The Carolina Hurricanes caused some exciting offseason drama, when in late August they chose to sign forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi to an offer sheet.
The Montreal Canadiens were forced to make a decision to either match the one-year, $6.1 million deal or let him walk. Ultimately they chose to let him walk, and while the Hurricanes brass has said it wasn’t completely about revenge, it certainly seems that way.
For those unaware, the revenge is due to the fact that two years ago, the Canadiens signed Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho to an offer sheet, though the Canes ended up matching it. It was of no coincidence that when Carolina signed Kotkaniemi to the offer sheet, it included a $20 bonus, which happens to be the number Aho wears.
Now that everyone has had time to digest the situation, Aho was asked about the entire ordeal on Friday.
“To be honest, it’s pretty funny to see a $20 signing bonus,” Aho said. “All jokes aside, we got a pretty good player.
“It got people talking. I think it’s going to be a good thing. It’s going to be fun playing them next year,” he continued. “It’s part of the business. The social media is so huge these days. You don’t have to play a game and you already have a buzz.”
The 24-year-old, who happens to be from Finland just like Kotkaniemi, said the two have been in contact since the offer sheet was first signed. Clearly, he believes that this move will benefit the Hurricanes, and he may be right. Despite Kotkaniemi managing just five goals and 20 points in 56 games last season, he has shown his potential at times throughout his 171 game career and is still just 21-years-old. It is obvious he has a ton of skill, proven by the fact he went third overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.
The Hurricanes, who have turned into a very strong team the past few seasons, will be looking to build off of 2020-21 season in which they finished third in NHL standings with a superb record of 36-12-8. It shouldn’t surprise anybody to see them atop the league standings once again in 2021-22.
More must-reads: