Canadiens' Jesperi Kotkaniemi: Logging big minutes in Finland

Kotkaniemi is averaging over 20 minutes of ice time since joining Assat of the Finnish Liiga, Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette reports.

In his first two games, Kotkaniemi led all forwards with 20:24 of ice time, then played 21:28 in a shootout win. He's never averaged this much time while with the Canadiens and is unlikely to average 20 minutes for Montreal this coming season, but the ability to play this much is important. If he's ever going to be a top-six forward, Kotkaniemi will need to be on the ice more than the 14 minutes he averaged in playoffs.