The Jesperi Kotkaniemi 2021 offer sheet fiasco was one of the most drama filled acquisitions of a player in recent NHL history.
Partly seen as revenge for the Sebastian Aho offer sheet one year earlier, but more so the Carolina Hurricanes leveraging the tools at their disposal for a player they wanted to acquire, either way it ended up with the Canes acquiring Kotkaniemi from the Montreal Canadiens.
But ever since he was acquired, Kotkaniemi has been a hot and cold player.
The Canes first tried to form a Finnish trio with 'KK' on the wing with Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen, but it just didn't take off and he was subsequently moved down to 4C.
But in year two in Carolina, Kotkaniemi got the chance at 2C.
His line with Andrei Svechnikov and Martin Necas took off, but his points didn't show as he had just seven goals and 14 points in 41 games.
But his linemates were pacing themselves for career years, so he had to be doing something right.
However, in the second half of the season, Kotkaniemi's numbers finally caught up with the impacts as he had 11 goals and 29 points in the next 41 games.
He looked to have finally figured it out and seemed poised to take another step heading into this season.
And by all accounts, that looked to be happening as the Finnish forward kept that ball rolling into 2023-24 with eight goals and 15 points in his first 21 games, but then things just sort of just fell off.
Kotkaniemi has had just three goals and 10 points in his next 54 games and has once again been relegated to the fourth line or even the press box.
A lot of Kotkaniemi's early success came when he was going to the net, as six of his goals were scored from in front and it feels like he got away from that.
His physicality has also dropped as he had 20 hits in those first 21 games and now has just 33 in his last 54.
Last year he had 105 hits and this year he's on pace for less than 60.
I've always felt that Kotkaniemi is at his best when he's utilizing his size along the boards to win battles and create space but it seems that for some reason, that's gone away.
Confidence is a hell of a drug and perhaps that's something that's dried up for someone who, in all senses, is still a young kid.
Analytics
It's weird because Kotkaniemi hasn't even been bad based on the underlying numbers. He has a 58.68 CF% (12th on the team), 50% GF (15th) and a 54.99 xGF% (14th).
He's 50.8% in the faceoff dot, but is shooting at just 9.2%.
On the one hand though, his defensive impacts have gone a bit to the wayside this season after having tremendous numbers last year.
And perhaps that right there is the answer to this dilemma because Rod Brind'Amour is a coach that wants his players to be defensively responsible.
But while the defense has taken a hit, offensively, Kotkaniemi has been generating at a good rate.
In fact, the microstats tracked by Corey Sznajder of All Three Zones suggests that Kotkaniemi has been one of the better passers in the league this season.
I've said multiple times that Kotkaniemi should have at least 10 more assists this season and the underlying numbers seem to suggest as much.
I think he's a player that's had some real tough luck, but it's the NHL and at the end of the day, you have to produce and Kotkaniemi hasn't done that which perhaps makes the defensive hit standout worse.
Brind'Amour hasn't offered too much insight into what specifically in the Finnish center's game has him on the fringes of the roster, but it's clear he isn't satisfied with his play as he would have been healthy scratched for the second straight game on Friday if not for Svechnikov being ruled out with a last minute illness.
Kotkaniemi has six years remaining on his $4.82 million AAV contract so either the Canes need to figure out a better way to get the most out of the young center or this may be trending towards an early separation.