Hurricanes’ Jesperi Kotkaniemi still adjusting to Rod Brind’Amour’s way
The Carolina Hurricanes played the Tampa Bay Lightning 13 times last season, the last five games in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi played against the Lightning three times last season, all in the Stanley Cup finals.
The numbers were different but the reaction the same: Intense disappointment in the end.
The Canes were ousted in the second round of the playoffs by the Lightning. Kotkaniemi and the Montreal Canadiens were denied the Cup after making an inspired playoff run. Kotkaniemi also was left frustrated over missing games in the finals as a scratch as the Lightning won a second consecutive Cup.
None of that will be on anyone’s minds Tuesday, or so they say, as the Canes (9-1-0) and Lightning (6-3-2) face off for the first time in the 2021-22 season at Amalie Arena. It’s a regular-season game that both teams want to win.
That’s it.
For Kotkaniemi, the 5-2 road loss Saturday against the Florida Panthers was his first defeat with the Canes. It ended Carolina’s nine-game winning streak, one victory short of tying the NHL record for consecutive wins to start a season.
“The winning has been really fun, of course,” Kotkaniemi said Monday, chuckling. “We’ve been playing really good so far. Hopefully we can get it back on track (Tuesday). But it has been really fun to get to know new guys, and as I said the team’s been playing really well.”
For Kotkaniemi, 21, It was a rapid adjustment. He changed teams. He changed positions. He also has had new linemates as Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour has changed up the lines before and during games.
One night, Kotkaniemi started with Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen — the three Finns together. Another night, it was on Vincent Trocheck’s line with Martin Necas. In the Florida game, he started on Jordan Staal’s line with Jesper Fast.
The offer sheet to Kotkaniemi was one thing — just NHL business. The Canes made it to the then-restricted free agent, the Canadiens didn’t match it by Sept. 4 and Kotkaniemi was on his way to Carolina. Brind’Amour then switched him from center to wing while Kotkaniemi tried to learn a new system and Brind’Amour’s way of doing things.
“I think he’s getting better,” Brind’Amour said Monday. “It is tough, number one, coming to a new place. Then, we have moved him around, trying to get him familiar with everybody and looking at all the combinations. And he’s playing a position that he hasn’t normally played or hasn’t, so all that comes into effect.”
In the Canes’ 9-1 start, Kotkaniemi has two goals and one assist, with 14 shots on goal. His minutes have ranged roughly between 12 and 14 per game — he’s averaging 12:48 in ice time, with a high of 14:34 in a 3-0 win over Boston on Oct. 28.
Kotkaniemi’s first goal was a sweet one — at Montreal on Oct. 21 in his return game to the Bell Centre. His second came Oct. 29 against the Chicago Blackhawks as Kotkaniemi and Aho teamed up for a well-executed transition score in a 6-3 win.
“I think he’s getting more comfortable with how everything is supposed to go,” Brind’Amour said. “You can see that now. He’s not thinking so much when he’s out on the ice. I would expect him to just keep getting better.”
While he doesn’t have a lot of points, Kotkaniemi has shown he can be a handful in front of the net. At 6-foot-2 and 201 pounds, he’s effective in screening goalies and being a nuisance.
“He’s a big body. He’s a lot bigger than I thought he was before he came here,” Trocheck said last week. “He plays a physical game and has a ton of skill.”
Canes forward Jordan Martinook, an alternate captain, said Kotkaniemi’s transition has been smooth and generally seamless. He apparently has an interesting sense of humor — in his team bio, he says he picked No. 82 as his jersey number with the Canes because it was his best golf score this year.
“He’s always smiling and always kind of in a good mood, so it’s easy for him to fit in with us,” Martinook said Monday. “I think he is, like ‘Troch’ said, bigger than he looks and skates well and has got good hands.
“He’s been fun to watch. Coming into a new team, you’ve got to get settled and get acclimated to everything and he’s still working on that. He’ll get there and he’ll be good.”
Carolina Hurricanes at Tampa Bay Lightning
When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa.
TV/Radio: Bally Sports, WCMC-99.9 FM
This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 6:30 AM.
