The 24-year-old Finnish center centered Carolina's highest scoring 5v5 line earlier this season. Can they rekindle the magic?
With Jack Drury out with injury, Finnish center Jesperi Kotkaniemi has been moved back to the second line center position where he started the season.
Kotkaniemi, 24, has been up and down the lineup each year so far in his career with Carolina and this one has been no different.
Kotkaniemi has four goals and 14 points in 28 games this year and his line with Eric Robinson and Martin Necas had been Carolina's best trio this season, accounting for 15 goals in just 134:16 of 5v5 ice time.
Despite that, Kotkaniemi continues to seemingly have a short leash with Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour.
The Finn was demoted from second line center duties after a bad game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and he hadn't played north of 13 minutes again until Drury's injury.
In 20 games starting as the second line center, Kotkaniemi had a 56.31 CF% (which was the lowest among centers), but had a 53.83 expected goals for percentage, 52.29 high danger chances for percentage and was on the ice for 20 goals for (the most on the team) and 12 against.
To be fair, Drury in that same span had had better possession numbers: 59.62 CF%, 55.57 xGF% and 55.95 HDCF%, and was on the ice for 11 goals for and only four goals against.
You can see that Brind'Amour was hoping for some better all-around play with a more defensive-minded center in Drury up in the lineup, but the results since then haven't supported that theory.
In 8 games as the second line center, Drury had just a 51.92 CF% (the lowest among centers), 40.28 xGF%, 33.33 HDCF% and had only been on the ice for two goals for while surrendering six against.
In that same span, Kotkaniemi had a 58.78 CF% (the second best among centers), a 51.97 xGF%, 57.14 HDCF%, with three goals for but the same six against although based on those possession numbers, that seems more a product of poor goaltending.
While Kotkaniemi perhaps deserved the chance to get a spin as the 2C again just organically, the unfortuante injury to Drury has forced the decision.
Kotkaniemi was back skating alongside Robinson and Necas at the Canes latest two practices and he seems slated to keep that spot heading into tonight's game with Ottawa.
But what are the expectations for Kotkaniemi?
"He needs to be impactful," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour. "He's a big body that needs to play big. I think sometimes he tries to do a little too much of the fancy stuff and it's not really his game. He's a real good player when he's more direct and letting the other guys do more of the other stuff. Like the other night, getting to the net, drawing a penalty and just being hard to play against. I think doing that will help him out."
It feels like the biggest hurdle for Kotkaniemi in the NHL has been figuring out what kind of player he is.
Kotkaniemi is a 6-foot-3, 200+ pound centerman who for the first few years of his career put up really strong defensive numbers.
One would think that his game would translate more to being a shutdown, two-way player then, but the last few years especially, we haven't seen him embrace that role.
Kotkaniemi always seems to be at his best when he's being physical and creating space for his wingers (his best season in Carolina was also when he had a career-high 105 hits), but he gets in trouble when he tries to force plays through the neutral zone or high in the offensive zone.
The Finn has a strong shot and great east-to-west vision, but it seems like too often he's trying to create plays out of nothing which are leading to turnovers.
And those turnovers lead to distrust, which leads to less minutes which leads to wavering confidence and then you've got a season much like last year.
He's still a young player and there's plenty of talent, but if Kotkaniemi wants to establish himself as the established 2C moving forward, he has to be impactful and play in the style that suits not only him, but also the team, the best.
"This is a new opportunity and it's not like we have another option," Brind'Amour said. "He's gotta be the guy to elevate his game and help the team win."