Hurricanes' Jesperi Kotkaniemi: Closing in on 40-point plateau
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Kotkaniemi registered an assist in Saturday's 5-3 win over the Maple Leafs, his sixth point in his last six games.
Already sitting with a career-high 36 points (14G, 22A), Kotkaniemi could crack the 40-point mark for the first time with a strong push down the stretch. The 22-year-old Finn has really benefited this year from a move up the Canes' depth chart, currently anchoring the team's second line in between Seth Jarvis and Stefan Noesen.
Kotkaniemi scored two goals and an assist in Tuesday's 5-3 win over the Jets.
The 22-year-old has flashed his upside with five-point and three-point performances already in March, but he has zero points in the other six games on the month. Kotkaniemi seems locked into a top-six role with Andrei Svechnikov (knee) done for the year. but until he shows more consistency his main fantasy utility will come in DFS tournaments.
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Hurricanes' Jesperi Kotkaniemi: Steps up with five points Sunday
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Kotkaniemi provided a goal and four assists in the Hurricanes' 6-0 win over Tampa Bay on Sunday.
Kotkaniemi's marker and three of his assists were recorded while the Hurricanes had the man advantage. He's up to 12 goals and 30 points in 61 contests in 2022-23, including 10 power-play points. Kotkaniemi was quiet offensively over his previous five appearances, contributing one goal without an assist over that span. The 22-year-old is closing in on his career high of 34 points, which was set in 2018-19 over 79 contests.
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Hurricanes' Jesperi Kotkaniemi: Starting to warm up
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Kotkaniemi scored a goal and added an assist in a 4-1 win over Washington in the 2023 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series on Saturday.
He and linemates Martin Necas and Teuvo Teravainen combined for seven points (three goals, four assists). Kotkaniemi only has 22 points this season, but seems to be heating up a bit with seven points (three goals, four assists) in his last six games.
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Hurricanes' Jesperi Kotkaniemi: Scores in loss to Rangers
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Kotkaniemi found the back of the net in a 6-2 loss to the Rangers on Saturday.
Kotkaniemi scored at 9:43 of the second period to provide Carolina with a 2-1 edge. He has eight goals and 21 points in 52 games in 2022-23. Kotkaniemi has recorded at least a point in each of his last three games and four of his last five contests.
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Hurricanes' Jesperi Kotkaniemi: Supplies two helpers Wednesday
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Kotkaniemi registered two assists in Carolina's 5-1 victory over the Sabres on Wednesday.
Kotkaniemi has seven goals and 20 points in 51 games in 2022-23. He was held off the scoresheet for five straight contests from Jan. 14-25, but since then he's registered four assists over four games. Kotkaniemi's offensive pace is a bit below 2021-22, when the 22-year-old finished with 12 goals and 29 points in 66 contests.
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Hurricanes' Jesperi Kotkaniemi: Grabs two assists in win
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Kotkaniemi provided a pair of helpers in Thursday's 6-2 win over Columbus.
Kotkaniemi assisted on Brett Pesce's opening tally in the first period before setting up Seth Jarvis in the third. Kotkaniemi has been fairly productive of late with six points (two goals, four assists) in his last seven contests. The 22-year-old forward is limited to a bottom-six role, but his production is boosted on the power play, where he's averaged 2:00. Kotkaniemi now has seven goals and nine assists through 42 games.
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Hurricanes' Jesperi Kotkaniemi: Earns pair of points in win
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Kotkaniemi scored a goal on four shots and added a power-play assist in Friday's 4-0 win over the Panthers.
This was Kotkaniemi's first multi-point effort of the season. He's gotten steadier on offense lately with three goals and two assists over his last five contests. The 22-year-old forward is up to six tallies, 12 points (five on the power play), 55 shots on net, 45 hits, 26 PIM and a minus-1 rating through 36 appearances. Despite the improved offense, he remains in a bottom-six role.
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Hurricanes' Jesperi Kotkaniemi: Scores goal in victory Tuesday
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Kotkaniemi netted a goal in Carolina's 4-1 win against New Jersey on Tuesday.
Kotkaniemi's marker came just 20 seconds into the game. He has four goals and eight points in 32 contests this season. The 22-year-old had been held off the scoresheet in his previous three games.
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Hurricanes' Jesperi Kotkaniemi: Gets helper on winning tally
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Kotkaniemi was credited with an assist during a 1-0 victory over the host Red Wings on Tuesday.
Kotkaniemi started Tuesday as the second-line center and earned the secondary helper on Brady Skjei's game-winning tally. The 2018 third-overall draft pick has 98 career points in 265 games. With Sebastian Aho and Jesper Fast sidelined, Kotkaniemi earned a point in back-to-back games for the second time this season but did not produce a shot, hit or block in 14:36 of ice time in the win.
Kotkaniemi scored his third goal and sixth point of the season in Saturday's 3-0 win over the Islanders.
Kotkaniemi had been struggling with just two points in his previous 15 contests, so it was nice to see him get back on the scoresheet. Whether this is the start of a trend remains to be seen, but Kotkaniemi saw a big bump in ice time against the Isles (18:12 versus 11:08 the previous game), which could be a sign of better things to come for the 22-year-old Finn.
Kotkaniemi failed to register a point for a seventh consecutive game Saturday against the Wild. He has just one goal and two assists in 18 games this season.
Much more was expected of Kotkaniemi this year after the 22-year old Finn signed an eight-year, $38.5 million extension with the Canes back in March. Needless to say, he will have to bust out in a big way to have any hope of matching his 12-goal, 29-point season from a year ago. For now, he continues to skate mainly on the team's second line with Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis.
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Hurricanes' Jesperi Kotkaniemi: Ends goal drought
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Kotkaniemi scored a goal and added two PIM in Friday's 5-3 win over the Sabres.
Kotkaniemi hadn't scored all year, and he'd gone seven games without a point entering Friday. He changed that with a third-period marker, which ended up as the game-winning goal. The 22-year-old was due to break out -- he recorded multiple shots on net in six of the seven games during his slump. For the year, he's at three points, 19 shots, 14 hits, eight PIM and a plus-2 rating while mainly playing as the second-line center.
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Hurricanes' Jesperi Kotkaniemi: Credited with helper
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Kotkaniemi notched an assist and two hits in Monday's 5-1 win over the Kraken.
Kotkaniemi helped out on a goal by linemate Andrei Svechnikov in the second period. The 22-year-old Kotkaniemi is up to two assists and a plus-4 rating in three games, but he's not doing much else to generate his own offense. The Finn has just two shots on goal so far, so he'll need to take a few more chances himself to become more productive.
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Hurricanes' Jesperi Kotkaniemi: Garners assist in loss
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Kotkaniemi posted an assist and two shots on goal in Monday's 6-2 loss to the Rangers in Game 7.
Kotkaniemi helped out on a Max Domi goal in the third period of the lopsided loss. Both of Kotkaniemi's assists in the postseason came in the second round after he was held off the scoresheet altogether in the first round. The 21-year-old had a reasonable 29 points in 66 regular-season outings, and he's locked in for the next eight years after signing a max-term extension with the Hurricanes in March.
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Hurricanes' Jesperi Kotkaniemi: Earns helper in win
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Kotkaniemi recorded one assist, two shots and one block in 9:07 of ice time versus the Rangers on Wednesday.
Kotkaniemi logged his fewest minutes of the postseason, in part due to the lack of power-play ice time. With his tally, the 21-year-old winger brought a seven-game pointless streak to a close but shouldn't be expected to provide much in the way of offensive support without opportunities with the man advantage.
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Hurricanes' Jesperi Kotkaniemi: Finishes season on high note
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Kotkaniemi (lower body) had a goal and two assists in Thursday's 6-3 win over New Jersey.
Kotkaniemi didn't take long to make an impact in his return from a five-game absence. He set up goals by Ethan Bear and Martin Necas before lighting the lamp 12:53 into the game for his third point of the night. The strong regular-season finale brought Kotkaniemi's totals in his first year with the Hurricanes to 12 goals and 17 assists.
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Hurricanes' Jesperi Kotkaniemi: Good to go
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Kotkaniemi (lower body) will return to the lineup for Thursday's regular-season finale against the Devils.
Kotkaniemi is expected to skate on the fourth line against New Jersey. He's collected 11 goals and 26 points through 65 contests this campaign.
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Hurricanes' Jesperi Kotkaniemi: Not in Tuesday's lineup
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Kotkaniemi (lower body) is not expected to play Tuesday versus the Rangers.
Kotkaniemi is set for his fifth straight absence with the injury. The 21-year-old doesn't have an official timeline to return, as the Hurricanes have been tight-lipped about his status.
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Hurricanes' Jesperi Kotkaniemi: Still sidelined
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Kotkaniemi (lower body) won't play Thursday against the Jets, Walt Ruff of the Hurricanes' official site reports.
Kotkaniemi will miss a second straight contest with his lower-body injury. Kotkaniemi has missed 9 of Carolina's last 11 games due to this issue, so at this point there's no telling when he might be ready to rejoin the lineup.
