Jesperi Kotkaniemi violently broke his stick after his team’s defeat

Jesperi Kotkaniemi is still the talk of Montreal. After all, the former 2018 first-round pick never took off in Montreal before leaving for Carolina two years ago.

And there, too, despite signing an eight-year contract last year, he never quite lived up to the hype. He showed some progress this season, but nothing more.

KK’s problem is consistency. And to prove my point, the playoffs are a good example.

In the first round, against the Islanders, he had one assist in six games. Then, against the Devils in the next round, he had five points in as many games, including two goals.

And now, against Florida, he has nothing in three games.

Was he thinking about that last night when he slammed his stick into the wall after his team’s loss? You’d think that was part of his frustration, yes.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi is every Hurricanes player trying to solve Sergei Bobrosvky…😡 pic.twitter.com/djaKraOOX6

– Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) May 23, 2023

But it goes deeper than that. I’m convinced that, in reality, he was thinking of Sergei Bobrovsky when he decided to bang his stick against the wall. And why? Because the goalie is currently on another planet.

Since the start of the third round, the forwards have been unable to score at five-on-five.

Right now, the Panthers are entitled to the goalie they signed to a high-priced contract. He’s taking them to the next level, and he’s playing like he really wants the Habs to draft 31st or 32nd this summer.

Everything seems to be smiling on the Panthers at the moment. Apart from the fact that Aleksander Barkov has left to attend a bar mitzvah, of course.

“He was at a bar mitzvah, his neighbor had a… yeah that’s what we’ll go with… a bar mitzvah.” 😆

Paul Maurice when asked about Aleksander Barkov. pic.twitter.com/F90aXMovRr

– TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 23, 2023

But hey. Between Matthew Tkachuk proving that the Panthers did the right thing by picking him up, and the Bob deciding to justify his contract, the Panthers have a recipe that works.

In any case, the cake is rising at the right time.

In bursts

– Indeed.

– Cole Caufield would be drafted earlier if we were to redo the 2019 draft.[RDS]

– The table is set for the Memorial Cup. [TSLH]

– Stéphane Robidas is proud of his son. [BPM Sports]

– We get along.