No one wants Jesperi Kotkaniemi or his contract

Marc-Olivier Cook
No one wants Jesperi Kotkaniemi or his contract
Credit: Josh Lavallee/NHLI via Getty Images

Jesperi Kotkaniemi is at a crossroads.

He hasn't even been able to reach the 10-point mark this season in the NHL (nine points in 42 games), and he hasn't played a single playoff game because his team didn't need him.

The result? The Hurricanes have a decision to make regarding him.

The problem is this: no team in the National Hockey League wants him or his contract, according to Frank Seravalli. Teams aren't interested in trading for his services because his contract ($4.82 million per year through the summer of 2030) is too burdensome.

That's where we stand with KK. 

You can't really say this comes as a huge surprise.

His performance has been on the decline for a few years now, and even though he's only 25, his potential seems limited. He looks like a player who's already reached his peak… and that, too, is a pretty big problem for a guy his age.

But we've heard it said often: KK and the desire to put in the effort to improve and work on his game don't really go together in the same sentence…

In the end, it's really the Hurricanes who look a little crazy in this whole situation.

They wanted to be cocky; they wanted to piss off the Canadiens by acting cocky about the hostile bid… and now it's backfiring on them.

So it'll be interesting to see what Eric Tulsky does about this situation… because he might not have a choice but to buy out the player's contract (especially since the summer of 2026 is the last chance the Hurricanes will have to buy out Kotkaniemi's contract for 1/3 of its value instead of 2/3).

And with the salary cap set to rise, this might be the most logical option in Carolina… 

(Credit: Screenshot / PuckPedia)

In a Nutshell

– Nice.

– Great news.

– Good question.

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