Montreal Canadiens: Assessing Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s NHL Debut

Montreal Canadiens rookie center Jesperi Kotkaniemi dazzled in his NHL debut.

Wednesday, Oct. 3 was one of the best nights of Jesper Kotkaniemi’s young and short-lived life. He made his NHL debut for the Montreal Canadiens. Not only did he make his debut, but he also scored his first point in the NHL by recording a secondary assist off of a goal by Andrew Shaw in the second period to tie the game against the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-2.

Serving as the team’s second line center, he spent a lot of time on the ice and never looked out of place, even while playing against John Tavares and Auston Matthews.

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Entering the season, fans were worried about Kotkaniemi’s skating abilities. It was the aspect of his game that had worried people most. Kotkaniemi, however, seemed to have no trouble keeping up. He constantly showed bursts of speed and did not seem to have trouble with his turns which was an area that was subject to skepticism in the past.

Throughout the entire game, he was creating chances left, right and center. It was impressive to see such a young player look so calm and poised on the ice. Kotkaniemi certainly did not look like he was an 18-year-old kid playing in his first game in the NHL.

He looked very calm, which is not something that you always see when looking at an 18-year-old in their NHL debut.

Some traits that were noticeable from Kotkaniemi while playing included how calm he was during plays. In high paced intense situations, he was very calm with the puck on his stick and really took his time with his plays.

Kotkaniemi was constantly decking out Leafs players while on the attack and was successful in doing so. However, he had trouble at times following through after the deke, as he sometimes got outmuscled or tangled up by the opposing players.

His playmaking ability was probably the most noticeable aspect from his game. No matter the situation, when Kotkaniemi had the puck at his stick, he did his best to make the best play possible. His vision was put on display various times during the game, especially during the first two periods.

It eventually led to him recording a point off of a goal by Shaw. Kotkaniemi helped create the play and was able to use his vision to find an open Max Domi who passed the puck to Shaw, who in turn blasted in a goal. He seemed to know where his teammates were on the ice and was able to make decisions while on the transition at a fast pace.

What you did not see too much of while watching Kotkaniemi was a physical presence. He recorded no hits in the 15:05 he spent on the ice, which is understandable for a young player playing against bigger players. You could see on the ice that Kotkaniemi purposefully avoided being in a situation where he could be hit but it did not always work.

He got pushed around at times by opposing players and it showed. He stopped before making hits as well to avoid becoming a target.

Kotkaniemi also made his defensive presence known as well. Maybe not in a physical way, but he did his part in getting pucks to his teammates from the boards and made the occasional poke-check as well. His Hockey IQ stood out more so than anything else.

He always seemed to be in the right spot to receive a pass or create a play to his teammates. Kotkaniemi did not use his shot as much as he should have. It is known how good of a shot he possesses and in the future, the coaches should push for him to shoot the puck more often than not.

Overall, Kotkaniemi will be more than relieved to have his first game over with and have his first point recorded as well. His next step will surely be to score his first NHL goal. By the looks of it, however, he played a good game and if he continues playing as he did on Wednesday night, he might very well be able to secure a full-time spot on the team.