Jesperi Kotkaniemi has gone from extra forward to one of the more interesting stories in Carolina’s early season, and the turnaround has come fast.
The Hurricanes didn’t exactly hand him a clean runway. After what looked like a breakout 2022-23 season, when he posted 18 goals and 53 points, Kotkaniemi’s production slid.
He followed that with 12 goals and 57 points in 2023-24, then 12 goals and 33 points in 2024-25. Last season was the roughest stretch yet: two goals and nine points in 42 games, plus a long spell as a healthy scratch.
He didn’t dress in any of Carolina’s 19 playoff games during the run to the franchise’s second Stanley Cup, and over the last couple of summers there was talk the Hurricanes might buy him out or move him.
Instead, Carolina kept him around as depth, waiting for the right moment. That moment arrived in October, when injuries opened the door.
Jordan Staal was out after partially tearing his calf on Oct. 11 during warmups before the game against the Philadelphia Flyers, and Mark Jankowski later missed the final four games of the team’s five-game State Fair road trip with a lower-body injury. With the Hurricanes short at third- and fourth-line center, Kotkaniemi got his chance.
He made it count right away. After scoring his first goal of 2026-27 against the Winnipeg Jets on Oct.
17, Kotkaniemi has looked like a different player. Over his last 11 games, he has five goals and eight points with a plus-8 rating.
Through 17 games, he’s up to five goals and 10 points, already ahead of last season’s totals, and he needs just three more assists to top the seven he had a year ago.
The biggest change isn’t just on the scoresheet. Kotkaniemi is playing a more North-South game and leaning into his size.
He’s been more willing to throw his body around, win board battles and handle faceoffs. That’s the version Carolina has wanted to see, and it’s giving him a real case to stay in the lineup even with Jankowski back and filling the 4C role.
Kotkaniemi said the challenge of last season hasn’t changed the way he approaches the room or the day-to-day grind. “I just try to be positive and work hard every day.
Just need to realize sometimes it’s not always about you. You need to do what’s best for the other guys too.
You don’t want to take their mood down, so just try to be a good teammate always.”
Jordan Martinook was just as direct after Kotkaniemi picked up two assists Saturday night against the Chicago Blackhawks. “This probably hasn’t been said, but even if you go back to last year, the way that it’s gone for him, and the way that he shows up every single day - when you talk about unbelievable teammates, he is that.
He comes in, and he’s happy. He’s one of the best guys ever.
He’s always making the guys laugh. It’s a testament to who he is.
The way that last year ended, he didn’t play much, and for him to come in and to play as well as he has, you want to say about mental toughness or whatever it is, I have so much respect for the way that he’s went with his business.”
Now Kotkaniemi is taking that momentum into a bigger stage. The Hurricanes flew to Helsinki, Finland, Sunday night ahead of the upcoming Global Series, where they’ll face the Seattle Kraken on Nov. 12 and Nov.
- For Kotkaniemi, it will be the first time he plays in an NHL game in front of family and friends in his home country.
Whatever happens in Finland, he’s already changed the story around his season. Kotkaniemi has taken his opportunity and turned it into a new role, and for now, he’s earned his place in Carolina’s lineup.