helsingin Sanomat that put out an article not too long ago stating that a group of players rented their own plane and are heading to New York. Leo Komarov was apparently the brains behind the organization here, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi is confirmed to be on the flight.
Nothing pertaining to his status has been released by anyone. However, if Kotkaniemi is travelling overseas to North America with training camp hoping for a July 10th opening, he may be ready to play. He’ll definitely need to be cleared by Montreal Canadiens doctors first.
Related Story. Suzuki will be a key factor. light
Now we have a bit of predicament. Even though Kotkaniemi started the season with the Habs, he didn’t finish it with them. His bad luck sophomore year granted him 36 NHL games of not his best performance despite a few bright lights along the way. He won’t be gifted a spot on the team, especially with Suzuki clearly establishing himself as a key player on the team.
That said, if Kotkaniemi stands out at camp, there’s no way Claude Julien can keep him off the lineup. Perhaps starting in a fourth-line role is where the Habs see him, at least to start out the series. If that happens, I still feel Evans should be on the team and could easily slide to Kotkaniemi’s right-wing unless Charles Hudon gets the gig there.
Claude Julien hasn’t been one to use his fourth line centers for more than energy shifts and penalty killing, but the Montreal Canadiens will need any and all tricks against Pittsburgh. With a middle of Danault, Suzuki, Domi and a revamped Kotkaniemi, Julien could have a number of creative avenues to pursue.
The priority is going to be trying to shut down Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin or, at the very least, limit the damage they create at 5v5. That will leave a lot of responsibility on the third and fourth lines to attempt to out-produce the opposition. And when we’re looking at Pittsburgh, that means trying to out-produce Jared McCann and Teddy Blueger as Nick Bjugstad is out at least eight weeks after spinal surgery for a herniated disc.
Yesterday, Nick Bjugstad underwent successful spinal surgery for a herniated disc.
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) May 27, 2020
The surgery was performed by Dr. Bradford Currier of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
The forward is expected to be sidelined for a minimum of eight weeks. pic.twitter.com/iStBmP0hHA
This could be a special opportunity for Kotkaniemi if he gets those assignments. The only eyesore that Julien may pick at is the fact that Kotkaniemi has very little experience playing shorthanded. He has a total of 1:08 on the penalty kill in his entire career (from Natural Stat Trick). If this is a serious issue for Julien, it can easily be solved by putting Evans in who was killing penalties in his short stint with the Habs. And if that’s still not enough, throwing in Dale Weise over Hudon can help add some reassurance.
Of all the storylines for the Montreal Canadiens ahead of the Stanley Cup Quaflier, this is the most interesting. It may seem as if we’re reaching for any sense of a storyline, but I don’t see any other reason for Kotkaniemi to be making the trip unless he felt he was ready to play. However, it’ll be up to the coaching staff to decide whether that happens or not.
Personally, there’s no way you can keep Kotkanimi off the roster if he shows improvement and can take the strain.
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He’s still meant and expected to be one of the future cornerstones of the franchise. A player who steps up in big moments and wow’s you. And if there was ever a time for Kotkaniemi to wow someone, it would be during this series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.