In the NHL, there have been more successful Finnish seasons. Of course, the current season is not even halfway through yet, so there is time to correct the course after Christmas and the whole spring and winter. A surprising number of Finns have even drifted into exceptionally deep waters during the fall season after heavy expectations.
Some seem to be going through a dry season, while some seem to be seriously sidetracked with their careers.
We listed the Finnish disappointments of the fall.
Patrik Laine, Columbus 18, 6+3=9, -10
Patrik Lainea there is a huge identity crisis going on. This was supposed to be the fall when Laine regains her glory. Even the coach (Pascal Vincent) was familiar from Winnipeg and there had to be genuine trust and deep understanding between the two.
The understanding ended in a short time when the pilot dropped Laine, who had been playing laxly since the beginning of the season, from the playing lineup. Before last week’s collarbone injury, Laine was a triple chain player in poor Columbus. That is, the star player who enjoyed a salary of 8.75 million.
Laine’s career is completely sidetracked and there is hardly any light at the end of the tunnel. Skating is not enough, physical levels do not seem sufficient to the outsider, and there is no information about self-image as a player after years of turbulence. Constant – even unfortunate – injuries put a huge brake on a career.
However, it is pointless to look for reasons from outside. If Laine himself doesn’t find himself really quickly, an NHL career might be wrapped up surprisingly quickly. After all, the resale value has collapsed, and I don’t think other club managers see the problems as just Columbus-driven anymore.
Kasperi Kapanen, St. Louis 30, 3+7=10, -2
Also Kasperi Kapanen had to get his career back on the upswing after a moderate spring season, but it has been a pancake. Kapase has all the tools in the world, starting with skating and shooting, but the result is not coming. One goal out of ten and one point per three matches is a really poor performance next to quality players. More than half an hour of dominating play, and not a single point.
It is worth remembering that Kapanen enjoys an annual salary of 3.2 million in the Blues. Against this background, a better impact should also be expected from the results. However, Kapanen doesn’t seem to get the boost to his NHL career that has been expected for years. First came the departure from Toronto and then, via the transfer list, Pittsburgh.
Now things are getting sidetracked in St. Louis and even in the last season of the contract. Kapanen is 27 years old, so an important season is at hand. The screens of this – and why not the last seasons – should negotiate a new deal in the summer.
If the screens are up to par, there are contracts worth a million for a quarter of an inch.
Kaapo Kakko, New York Rangers 20, 2+1=3, +1
Kaapo Kako had time to play in Rangers even in the top flight for 20 matches before his injury with a score of 2+1. Expectations for the starting season were huge, but the fall turned out to be a nightmare for the 21-year-old from Turku. Getting hurt could even be a good thing for Kako in some special way. Perhaps a proper break from the puck routine offers an opportunity to clear your head.
From the beginning of the season, the second-ranked player could not be criticized for a lack of effort or desire, but there is something missing from the TPS grower’s play. Kako has become a small-space player in the NHL, which makes it easier to defend against him. When gaming difficulties are combined with a young person’s hard goals and wishes, playing has become painful.
Kako’s contract expires, but the rights remain with Rangers. A difficult and broken season comes together in a difficult seam.
Ville Husso, Detroit 9-5-2, 89.3% & 3.53GAA
Ville Husso was acquired as the cornerstone of Detroit’s new arrival a year and a half ago, and the beginning was promising. In autumn 2022, Husso played excellently and collected headlines. After Christmas 2022, however, the earnings condition has dropped sharply, even though the profit balance from this season is good.
Earlier in the fall, Husso even lost his position as starting goalkeeper for a while To Alex Lyon and head coach Derek Lalonde stated that he is reevaluating the entire goalkeeping pattern. Detroit is very much in the playoff race, but it needs more from Husso – especially now that the team is often sloppy on offense and lethargic on defense.
Husso is paid an annual salary of 4.75 million for a reason, and according to that also come the expectations. The goals conceded in relation to expectations are almost four goals in the freezing cold, ranking 65th in the series. Husso showed earlier in St. Louis and last fall in Detroit that he is capable of playing as the number one player well. We have to get closer to that level soon.
Joonas Korpisalo, Ottawa 89.2% & 3.50GAA
Ottawa is once again a classless entity, for which it seems unfair to single out the goalkeepers in a negative light, but also Joonas Korpisalo should be able to do better. The Helsinki native, who excelled in Columbus and Los Angeles last season, signed a five-year contract worth 20 million dollars with Ottawa in the summer, but it hasn’t been a rosy start.
Korpisalo too often stays behind the team alone, but he has not been able to support the team. From time to time, Korpisalo has made impressive saves, but the whole is not at the level of last season – and now we have to remember that last season’s Columbus was also a classless combination. Korpisalo can do better than seen.
The goals conceded in relation to the expected are minus 2.5 goals and the save percentage of dangerous goal posts is below 78. Korpisalo is at the tail end of the league in both categories. Last season, Korpisalo had more than expected 12 goals and saved more than 85 percent from dangerous places. So you can find it in the reserve.
It is clear that the pressure on the goalkeepers on the Canadian side is increasing very quickly. Korpisalo still has time, but not forever.
Borderline case: Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Carolina 31, 8+7=15, -6
Jesperi Kotkaniemi started the season well, as did the team, but when the skis of the collective started to slip, the Pori native also disappeared from the picture. The balance of the previous 17 matches from Kotkaniemi is a crushingly weak 2+0 and -5. Although Kotkaniemi, 23, is still part of the team’s young team, better can be expected from the sixth-year NHL player.
If Kotkaniemi is really going to be the No. 2 center on a Stanley Cup-seeking club, he needs to be able to give Sebastian Ahon background support for the leading department also in the results department. Kotkaniemi’s contract of 4.82 million is not expensive, but the bill of just under five million already includes responsibility for results.
Kotkaniemi does a lot of the right things in the rink, both with and without the puck. It may be that the ace player profiles even as a kind of spring player, but Carolina is drifting into such a tight playoff race in the east that in that rally it needs every cylinder, including Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
Kotkaniemi has always improved and has a good NHL future ahead of him. The next step in development is to start carrying yourself even more strongly and to also pull your own chain friends along. Kotkaniemi can no longer be a player who works only when the team works and everyone is comfortable.